<O(0a^^ 


(^.GO^^ 


Sec 


Commentary  on 

PSALMS 


Cbinineiitary  on 

PSALMS 


JOSEPH  A.  ALEXANDER 


1 


KREGEL  PUBLICATIONS 
Grand  Rapids,  Michigan  49501 


Commentary  on  the  Psalms,  by  Joseph  Addison  Alexander.  ©  1991 
by  Kregel  Publications,  a  division  of  Kregel,  Inc.,  P.  O.  Box  2607, 
Grand  Rapids,  MI  49501.  All  rights  reserved. 

Library  of  Congress  Cataloging-in-Publication  Data 

Alexander,  Joseph  Addison,  1809-1860. 

[Psalms  translated  and  explained] 

Commentary  on  the  Psalms  /  by  Joseph  Addison  Alexander, 
p.       cm. 

Reprint.  Originally  published:  The  Psalms  translated  and 
explained.  Edinburgh:  A.  Elliot  and  J.  Thin,  1864. 

1 .  Bible  O.  T.  Psalms  —  Commentaries.     I.  Tide. 

BS1430.A3  1991  223 '. 2077— dc20  89-2563 

CIP 
ISBN  0-8254-2140-3  (paperback) 
ISBN  0-8254-2141-1   (deluxe  hardback) 

12  3  4  5  PrintingA'ear  95  94  93  92  91 

Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


CONTENTS 


Foreword   

7 

Preface 
Psalm 

9 

1    

17 

Psalm 

33   

148 

Psalm 

2   

20 

Psalm 

34   

152 

Psalm 

3   

27 

Psalm 

35   

157 

Psalm 

4   

30 

Psalm 

36   

163 

Psalm 

5   

34 

Psalm 

37   

167 

Psalm 

6   

38 

Psalm 

38   

175 

Psalm 

7   

41 

Psalm 

39   

180 

Psalm 

8   

45 

Psalm 

40   

185 

Psalm 

9   

48 

Psalm 

41    

191 

Psalm 

10   

54 

Psalm 

42   

196 

Psalm 

11    

60 

Psalm 

43    

200 

Psalm 

12   

63 

Psalm 

44   

202 

Psalm 

13   

67 

Psalm 

45    

208 

Psalm 

14   

68 

Psalm 

46   

216 

Psalm 

15   

71 

Psalm 

47    

219 

Psalm 

16   

73 

Psalm 

48    

221 

Psalm 

17   

78 

Psalm 

49   

224 

Psalm 

18   

82 

Psalm 

50   

232 

Psalm 

19   

95 

Psalm 

51    

237 

Psalm 

20   

100 

Psalm 

52   

243 

Psalm 

21    

103 

Psalm 

53   

247 

Psalm 

22   

106 

Psalm 

54   

249 

Psalm 

23   

115 

Psalm 

55    

250 

Psalm 

24   

117 

Psalm 

56   

257 

Psalm 

25   

121 

Psalm 

57   

260 

Psalm 

26   

125 

Psalm 

58   

262 

Psalm 

27   

128 

Psalm 

59   

267 

Psalm 

28   

131 

Psalm 

60   

271 

Psalm 

29   

133 

Psalm 

61    

275 

Psalm 

30   

137 

Psalm 

62   

276 

Psalm 

31    

140 

Psalm 

63   

278 

Psalm 

32   

145 

Psalm 

64   

281 

Contents 


Psalm 

65  

283 

Psalm 

108  

458 

Psalm 

66  

286 

Psalm 

109  

459 

Psalm 

67  

290 

Psalm 

110  

464 

Psalm 

68  

291 

Psalm 

Ill  

469 

Psalm 

69  

299 

Psalm 

112  

471 

Psalm 

70  

305 

Psalm 

113  

473 

Psalm 

71  

306 

Psalm 

114  

475 

Psalm 

72  

309 

Psalm 

115  

476 

Psalm 

73  

314 

Psalm 

116  

479 

Psalm 

74  

320 

Psalm 

117  

483 

Psalm 

75  

326 

Psalm 

118  

483 

Psalm 

76  

329 

Psalm 

119  

489 

Psalm 

77  

332 

Psalm 

120  

514 

Psalm 

78  

335 

Psalm 

121  

517 

Psalm 

79  

346 

Psalm 

122  

518 

Psalm 

80  

349 

Psalm 

123  

519 

Psalm 

81  

353 

Psalm 

124  

520 

Psalm 

82  

357 

Psalm 

125  

521 

Psalm 

83  

359 

Psalm 

126  

523 

Psalm 

84  

362 

Psalm 

127  

525 

Psalm 

85  

366 

Psalm 

128  

526 

Psalm 

86  

368 

Psalm 

129  

527 

Psalm 

87  

372 

Psalm 

130  

529 

Psalm 

88  

374 

Psalm 

131  

530 

Psalm 

89  

377 

Psalm 

132  

531 

Psalm 

90  

386 

Psalm 

133  

535 

Psalm 

91  

392 

Psalm 

134  

536 

Psalm 

92  

395 

Psalm 

135  

537 

Psalm 

93  

397 

Psalm 

136  

539 

Psalm 

94  

398 

Psalm 

137  

541 

Psalm 

95  

402 

Psalm 

138  

544 

Psalm 

96  

404 

Psalm 

139  

545 

Psalm 

97  

407 

Psalm 

140  

550 

Psalm 

98  

409 

Psalm 

141  

552 

Psalm 

99  

410 

Psalm 

142  

555 

Psalm 

100  

413 

Psalm 

143  

556 

Psalm 

101  

414 

Psalm 

144  

558 

Psalm 

102  

416 

Psalm 

145  

561 

Psalm 

103  

422 

Psalm 

146  

563 

Psalm 

104  

427 

Psalm 

147  

565 

Psalm 

105  

437 

Psalm 

148  

567 

Psalm 

106  

443 

Psalm 

149  

570 

Psalm 

107  

451 

Psalm 

150  

571 

FOREWORD 

The  book  of  Psalms  was  the  hymnal  and  prayer  book  of  the  Jews 
composed  by  many  different  authors  over  a  long  period  of  time. 
These  hymns  and  prayers  were  collected  and  used  by  the  people  of 
Israel  in  their  worship  gatherings.  Eventually  this  collection  was  in- 
cluded in  their  scriptures. 

These  religious  poems  represent  many  different  forms.  There  are 
hymns  of  praise  and  worship  of  God;  many  take  the  form  of  prayers 
for  help,  protection,  and  salvation;  and  others  are  pleas  for  forgiveness. 
They  may  be  songs  of  thanksgiving  for  God's  blessing  or  petitions  for 
the  punishment  of  enemies.  The  prayers  are  both  personal  and  national. 
They  portray  the  most  intimate  feelings  of  one  individual  or  are  the 
expression  of  many.  Some  of  the  Psalms  represent  the  needs  and 
feelings  of  all  the  people  of  God. 

The  Psalms  were  quoted  by  Jesus,  cited  by  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  became  the  treasured  book  of  worship  of  the  early 
Christian  church,  from  its  very  beginning. 

The  Hebrew  name  for  Psalms  was  "The  Book  of  Praises."  The 
present  name  derives  from  the  Latin  Vulgate,  which  followed  the 
Sepmagint  (the  Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament).  It  is  the 
second  of  three  Old  Testament  books  considered  poetical:  Job,  Psalms, 
and  Proverbs.  These  three  were  also  called  "books  of  truth."  Some 
scholars  feel  the  final  editing  probably  took  place  in  the  time  of  Ezra. 
Thus  the  dates  when  the  individual  Psalms  were  written  must  range 
through  many  centuries. 

The  Psalter  was  closely  associated  with  the  Pentateuch.  The  re- 
peated reading  of  the  Psalter  led  to  the  use  of  certain  Psalms  on 
specific  occasions  and  festivals  such  as  the  Feast  of  Booths.  Thus, 
scholars  believe  that  the  Psalms  were  used  liturgically  in  Hebrew 
worship,  just  as  they  have  been  in  the  life  of  the  church. 

Seventy-three  of  the  Psalms  were  written  by  David.  A  number 
were  contributed  by  the  Levitical  singing  clans  of  Asaph  and  Korah. 
Forty-nine  have  anonymous  authorship. 

The  150  Psalms  are  organized  into  five  books,  which  represent 
four  collections  added  to  the  first  worship  book.  Book  1  (Psalms  1- 


8  Foreword 

41)  is  Davidic,  compiled  before  his  death.  The  collection  is  largely 
personal  psalms  which  reflect  David's  own  experiences.  Book  2 
(Psalms  42-72)  was  probably  added  in  the  days  of  Solomon.  Books  3 
and  4  (73-89, 90-106)  are  collections  from  the  days  of  the  exile,  while 
the  final  book  5  (Psalms  107-150),  is  strongly  liturgical  and  probably 
was  organized  around  the  time  of  Ezra  the  scribe  after  the  return  from 
Babylonian  captivity.  It  is  probable  that  many  Psahns  were  used  by 
the  Hebrew  people  even  before  their  official  compilation  in  these  five 
books. 

Dr.  Cyril  Barber  describes  J. A.  Alexander's  classic  commentary  on 
the  Psalms  as  having:  ".  .  .  genuine  scholarship  and  evangelical 
warmth."  He  goes  on  to  mention  that  such  scholarship  and  warmth 
are  singularly  missing  from  many  commentaries  today.  Another  com- 
mentary reviewer,  David  W.  Brookman,  says  that  Alexander's  work 
on  the  Psalms  ".  .  .  is  a  valuable  classic.  .  .  .  soundly  scholarly  and 
warmly  evangelical...."  The  eminent  C.H.  Spurgeon  said  that  this 
commentary  ". . .  occupies  first  place  among  expositions.  ...  (it  is)  a 
clear  and  judicious  exposition  of  the  text  (that)  cannot  be  dispensed 
with." 

Kregel  Publications  is  honored  to  make  this  classic  Commentary  on 
the  Psalms  available  to  a  new  generation  of  Bible  students. 

The  Publishers 


PREFACE 


The  present  publication  owes  its  origin  to  Hengstenberg's  Commentary  on 
the  Psalms.  The  original  design  was  to  make  that  work,  by  abridgment 
and  other  miessential  changes,  more  acceptable  and  useful  to  the  English 
reader  than  it  could  be  in  the  form  of  an  exact  translation.  It  was  soon 
found,  however,  that  by  far  the  most  important  part  of  such  a  book  would 
be  a  literal  version  of  the  Hebrew  text,  and  that  this  was  precisely  what 
could  not  be  obtained  at  second  hand,  by  the  awkward  and  unsatisfying 
process  of  translating  a  translation,  but  must  be  derived  directly  from  an 
independent  scrutiny  of  the  original.  In  attempting  this,  the  deviations 
from  Hengstenberg,  continually  in  form  and  not  unfrequently  in  substance, 
rendered  it  wholly  inexpedient  and  improper  to  make  him  responsible  for 
what  was  really  a  new  translation.  The  only  course  remaining  therefore 
was  to  make  this  general  acknowledgment,  that  his  work  is  the  basis  of  the 
one  now  offered  to  the  public,  and  that  more  ha&  been  directly  drawn  from 
that  source  than  from  all  others  put  together.  The  present  writer  has  so 
freely  availed  himself  of  Hengstenberg's  translations,  exegetical  suggestions, 
and  illustrative  citations,  in  preparing  his  own  version  and  explanatory 
comments,  that  nothing  could  have  led  him  to  forego  the  advantage  of  in- 
serting that  distinguised  name  upon  his  title-page,  except  a  natural  unwill- 
ingness to  make  it  answerable  for  the  good  or  evil  which  is  really  his  own. 
At  the  same  time,  he  considers  it  by  no  means  the  least  merit  of  the  book, 
that  it  presents,  in  a  smaller  compass  and  a  more  familiar  dress,  the  most 
valuable  results  of  so  masterly  an  expositicai. 

In  justice  to  his  work  and  to  himself,  the  author  wishes  it  to  be  distinctly 
understood,  that  he  has  aimed  exclusively  at  explanation,  the  discovery  and 
statement  of  the  meaning.  To  this  he  has  confined  himself  for  several 
reasons :  first,  because  a  wider  plan  would  have  required  a  larger  book  than 
was  consistent  with  his  general  purpose ;  then,  because  this  is  really  the 
point  in  which  assistance  is  most  needed  by  the  readers  of  the  Psalter ;  and 
lastly,  because  he  had  especially  in  view  the  wants  of  ministers,  who  are 
better  able  than  himself  to  erect  a  doctrinal,  devotional,  or  practical  super- 
structure on  the  exegetical  basis  which  he  has  endeavoured  here  to  furnish. 
It  follows  of  course,  that  the  book  is  not  designed  to  supersede  the  admirable 


10  Preface 

works  in  common  use,  except  so  far  as  it  may  be  found  to  correct  their 
occasional  errors  of  translation  or  verbal  exposition. 

It  may  be  thought  that,  in  order  to  accomplish  this  design,  the  author 
might  have  satisfied  himself  with  a  bare  translation.  But  experience  has 
more  and  more  convinced  him,  that  the  meaning  of  an  author  cannot  be 
fully  given  in  another  language  by  the  use  of  exact  equivalents,  which  are 
in  fact  so  few,  that  the  deficiency  can  only  be  supplied  by  the  addition  of 
synonymous  expressions  or  by  explanatory  paraphrase,  or  by  exegetical 
remark  directly  added  to  the  text,  or  by  the  use  of  all  these  means  together. 
The  idea  which  he  has  endeavoured  here  to  realize  is  that  of  an  amplified 
translation.  In  the  version  properly  so  called,  he  has  endeavoured  to  pre- 
serve, not  only  the  strength  but  the  peculiar  form  of  the  original,  which  is 
often  lost  in  the  English  Bible,  by  substituting  literal  for  figurative  and 
general  for  specific  terms,  as  well  as  by  a  needless  deviation  from  the  order 
of  the  words  in  Hebrew,  upon  which  the  emphasis,  if  not  the  sense,  is  fre- 
quently dependent,  and  which  has  here  been  carefully  restored  wherever  the 
difference  of  idiom  would  suffer  it,  and  sometimes,  it  may  possibly  be  thought, 
without  regard  to  it.  Another  gratuitous  departure  from  the  form  of  the 
original,  which  has  been  perhaps  too  scrupulously  shunned,  but  not,  it  is 
believed,  without  advantage  to  the  general  character  of  the  translation, 
arises  from  the  habit  of  confounding  the  tenses,  or  merging  the  future  and 
the  past  in  a  jejune  and  inexpressive  present.  The  instances  where  this 
rule  has  been  pushed  to  a  rigorous  extreme  may  be  readily  detected,  but 
will  not  perhaps  be  thought  to  outweigh  the  advantage  of  preserving  one 
of  the  most  marked  and  striking  features  of  the  Hebrew  language. 

The  plan  of  the  book,  as  already  defined,  has  excluded  not  only  all  devo- 
tional and  practical  remark,  but  all  attempt  to  give  the  history  of  the 
interpretation,  or  to  enumerate  the  advocates  and  authors  of  conflicting 
expositions.  This,  although  necessary  to  a  complete  exegetical  work,  would 
rather  have  defeated  the  design  of  this  one,  both  by  adding  to  its  bulk  and 
by  repelling  a  large  class  of  readers.  It  has  therefore  been  thought  better  to 
exclude  it,  or  rather  to  reserve  it  for  a  kindred  work  upon  a  larger  scale,  if 
such  should  hereafter  be  demanded  by  the  public.  The  same  course  has  been 
taken  with  respect  to  a  great  mass  of  materials,  relating  to  those  topics 
which  would  naturally  find  their  place  in  a  Critical  Introduction.  Many  of 
these,  and  such  as  are  particularly  necessary  to  the  exposition,  have  been 
noticed  incidentally  as  they  occur.  But  synoptical  summaries  of  these,  and 
full  discussions  of  the  various  questions,  as  to  the  age  and  authors  of  the 
several  psalms,  the  origin  and  principle  of  their  arrangement,  the  best  mode 
of  classification,  and  the  principles  on  which  they  ought  to  be  interpreted, 
would  fill  a  volume  by  themselves,  without  materially  promoting  the  main 
object  of  the  present  publication.  As  the  topics  thus  necessarily  excluded 
will  probably  constitute  a  principal  subject  of  the  author's  private  and  pro- 
fessional studies  for  some  time  to  come,  he  is  not  without  the  hope  of  being 
able  to  bring  something  of  this  kind  before  the  public,  either  in  a  separate 
work  upon  the  Psalms,  or  in  a  general  Introduction  to  the  Scriptures. 


Preface  1 1 

The  difficulty  of  discussing  these  preliminary  matters  within  reasonable 
compass,  although  great  in  the  case  of  any  important  part  of  Scripture,  is 
aggravated  by  the  peculiar  structure  of  the  Psalter,  the  most  miscellaneous 
of  the  sacred  books,  containing  a  hundred  and  fifty  compositions,  each  com- 
plete in  itself,  and  varying  in  length,  from  two  sentences  (Ps.  cxvii.)  to  a 
hundred  and  seventy-six  (Ps.  cxix.),  as  well  as  in  subject,  style,  and  tone, 
the  work  of  many  authors,  and  of  different  ages ;  so  that  a  superficial  reader 
might  be  tempted  to  regard  it  as  a  random  or  fortuitous  collection  of  uncon- 
nected and  incongruous  materials. 

A  closer  inspection  shews,  however,  that  this  heterogeneous  mass  is  not 
without  a  bond  of  union ;  that  these  hundred  and  fifty  independent  pieces, 
difierent  as  they  are,  have  this  in  common,  that  they  are  all  poetical,  not 
merely  imaginative  and  expressive  of  feeling,  but  stamped  externally  with 
that  peculiar  character  of  parallelism,  which  distinguishes  the  higher  style 
of  Hebrew  composition  from  ordinary  prose.  A  stiU  more  marked  resem- 
blance is  that  they  are  all  not  only  poetical  but  lyrical,  i.  e.  songs,  poems 
intended  to  be  sung,  and  with  a  musical  accompaniment.  Thirdly,  they  are 
all  religious  lyrics,  even  those  which  seem  at  first  sight  the  most  secular  in 
theme  and  spirit,  but  which  are  all  found  on  inquiry  to  be  strongly  expres- 
sive of  religious  feeling.  In  the  fourth  place,  they  are  all  ecclesiastical  lyrics, 
psalms  or  hymns,  intended  to  be  permanently  used  in  public  worship,  not 
excepting  those  which  bear  the  clearest  impress  of  original  connection  with 
the  social,  domestic,  or  personal  relations  and  experience  of  the  writers. 

The  book  being  thus  invested  with  a  certain  unity  of  spirit,  form,  and 
purpose,  we  are  naturally  led  to  seek  for  something  in  the  psalms  them- 
selves, which  may  determine  more  definitely  their  relation  to  each  other. 
The  first  thing  of  this  kind  that  presents  itself  is  the  existence,  in  a  very 
large  proportion,  of  an  ancient  title  or  inscription,  varying  in  length  and  ful- 
ness ;  sometimes  simply  describing  the  composition,  as  a  psalm,  a  song,  a 
prayer,  &c.i  sometimes  stating  the  subject  or  historical  occasion,  either  in 
plain  or  enigmatical  expressions ;  sometimes  directing  the  perfonnance,  by 
indicating  the  accompanying  instrument,  by  specifying  the  appropriate  key 
or  mode,  or  by  naming  the  particular  performer :  these  various  intimations 
occurring  sometimes  singly,  but  frequently  in  combination. 

The  strenuous  attempts  which  have  been  made  by  modern  writers  to 
discredit  these  inscriptions,  as  spurious  additions  of  a  later  date,  containing 
groundless  and  erroneous  conjectures,  often  at  variance  with  the  terms  and 
substance  of  the  psalm  itself,  are  defeated  by  the  fact  that  they  are  found 
in  the  Hebrew  text,  as  far  as  we  can  trace  its  history,  not  as  addenda,  but 
as  integral  parts  of  the  composition ;  that  such  indications  of  the  author 
and  the  subject,  at  the  commencement  of  a  composition,  are  familiar  both 
to  classical  and  oriental  usage ;  and  that  the  truth  of  these  inscriptions  may 
in  every  case  be  vindicated,  and  in  none  more  successfully  than  those  which 
seem  at  first  sight  least  defensible,  and  which  have  therefore  been  appealed 
to,  with  most  confidence,  as  proofs  of  spuriousness  and  recent  date. 

The  details  included  in  this  general  statement  will  be  pointed  out  as  they 


12  Preface 

occur,  but  are  here  referred  to  by  anticipation,  to  explain  and  vindicate  tbe 
constant  treatment  of  the  titles  in  this  volume  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
sacred  text,  which  in  some  editions  of  the  Bible  has  been  mutilated  by 
omitting  them,  and  in  others  dislocated  or  confused,  for  purposes  of  refer- 
ence, by  passing  them  over  in  the  numeration  of  the  verses.  As  this  last 
arrangement  is  familiar  to  all  readers  of  the  English  Bible,  an  attempt  has 
been  made  in  the  following  exposition  to  consult  their  convenience,  by  add- 
ing the  numbers  of  the  English  to  those  of  the  Hebrew  text,  wherever  they 
are  different. 

Another  point  of  contact  and  resemblance  between  these  apparently  de- 
tached and  independent  compositions  is  the  frequent  recuiTence  of  set 
phrases  and  of  certain  forms  extending  to  the  structure  of  whole  psalms, 
such  as  the  alphabetical  arrangement,  in  which  the  successive  sentences  or 
paragraphs  begin  with  the  letters  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet.  This  is  the 
more  remarkable,  because  these  alphabetic  psalms  have  all  a  common 
character,  distinguishing  them  from  the  rest,  to  wit,  that  instead  of  a  pro- 
gression of  ideas,  they  consist  of  variations  on  a  theme  propounded  at  the 
outset,  whether  this  be  regarded  as  the  cause  or  the  effect  of  the  peculiar 
form  itself. 

The  same  inquiries  which  have  led  to  these  conclusions  also  shew  that 
the  arrangement  of  the  psalms  in  the  collection  is  by  no  means  so  unmean- 
ing and  fortuitous  as  may  at  first  sight  seem  to  be  the  case,  but  that  in 
many  instances  at  least,  a  reason  may  be  found  for  the  juxtaposition,  in 
resemblance  or  identity  of  subject  or  historical  occasion,  or  in  some 
remarkable  coincidence  of  general  form  or  of  particular  expressions.  If 
in  some  cases  it  is  difficult  to  trace  the  reason  of  the  collocation,  there  are 
others  in  which  two  psalms  bear  so  intimate  and  obvious  a  mutual  relation, 
that  they  seem  to  constitute  a  pair  or  double  psalm,  either  because  they 
were  originally  meant  to  match  each  other,  or  because  one  has  been  sub- 
sequently added  for  the  purpose.  Sometimes,  particularly  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  collection,  we  may  trace  not  only  pairs  but  trilogies,  and  even 
more  extensive  systems  of  connected  psalms,  each  independent  of  the  rest, 
and  yet  together  forming  beautiful  and  striking  combinations,  particularly 
when  the  nucleus  or  the  basis  of  the  series  is  an  ancient  psalm ;  for  instance 
one  of  David's,  to  which  others  have  been  added,  in  the  way  of  variation 
or  of  imitation,  at  a  later  period,  such  as  that  of  the  Captivity. 

Although  the  facts  just  mentioned  are  sufficient  to  evince  that  the  Book 
of  Psalms  was  not  thrown  together  at  random,  but  adjusted  by  a  careful 
hand,  the  principle  of  the  arrangement  is  not  always  so  apparent,  or  of 
such  a  nature  as  to  repress  the  wish  to  classify  the  psalms  and  reduce  them 
to  some  systematic  order.  The  most  obvious  arrangement  would  be  that 
by  authors,  if  the  data  were  sufficient.  But  although  the  titles  ascribe  one 
to  Moses,  seventy-two  to  David,  two  to  Solomon,  twelve  to  Asaph,  one  to 
Ethan,  and  eleven  to  the  Sons  of  Korah,  it  is  doubtful  in  some  of  the 
cases,  more  particularly  those  last  mentioned,  whether  the  title  was  designed 
to  indicate  the  author  or  the  musical  performer,  and  more  than  fifty  are 


Preface  13 

anonymous.  In  some  of  these  the  hand  of  David  may  be  still  distinctly 
traced,  but  as  to  most,  we  are  abandoned  to  conjecture,  which  of  course 
affords  no  solid  basis  for  a  satisfactory  or  useful  distribution. 

Another  principle  of  classification  is  the  internal  character,  the  subject, 
style,  and  manner  of  the  psalms.  This  was  applied  by  the  older  writers, 
in  accordance  with  the  forms  of  artificial  rhetoric,  and  with  endless  variety 
in  the  result.  But  the  best  application  of  the  principle  is  that  proposed  by 
Hengstenberg,  and  founded  on  the  tone  of  pious  feeling  which  the  psalm 
expresses  :  whether  joyous,  as  in  the  general  psalms  of  praise,  and  more 
especially  in  those  of  thanksgiving  ;  or  sad,  as  in  the  querulous  and  peni- 
tential psalms ;  or  calm,  as  in  most  of  the  prophetic  and  didactic  psalms. 
All  these,  however,  are  arrangements  which  the  reader  can  make  best  to 
please  himself,  and  which  are  rather  the  results  of  exposition  than  prelimi- 
nary aids  to  it. 

Apart  from  these  attempts  at  systematic  distribution  and  arrangement, 
there  is  also  a  question  with  respect  to  the  division  of  the  Psalter  as  it 
stands.  There  is  an  ancient  division  into  five  parts,  corresponding,  as  the 
Kabbins  say,  to  the  five  books  of  Moses,  and  indicated  by  doxologies  at  the 
close  of  Ps.  xli.,  Ixxii.,  Ixxxix.,  cvi.,  while  Ps.  cl.  is  itself  a  doxology, 
winding  up  the  whole.  The  modem  critics,  more  especially  in  Germany, 
have  tasked  their  ingenuity  to  prove  that  these  are  distinct  collections, 
contemporaneous  or  successive,  of  detached  compositions,  afterwards  com- 
bined to  form  the  present  Psalter.  But  they  never  have  been  able  to 
account,  with  any  plausibility  or  show  of  truth,  for  the  remarkable  position 
which  the  psalms  of  David  occupy  in  aU  parts  of  the  book.  A  much  more 
probable  hypothesis,  though  coupled  with  a  theory,  to  say  the  least, 
extremely  dubious,  is  that  of  Hengstenberg,  who  looks  upon  the  actual 
arrangement  as  the  work  of  Ezra,  or  some  other  skilful  and  authoritative 
hand,  and  accounts  for  the  division  into  five  books  as  follows.  The  first 
book  (Ps,  i.-xli.)  contains  only  psahns  of  David,  in  which  the  use  of  the 
divine  name  Jehovah  is  predominant.  The  second  (Ps.  xlii.-lxxii.)  contains 
psalms  of  David  and  his  contemporaries,  i.e.,  Solomon,  Asaph,  and  the 
Sons  of  Korah,  in  which  the  predominant  divine  name  is  Elohim.  The  third 
(Ps.  Ixxiii.-lxxxix.)  contains  psalms  of  Asaph  and  the  Sons  of  Korah,  in 
which  the  name  Jehovah  is  predominant.  The  fourth  (Ps.  xc.-cvi.)  and 
fifth  (cvii.-cl.)  contain,  for  the  most  part,  psalms  of  later  date,  the  princi- 
pal exceptions  being  one  by  Moses  (Ps.  xc),  and  several  of  David's,  to 
which  others  in  the  same  strain  have  been  added,  in  the  way  already 
mentioned. 

However  ingenious  this  hypothesis  may  be,  it  will  be  seen  at  once  that 
it  contributes  very  little  to  the  just  appreciation  or  correct  interpretation  of 
the  several  psalms,  except  by  enabling  us,  in  certain  cases,  to  derive  illus- 
tration from  a  more  extended  context,  as  the  reader  will  find  stated  in  its 
proper  place.  Even  granting,  therefore,  the  historical  assumption  upon 
which  it  rests,  and  the  favourite  doctrine  as  to  the  divine  names,  with 
which  it  is  to  some  extent  identified,  it  will  be  sufficient  for  our  present 


14  Preface 

purpose  to  have  stated  it  in  outline,  leaving  the  reader  to  compai'e  it  with 
the  facts  as  they  successively  present  themselves,  and  reserving  a  more  ftdl 
investigation  of  the  general  question  to  another  time  and  place. 

The  best  arrangement  for  the  ordinary  student  of  the  Psalter  is  the 
actual  arrangement  of  the  book  itself :  first,  because  we  have  no  better, 
and  the  eflforts  to  invent  a  better  have  proved  fruitless  ;  then,  because,  as 
we  have  seen,  there  are  sufficient  indications,  of  a  principle  or  pxirpose  in 
this  actual  arrangement,  whether  we  can  always  trace  it  there  or  not ;  arid 
lastly,  because  uniform  tradition  and  analogy  agree  in  representing  it  as 
highly  probable  that  this  arrangement  was  the  work  of  Ezra,  the  inspired 
collector  and  redacteur  of  the  canon,  so  that  even  if  nothing  more  should 
ever  be  discovered,  with  respect  to  his  particular  design  or  plan,  we  have 
still  the  satisfaction  of  relying,  not  on  chance,  but  on  a  competent  or  rather 
an  infallible  authority,  as  well  as  the  advantage  of  studying  the  psalms  in 
a  connection  and  an  order  which  may  possibly  throw  hght  upon  them,  even 
when  it  seems  to  us  most  fortuitous  or  arbitrary. 

If  any  subdivision  of  the  book  is  needed,  as  a  basis  or  a  means  of  more 
convenient  exposition,  it  may  be  obtained  by  taking,  as^the  central  column 
of  this  splendid  fabric,  its  most  ancient  portion,  the  sublime  and  afiecting 
Prayer  of  Moses,  known  from  time  immemorial  as  the  Ninetieth  Psalm, 
and  suflfering  this,  as  a  dividing  line,  to  separate  the  whole  into  two  great 
parts,  the  first  composed  entirely  of  psalms  belonging  to  the  times  of 
David,  the  other  of  a  few  such,  with  a  much  greater  number  of  later  com- 
positions, founded  on  them  and  connected  with  them. 

This  simple  distribution  seems  to  secure  all  the  substantial  advantages 
of  Hengstenberg's  hypothesis,  without  its  complexity  or  doubtful  points. 
Among  the  latter  may  be  reckoned  the  extraordinary  stress  laid  by  this 
eminent  interpreter  on  what  may  be  called  Symbolical  Arithmetic,  or  the 
significance  ascribed  to  the  number  of  verses,  of  Selahs,  of  Jehovahs,  of 
Elohims,  used  in  any  given  psalm.  Setting  out  from  the  unquestionable 
fact,  that  certaiu  numbers  are  symbolically  used  in  the  Old  Testament ; 
that  seven  is  the  symbol  of  the  covenant,  twelve  of  the  theocracy,  ten  of 
completeness  or  perfection,  five  of  the  reverse,  &c.,  he  attempts  to  trace 
the  application  of  this  principle  throughout  the  psalms,  and  not,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  without  many  palpable  failures  to  establish  his  favour- 
ite and  foregone  conclusion.  The  efiect  which  this  singular  prepossession 
might  have  had  upon  his  exposition  is  prevented  by  his  happily  restricting 
it  entirely  to  form  and  structure,  and  putting  it  precisely  on  a  level  with 
the  alphabetical  arrangement  of  the  Hebrews,  and  with  rhyme  as  used  by 
other  nations.  There  is  still,  however,  reason  to  regret  the  space  allotted 
to  this  subject  in  his  volumes,  and  good  ground  for  excluding  it  from  woAs 
of  an  humbler  and  more  popular  description.  As  all  the  views  of  such  a 
mind,  however,  are  at  least  entitled  to  consideration,  this  subject  may 
appropriately  take  its  place  among  the  topics  of  a  Critical  Introduction. 

With  respect  to  the  historical  relations  of  the  Psalter  and  its  bearings 
on  the  other  parts  of  Scripture,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  remind  the  reader, 


Preface  15 

that  the  Mosaic  system  reached  its  culminating  point  and  fall  development 
in  the  reign  of  David,  when  the  land  of  promise  was  in  fall  possession,  the 
provisions  of  the  law  for  the  fibrst  time  folly  carried  out,  and  a  permanent 
sanctuary  secured,  and,  we  may  even  say,  prospectively  erected.  The  chain 
of  Messianic  promises,  which  for  ages  had  been  broken,  or  concealed 
beneath  the  prophetic  ritual,  was  now  renewed  by  the  addition  of  a  new 
link,  in  the  great  Messianic  promise  made  to  David  (2  Sam.  vii.)  of  per- 
petual succession  in  his  family.  As  the  head  of  this  royal  race  from  which 
the  Messiah  was  to  spring,  and  as  the  great  theocratical  model  of  succeed- 
ing ages,  who  is  mentioned  more  frequently  in  prophecy  and  gospel  than 
all  his  natural  descendants  put  together,  he  was  inspired  to  originate  a  new 
kind  of  sacred  composition,  that  of  Psalmody,  or  rather  to  educe  from  the 
germ  which  Moses  had  planted  an  abundant  harvest  of  religious  poetry, 
not  for  his  own  private  use,  but  for  that  of  the  Church,  in  the  new  form  of 
public  service  which  he  added  by  divine  command  to  the  Mosaic  ritual. 
As  an  inspired  psalmist,  as  the  founder  and  director  of  the  temple-music, 
and  as  a  model  and  exemplar  to  those  after  him,  David's  position  is  unique 
in  sacred  history.  As  his  military  prowess  had  been  necessary  to  complete 
the  conquest  of  the  land,  so  his  poetical  and  musical  genius  was  necessary 
to  secure  his  influence  upon  the  church  for  ever.  The  result  is,  that  no 
part  of  the  Bible  has  been  so  long,  so  constantly,  and  so  extensively  fami- 
liar, both  to  Jews  and  Christians,  as  the  Psalms  op  David.  This  deno- 
minatio  a  potiori  is  entirely  correct,  as  all  the  other  writers  of  the  psalms, 
excepting  Moses,  merely  carry  out  and  vary  what  had  been  already  done 
by  David ;  and  as  if  to  guard  the  system  from  deterioration,  the  farther  we 
proceed  the  more  direct  and  obvious  is  this  dependence  upon  David,  as 
"  the  man  raised  up  on  high,  the  anointed  of  the  God  of  Jacob,  and  the 
sweet  psalmist  of  Israel"  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  1),  the  master  and  the  model  of  all 
other  psalmists,  from  the  days  of  Solomon  to  those  of  Ezra. 

The  interesting  questions  which  have  so  often  been  discussed,  as  to  the 
theology  and  ethics  of  the  Psalter,  and  especially  in  reference  to  the  doc- 
trine of  a  Messiah  and  a  future  state,  and  to  the  so-called  imprecations  of 
the  psalms,  can  be  satisfactorily  settled  only  by  detailed  interpretation  of 
the  passages  concerned,  and  any  summary  anticipation  of  the  general 
result  may  here  be  spared,  although  it  would  be  highly  appropriate  in  a 
Critical  Introduction. 

After  this  brief  statement  of  preliminary  points  which  might  be  fally 
treated  in  an  Introduction,  it  only  remains  to  add,  in  explanation  of  the 
plan  adopted  in  the  work  itself,  that  the  reader  is  constantly  supposed  to 
be  familiar  with  the  Hebrew  text  and  with  the  authorised  version,  but  that, 
in  order  to  make  the  exposition  accessible  to  a  larger  class  of  educated 
readers,  the  original  words  have  been  introduced  but  sparingly,  and  only 
for  the  purpose  of  saving  space  and  avoiding  an  awkward  circumlocution. 
The  translation  of  the  text  is  printed  in  italic  type  as  prose,  partly  for  a 
reason  just  assigned,  to  save  room ;  partly  because  it  is  really  prose,  and 
not  verse,  according  to  the  common  acceptation  of  those  terms ;  partly  be- 


16  Preface 

cause  the  effect  of  the  poetical  element,  so  far  as  it  exists,  is  weakened 
rather~than  enhanced  when  printed  as  irregular  blank  verse :  but  especially 
because  the  version  is  not  meant  to  stand  by  itself,  or  to  be  continuously 
read,  but  to  be  part  and  parcel  of  the  exposition,  and  to  be  qualified  by  the 
accompanying  paraphrase  and  comments. 

The  religious  uses  of  the  Psalms,  both  doctrinal  and  practical,  though 
not  directly  aimed  at  in  these  volumes,  are  so  far  from  being  undervalued 
by  the  author,  and  indeed  so  essential  to  his  ultimate  design,  that  any  effect 
which  the  book  may  have,  however  humble  or  remote,  in  the  promotion  of 
this  end,  will  be  esteemed  by  him  as  its  most  flattering  success,  and  the 
most  acceptable  reward  of  his  exertions. 


NOTE  TO  THE  READER 

Because  of  the  imfamiliarity  of  most  of  us  today  with  the  Roman 
numeral  system  used  throughout  this  book,  the  following  conversion 
table  may  offer  welcome  assistance  to  many  readers: 

xxii 22 

xxiii    23 

xxiv    24 

XXV   25 

xxvi    26 

xxvii  27 

xxviii    28 

xxix    29 

XXX  30 

xl    40 

1    50 

be    60 

Ixx    70 

Ixxx    80 

xc   90 

c  100 

ex   110 

cxx   120 

cxxx   130 

cxl 140 

cl 150 


i    

1 

ii 

2 

iii    

3 

iv    

4 

v 5 

vi    

6 

vii 

7 

viii    

8 

ix    

9 

X 

10 

xi    

11 

xii 

12 

xiii    

13 

xiv    

14 

XV   

15 

xvi    

16 

xvii 

17 

xviii    

18 

xvix    

.19 

XX 20 

xxi    

21 

THE  PSALMS 


Psalm  1 

The  book  opens  with  an  exquisite  picture  of  the  truly  Happy  Man,  as  seen 
from  the  highest  ground  of  the  old  dispensation.  He  is  described  both 
literally  and  figuratively,  positively  and  negatively,  directly  and  by  contrast, 
with  respect  both  to  his  character  and  his  condition,  here  and  hereafter. 
The  compression  of  all  this  into  so  short  a  composition,  without  confusion 
or  obscurity,  and  with  a  high  degree  of  graphic  vividness,  shews  what  the 
psalm  is  in  a  rhetorical  or  literary  point  of  view,  apart  from  its  religious 
import  and  divine  authority.  Its  moral  design  is  both  didactic  and  con- 
solatory. There  is  no  trace  of  any  particular  historical  occasion  or  allusion. 
The  terms  employed  are  general,  and  admit  of  an  easy  application  to  all 
times  and  places  where  the  word  of  God  is  known.  The  psalm  indeed  con- 
tains a  summary  of  the  doctrine  taught  in  this  book  and  in  the  Scriptures 
generally,  as  to  the  connection  between  happiness  and  goodness.  It  is  well 
placed,  therefore,  as  an  introduction  to  the  whole  collection,  and  although 
anonymous,  was  probably  composed  by  David.  It  is  altogether  worthy  of 
this  origin,  and  corresponds,  in  form  and  substance,  to  the  next  psalm, 
which  is  certainly  by  David.  The  two  seem  indeed  to  form  a  pair  or  double 
psalm,  of  which  arrangement  there  are  several  other  instances.  The  struc- 
ture of  the  first  psalm  is  symmetrical  but  simple,  and  the  style  removed 
from  that  of  elevated  prose  by  nothing  but  the  use  of  strong  and  lively 
figures. 

1.  The  Happy  Man  is  first  described  in  literal  but  negative  expressions, 
i.  e.  by  stating  what  he  does  not  habitually  do.  The  description  opens  with 
a  kind  of  admiring  exclamation.  {Oh)  the  blessedness  of  the  man !  The 
plural  form  of  the  original  [felicities  or  happinesses),  if  anything  more  than 
a  grammatical  idiom  like  ashes,  means,  &c.,  in  our  language,  may  denote 
fulness  and  variety  of  happiness,  as  if  he  had  said,  How  completely  happy  is 
the  man !  The  negative  description  follows.  Happy  the  man  who  has  not 
walked,  a  common  figure  for  the  course  of  life  or  the  habitual  conduct,  which 
is  furthermore  suggested  by  the  use  of  the  past  tense,  but  without  excluding 
the  present,  who  has  not  walked  and  does  not  walk,  in  the  counsel,  i.  e.  live 
after  the  manner,  on  the  principles,  or  according  to  the  plans,  of  wicked 
(men),  and  in  the  way  of  sinners  has  not  stood.  The  word  translated  sinners 
properly  denotes  those  who  fall  short  of  the  standard  of  duty,  as  the  word 
translated  wicked  denotes  those  who  positively  violate  a  rule  by  disorderly 


18  Psalm  1:2, 3 

conduct.  Together  they  express  the  whole  idea  of  ungodly  or  unrighteous 
men.  And  in  the  seat,  not  the  chair,  but  the  company,  or  the  place  where 
men  convene  and  sit  together,  of  scomers,  scoflfers,  those  who  treat  religion 
with  contempt,  has  not  sat.  The  three  verbs  denote  the  three  acts  or  pos- 
tures of  a  waking  man,  namely,  walking,  standing,  sitting,  and  are  there- 
fore well  adapted  to  express  the  whole  course  of  life  or  conduct.  It  is  also 
possible  that  a  climax  was  intended,  so  that  walking,  standing,  and  sitting 
in  the  company  of  sinners  will  denote  successive  stages  of  deterioration,  first 
occasional  conformity,  then  fixed  association,  then  established  residence 
among  the  wicked,  not  as  a  mere  spectator  or  companion,  but  as  one  of 
themselves.  The  same  kind  of  negative  description  reappears  in  Psalm 
xxvi.  4,  5,  and  in  Jer.  xv.  17.  It  is  of  course  implied  that  no  one,  of  whom 
any  of  these  things  can  be  affirmed,  is  entitled  to  the  character  of  a  Happy 
Man. 

2.  A  positive  trait  is  now  added  to  the  picture.  Having  shewn  what  the 
truly  happy  man  does  not,  the  Psalmist  shews  us  what  he  does.  But,  on 
the  contrary,  in  contrast  with  the  previous  description,  in  the  law  of  Jehovah, 
i.  e.  the  written  revelation  of  his  will,  and  more  especially  the  Pentateuch 
or  Law  of  Moses,  which  lay  at  the  foundation  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  (is) 
his  delight,  not  merely  his  employment,  or  his  trust,  but  his  pleasure,  his 
happiness.  And  in  his  law  he  will  meditate,  i.  e.  he  does  so  and  will  do  so 
still,  not  merely  as  a  theme  of  speculation  or  study,  but  as  a  cherished 
object  of  afiection,  a  favourite  subject  of  the  thoughts,  day  and  night,  i.  e. 
at  all  times,  in  every  interval  of  other  duties,  nay  in  the  midst  of  other 
duties,  this  is  the  theme  to  which  his  mind  spontaneously  reverts.  The 
cordial  attachment  to  an  unfinished  revelation,  here  implicitly  enjoined, 
shews  clearly  what  is  due  to  the  completed  word  of  God  which  we  possess. 

3.  The  Literal  description  of  the  Happy  Man,  both  in  its  negative  and 
positive  form,  is  followed  by  a  beautiful  comparison,  expressive  of  his  cha- 
racter and  his  condition.  And  he  is,  or  he  shall  be ;  the  present  and  the  future 
insensibly  run  into  each  other,  so  as  to  suggest  the  idea  of  continuous  or 
permanent  condition,  like  the  past  and  present  in  the  first  verse.  And 
he  is,  or  shall  be,  like  a  tree,  a  Lively  emblem  of  vitality  and  fruitfulness. 
He  is  not,  however,  like  a  tree  growing  wild,  but  like  a  tree  planted,  in  the 
most  favourable  situation,  on  or  over,  i.  e.  overhanging,  streams  of  water. 
The  original  words  properly  denote  canals  or  channels,  as  customary  means 
of  artificial  irrigation.  Hence  the  single  tree  is  said  to  overhang  more  than 
one,  because  surrounded  by  them.  The  image  presented  is  that  of  a  highly 
cultivated  spot,  and  implies  security  and  care,  such  as  could  not  be  enjoyed 
in  the  most  luxuriant  wilderness  or  forest.  The  divine  culture  thus  experi- 
enced is  the  cause  of  the  efiect  represented  by  the  rest  of  the  comparison. 
Which  [ti'ee)  will  give,  or  yield,  its  fruit  in  its  season,  and  its  leaf  shall  not 
wither;  it  shall  lose  neither  its  utility  nor  beauty.  This  is  then  expressed 
in  a  more  positive  and  prosaic  form.  And  all,  or  every  thing,  which  he, 
the  man  represented  by  the  verdant  fi-uitfol  tree,  shall  do,  he  shall  make  to 
prosper,  or  do  prosperously,  with  good  success.  This  pleasing  image  is  in 
perfect  keeping  with  the  scope  of  the  psalm,  which  is  not  to  describe  the 
righteous  man,  as  such,  but  the  truly  happy  man,  with  whom  the  righteous 
man  is  afterwards  identified.  The  neglect  of  this  peculiar  feature  of  the 
composition  impairs  its  moral  as  well  as  its  rhetorical  effect,  by  making  it 
an  austere  declaration  of  what  will  be  expected  firom  a  good  man,  rather 
than  a  joyous  exhibition  of  his  happy  lot.  That  the  common  experience, 
even  of  the  best  men,  falls  short  of  this  description,  is  because  their  cha- 


Psalm  1:4 -6  19 

racter  and  life  fall  short  of  that  presented  in  the  two  preceding  verses.  The 
whole  description  is  not  so  much  a  picture  drawn  from  real  life,  as  an  ideal 
standard  or  model,  by  striving  to  attain  which  our  aims  and  our  attainments 
will  be  elevated,  though  imperfect  after  all. 

4.  Not  so  the  wicked.  The  direct  description  of  the  Happy  Man  is 
heightened  and  completed  by  comparison  with  others.  Not  so  the  wicked, 
i.  e.  neither  in  condition  nor  in  character.  The  dependence  of  the  one  upon 
the  other  is  suggested  by  describing  them  as  wicked,  rather  than  unhappy. 
Not  so,  i.  e.  not  thus  happy,  (are)  the  wicked,  because  they  are  wicked,  and 
are  therefore  destitute  of  all  that  constitutes  the  happiness  before  described. 
The  immediate  reference,  in  the  phrase  not  so,  is  to  the  beautiful,  well- 
watered,  green,  and  thriving  tree  of  the  preceding  verse.  To  this  delightful 
emblem  of  a  healthful  happy  state  the  Psalmist  now  opposes  one  drawn 
likewise  from  the  vegetable  world,  but  as  totally  unlike  the  first  as  possible. 
Thd  wicked  are  not  represented  by  a  tree,  not  even  by  a  barren  tree,  a  dead 
tree,  a  prostrate  tree,  a  shrub,  a  weed,  all  which  are  figures  not  unfre- 
quent  in  the  Scriptures.  But  all  these  are  more  or  less  associated  with  the 
natural  condition  of  a  living  plant,  and  therefore  insufficient  to  present  the 
necessary  contrast.  This  is  finely  done  by  a  comparison  with  chaff,  which, 
though  a  vegetable  substance,  and  connected  in  its  origin  with  one  of  the 
most  valuable  products  of  the  earth,  is  itself  neither  living,  finitful,  nor 
nutritious,  but  only  fit  to  be  removed  and  scattered  by  the  wind,  in  the 
ancient  and  oriental  mode  of  winnowing.  There  is  a  double  fitness  in  the 
emblem  here  presented,  as  suggesting  the  idea  of  intrinsic  worthlessness, 
and  at  the  same  time  that  of  contrast  with  the  useful  grain,  with  which  it 
came  into  existence,  and  from  which  it  shall  be  separated  only  to  be  blown 
away  or  burned.  Not  so  the  wicked,  but  like  the  chaff,  which  the  wind  drives 
away.  The  same  comparison  is  used  in  Psalm  xxxv.  5,  Isa.  xvii.  13,  xxix. 
6,  Hos.  xiii.  3,  Zeph.  ii.  2,  Job  xxi.  18,  and  by  John  the  Baptist  in  Mat. 
iii.  12,  with  obvious  allusion  to  this  psalm,  but  with  a  new  figure,  that  of 
burning,  which  seems  to  be  intended  to  denote  final  and  complete  destruc- 
tion, while  in  all  the  other  cases,  the  idea  suggested  by  the  chaff  being 
blown  away  is  that  of  violent  and  rapid  disappearance. 

5.  Therefore,  because  they  are  unlike  a  living  tree,  and  like  the  worth- 
less chaff,  fit  only  to  be  scattered  by  the  wind,  wicked  (men)  shall  not  stand, 
i.  e.  stand  their  ground  or  be  able  to  sustain  themselves,  in  the  judgment, 
t.  e.  at  the  bar  of  God.  This  includes  two  ideas,  that  of  God's  unerring 
estimation  of  all  creatures  at  their  real  value,  and  that  of  his  corresponding 
action  towards  them.  The  wicked  shall  neither  be  approved  by  God,  nor, 
as  a  necessary  consequence,  continue  to  enjoy  his  favour,  even  in  appear- 
ance. Whatever  providential  inequalities  may  now  exist  will  all  be  rectified 
hereafter.  The  wicked  shall  not  always  be  confounded  with  their  betters. 
They  shall  not  stand  in  the  judgment,  either  present  intermediate  judgments, 
or  the  final  judgment  of  the  great  day.  And  sinners,  the  same  persons 
xmder  another  name,  as  in  ver.  1  {shall  not  stand)  in  the  congregation,  or 
assembly,  of  righteous  (men).  They  shall  not  continue  intermingled  with 
them  in  society  as  now,  and,  what  is  more  important,  they  shall  not  for  ever 
seem  to  form  part  of  the  church  or  chosen  people,  to  which  the  word  trans- 
lated congregation  is  constantly  applied  in  the  Old  Testament.  Whatever 
doubt  may  now  exist,  the  time  is  coming  when  the  wicked  are  to  take  their 
proper  place  and  to  be  seen  in  their  true  character,  as  totally  imhke  the 
righteous. 

6.  The  certainty  of  this  event  is  secured  by  God's  omniscience,  from 


20  Psalm  1:6 

which  his  power  and  his  justice  are  inseparable.  However  men  may  be 
deceived  in  their  prognostications,  he  is  not.  The  Lord,  Jehovah,  the  God 
of  Revelation,  the  covenant  God  of  Israel,  knows,  literally  {is)  knowing,  i.  e. 
habitually  knows,  or  knows  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  the  way  of  right- 
eous (men),  i.e.  the  tendency  and  issue  of  their  character  and  conduct. 
As  if  he  had  said,  the  Lord  Imows  whither  they  are  going  and  where  they 
will  arrive  at  last.  This  is  a  clear  though  indirect  assertion  of  their  safety,  here 
and  hereafter.  The  figure  of  a  way  is  often  used  to  express  the  character 
and  conduct  itself;  but  this  idea  is  here  implied  or  comprehended  in  that  of 
destiny,  as  determined  by  the  character  and  conduct.  There  is  no  need,  there- 
fore, of  taking  the  verb  know  in  any  other  than  its  usual  and  proper  sense. 
The  verse  is  an  appeal  to  divine  omniscience  for  the  truth  of  the  implied 
assertion,  that  the  righteous  are  safe  and  will  be  happy,  as  well  as  for  that 
of  the  express  assertion,  with  which  the  whole  psalm  closes.  The  way  of 
wicked  (men),  in  the  same  sense  as  before,  shall  perish,  i.  e.  end  in  ruin. 
The  apparent  solecism  of  making  a  way  perish  only  brings  out  in  more 
prominent  relief  the  truth  really  asserted,  namely,  the  perdition  of  those 
who  travel  it.  This  completes  the  contrast,  and  sums  up  the  description 
of  the  truly  Happy  Man,  as  one  whose  delight  is  in  the  law  and  his  happi- 
ness in  the  favour  of  Jehovah,  and  whose  strongest  negative  characteristic 
is  his  total  want  of  moral  likeness  here  to  those  from  whom  he  is  to  dwell 
apart  hereafter. 


Psalm  2 

A  SUBLIME  vision  of  the  nations  in  revolt  against  Jehovah  and  his 
Anointed,  with  a  declaration  of  the  divine  purpose  to  maintain  his  King's 
authority,  and  a  warning  to  the  world  that  it  must  bow  to  him  or  perish. 
The  structure  of  this  psalm  is  extremely  regular.  It  naturally  faUs  into 
four  stanzas  of  three  verses  each.  In  the  first,  the  conduct  of  the  rebel- 
lious nations  is  described.  In  the  second,  God  replies  to  them  by  word 
and  deed.  In  the  third,  the  Messiah  or  Anointed  One  declares  the  divine 
decree  in  relation  to  himself.  In  the  fourth,  the  Psalmist  exhorts  the  rulers 
of  the  nations  to  submission,  with  a  threatening  of  divine  wrath  to  the  dis- 
obedient, and  a  closing  benediction  on  believers.  The  several  sentences 
are  also  very  regular  in  form,  exhibiting  parallelisms  of  great  uniformity. 
Little  as  this  psalm  may,  at  first  sight,  seem  to  resemble  that  before  it, 
there  is  really  a  very  strong  affinity  between  them.  Even  in  form  they  are 
related  to  each  other.  The  number  of  verses  and  of  stanzas  is  just  double 
in  the  second,  which  moreover  begins,  as  the  first  ends,  with  a  threatening, 
and  ends,  as  the  first  begins,  with  a  beatitude.  There  is  also  a  resemblance 
in  their  subject  and  contents.  The  contrast  indicated  in  the  first  is  carried 
out  and  rendered  more  distinct  in  the  second.  The  first  is  in  fact  an  intro- 
duction to  the  second,  and  the  second  to  what  follows.  And  as  the  psalms 
which  follow  bear  the  name  of  David,  there  is  the  strongest  reason  to  believe 
that  these  two  are  his  likewise,  a  conclusion  confirmed  by  the  authority  of 
Acts  iv.  25,  as  well  as  by  the  internal  character  of  the  psalm  itself.  The 
imagery  of  the  scene  presented  is  evidently  borrowed  from  the  warlike  and 
eventful  times  of  David.  He  cannot,  however,  be  himself  the  subject  of 
the  composition,  the  terms  of  which  are  wholly  inappropriate  to  any  king 
but  the  Messiah,  to  whom  they  are  applied  by  the  oldest  Jewish  writers, 
and  again  and  again  in  the  New  Testament.     This  is  the  first  of  those  pro- 


Psalm  2: 1,2  21 

phetic  psalms,  in  which  the  promise  made  to  David,  with  respect  to  the 
Messiah  (2  Sam.  vii.  16,  1  Chron.  xvii.  11-14),  is  wrought  into  the  lyrical 
devotions  of  the  ancient  church.  The  supposition  of  a  double  reference  to 
David,  or  some  one  of  his  successors,  and  to  Christ,  is  not  only  needless 
and  gratuitous,  but  hurtful  to  the  sense  by  the  confusion  which  it  introduces, 
and  forbidden  by  the  utter  inappropriateness  of  some  of  the  expressions 
used  to  any  lower  subject.  The  style  of  this  psalm,  although  not  less  pure 
and  simple,  is  livelier  than  that  of  the  first,  a  difi"erence  arising  partly  from 
the  nature  of  the  subject,  but  still  more  from  the  dramatic  structure  of  the 
composition. 

1.  This  psalm  opens,  like  the  first,  with  an  exclamation,  here  expressive 
of  astonishment  and  indignation  at  the  wickedness  and  folly  of  the  scene 
presented  to  the  psalmist's  view.  Why  do  nations  make  a  noise,  tumultuate, 
or  rage  ?  The  Hebrew  verb  is  not  expressive  of  an  internal  feeling,  but  of 
the  outward  agitation  which  denotes  it.  There  may  be  an  allusion  to  the 
rolling  and  roaring  of  the  sea,  often  used  as  an  emblem  of  popular  commo- 
tion, both  in  the  Scriptures  and  the  classics.  The  past  tense  of  this  verb 
{why  have  they  raged  ?)  refers  to  the  commotion  as  already  begun,  while  the 
future  in  the  next  clause  expresses  its  continuance.  And  peoples,  not  people, 
in  the  collective  sense  of  persons,  but  in  the  proper  plural  sense  of  nations, 
races,  will  imagine,  i.  e.  are  imagining  and  \nll  continue  to  imagine,  vanity, 
a  vain  thing,  something  hopeless  and  impossible.  The  interrogation  in 
this  verse  implies  that  no  rational  solution  of  the  strange  sight  could  be 
given,  for  reasons  assigned  in  the  remainder  of  the  psalm.  This  implied 
charge  of  irrationality  is  equally  well  founded  in  all  cases  where  the  same 
kind  of  opposition  exists,  though  secretly,  and  on  the  smallest  scale. 

2.  The  confused  scene  presented  in  the  first  verse  now  becomes  more 
distinct,  by  a  nearer  view  of  the  contending  parties.  (Why  will)  the 
kings  of  earth  set  themselves,  or,  without  repeating  the  interrogation,  the 
kings  of  earth  will  set  themselves,  or  take  their  stand,  and  rulers  consult  to- 
gether, literally  sit  together,  but  with  special  reference  to  taking  counsel, 
as  in  Ps.  xxxi.  14  (13),  against  Jehovah  and  against  his  Anointed,  or  Messiah, 
which  is  only  a  modified  form  of  the  Hebrew  word  here  used,  as  Christ  is 
a  like  modification  of  the  corresponding  term  in  Greek.  External  unction 
or  anointing  is  a  sign,  in  the  Old  Testament,  of  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  especially  of  those  conferred  on  prophets,  priests,  and  kings,  as  minis- 
ters of  the  theocracy,  and  representatives  of  Christ  himself.  To  kings 
particularly,  as  the  highest  and  most  comprehensive  order,  and  pecuhar 
types  of  Christ  in  his  supremacy  as  Head  of  the  church,  the  sacred  history 
applies  the  title  of  the  Lord's  Anointed.  The  rite  of  unction  is  explicitly 
recorded  in  the  case  of  Saul,  David,  and  Solomon,  and  was  probably  re- 
peated at  the  coronation  of  their  successors.  From  the  verse  before  us, 
and  from  Dan.  ix.  26,  the  name  Messiah  ha3,  before  the  Advent,  come  into 
use  among  the  Jews  as  a  common  designation  of  the  great  Deliverer  and 
King  whom  they  expected.  (Compare  John  i.  41  with  ver.  49  of  the  same 
chapter,  and  with  Mark  xv.  32.)  The  intimate  relation  of  the  Anointed 
One  to  God  himself  is  indicated  even  here  by  making  them  the  cormnon 
object  of  attack,  or  rather  of  revolt.  In  Acts  iv.  25-27,  this  description 
is  applied  to  the  combination  of  Herod  and  Pilate,  Jews  and  Gentiles, 
against  Jesus  Christ,  not  as  the  sole  event  predicted,  but  as  that  in  which 
the  gradual  ftdfilment  reached  its  culmination.  From  that  quotation, 
and  indeed  from  the  terms  of  the  prophecy  itself,  we  learn  that  nations 
here  does  not  mean  Gentiles  or  heathen,  as  opposed  to  Jews,  but  whole  com- 


22  Psalm  2:3, 4 

munities  or  masses  of  mankind,  as  distinguished  from  mere  personal  or 
insulated  cases  of  resistance  and  rebellion. 

3.  Having  described  the  conduct  of  the  disaffected  nations  and  their 
chiefs,  he  now  introduces  them  as  speaking.  In  the  preceding  verse  they 
were  seen,  as  it  were,  at  a  distance,  taking  counsel.  Here  they  are  brought 
so  near  to  us,  or  we  to  them,  that  we  can  overhear  their  consultations. 
Let  m  break  their  bands,  i.  e.  the  bands  of  the  Lord  and  his  Anointed,  the 
restraints  imposed  by  their  authority.  The  form  of  the  Hebrew  verb  may 
be  expressive  either  of  a  proposition  or  of  a  fixed  determination.  We  will 
break  their  bands,  we  are  resolved  to  do  it.  This  is,  in  fact,  involved  in  the 
other  version,  where  let  us  break  must  not  be  understood  as  a  faint  or 
dubious  suggestion,  but  as  a  summons  to  the  execution  of  a  formed  and 
settled  purpose.  The  same  idea  is  expressed,  with  a  slight  modification, 
in  the  other  clause.  And  we  will  cast,  or  let  us  cast  away  from  us  their  cords, 
twisted  ropes,  a  stronger  term  than  bands.  The  verb,  too,  whUe  it  really 
implies  the  act  of  breaking,  suggests  the  additional  idea  of  contemptuous 
facihty,  as  if  they  had  said,  Let  us  fling  away  from  us  with  scorn  these 
feeble  bands  by  which  we  have  been  hitherto  confined.  The  apphcation 
of  this  passage  to  the  revolt  of  the  Ammonites  and  other  conquered  nations 
against  David,  or  to  any  similar  rebelHon  against  any  of  the  later  Jewish 
kings,  as  the  principal  subject  of  this  grand  description,  makes  it  quite 
ridiculous,  if  not  profane,  and  cannot  therefore  be  consistent  with  the 
principles  of  sound  interpretation.  The  utmost  that  can  be  conceded  is 
that  David  borrowed  the  scenery  of  this  dramatic  exhibition  from  the  wars 
and  insurrections  of  his  own  eventful  reign.  The  language  of  the  rebels 
in  the  verse  before  us  is  a  genuine  expression  of  the  feelings  entertained, 
not  only  in  the  hearts  of  individual  sinners,  but  by  the  masses  of  mankind, 
so  far  as  they  have  been  brought  into  collision  with  the  sovereignty  of  God 
and  Christ,  not  only  at  the  time  of  his  appearance  upon  earth,  but  in  the  ages 
both  before  and  after  that  event,  in  which  the  prophecy,  as  we  have  seen, 
attained  its  height,  but  was  not  finally  exhausted  or  fulfilled,  since  the 
same  rash  and  hopeless  opposition  to  the  Lord  and  his  anointed  still  con- 
tinues, and  is  likely  to  continue  until  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  be- 
come the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ  (Rev.  xi.  15),  an  expres- 
sion borrowed  from  this  very  passage. 

4.  As  the  fiist  strophe  or  stanza  of  three  verses  is  descriptive  of  the 
conduct  of  the  rebels,  so  the  next  describes  the  corresponding  action  of 
their  sovereign,  in  precisely  the  same  order,  telling  first  what  he  does  (in 
ver.  4,  5),  and  then  what  he  says  (in  ver.  6),  so  that  these  two  stanzas 
are  not  only  regular  in  their  internal  structure,  but  exactly  fitted  to  each 
other.  This  symmetrical  adjustment  is  entitled  to  attention,  as  that  feature 
of  the  Hebrew  poetry  which  fills  the  place  of  rhythm  and  metre  in  the 
poetry  of  other  nations.  At  the  same  time,  it  facilitates  interpretation, 
when  allowed  to  speak  for  itself  without  artificial  or  unnatural  straining, 
by  exhibiting  the  saUent  points  of  the  passage  in  their  true  relation.  The 
transition  here  is  a  sublime  one,  from  the  noise  and  agitation  of  earth 
to  the  safety  and  tranquilUty  of  heaven.  No  shifting  of  the  scene  could  be 
more  dramatic  in  effect  or  form.  While  the  nations  and  their  kings  exhort 
each  other  to  cast  off  their  allegiance  to  Jehovah,  and  thereby  virtually 
to  dethrone  him,  he  reposes  far  above  them,  and  beyond  their  reach.  Sit- 
ting in  the  heavens,  i.e.  resident  and  reigning  there,  he  laughs,  or  will 
laugh.  This  figure,  strong  and  almost  startling  as  it  is,  cannot  possibly 
be  misunderstood  by  any  reader,  as  a  vivid  expression  of  contemptuous 


Psalm  2:5-7  23 

security  on  God's  part,  and  of  impotent  folly  on  the  part  of  men.  At  them 
may  be  supplied  from  Ps.  xxxvii.  13,  and  lix.  9  (8)  ;  but  it  is  not  neces- 
sary, and  the  picture  is  perhaps  more  perfect,  if  we  understand  the  laughter 
here  to  be  simply  expressive  of  contempt,  and  the  idea  of  directly  laughing 
at  them  to  be  first  suggested  in  the  other  clause.  The  Lord,  not  Jehovah, 
as  in  ver.  2,  but  Adhonai,  the  Hebrew  word  properly  denoting  Lord  or 
Sovereign  as  a  divine  title,  the  Lord  shall  mock  them,  or  mock  at  them,  as 
the  strongest  possible  expression  of  contempt.  This  verse  conveys  in  the 
most  vivid  manner,  one  indeed  that  would  be  inadmissible  in  any  unin- 
spired writer,  the  fatuity  of  all  rebellious  opposition  to  God's  will.  That 
such  is  often  sufiered  to  proceed  long  with  impunity  is  only,  in  the  figura- 
tive language  of  this  passage,  because  God  first  laughs  at  human  folly, 
and  then  smites  it.  "  Who  thought,"  says  Luther,  "  when  Christ  sufiered, 
and  the  Jews  triumphed,  that  God  was  laughing  all  the  time  ?"  Beneath 
this  bold  anthropomorphism  there  is  hidden  a  profound  truth,  namely, 
that  to  all  superior  beings,  and  above  all,  to  God  himself,  there  is  some- 
thing in  sin  not  only  odious  but  absurd,  something  which  cannot  possibly 
escape  the  contempt  of  higher,  much  less  of  the  highest,  intelligence. 

5.  This  contemptuous  repose  and  seeming  indifference  shall  not  last  for 
ever.  Then,  after  having  thus  derided  them,  then,  as  the  next  stage  in  this 
fearful  process,  he  will  speak  to  them,  as  they,  after  rising  up  against  him, 
spoke  to  one  another  in  ver.  3.  Aiid  in  his  heat,  i.  e.  his  hot  displeasure, 
the  wrath  to  which  the  laughter  of  ver.  4  was  but  a  prelude,  he  will  agitate 
them,  terrify  them,  make  them  quake  with  fear,  not  as  a  separate  act 
jfrom  that  described  in  the  first  clause,  but  by  the  very  act  of  speaking  to 
them  in  his  anger,  the  words  spoken  being  given  in  the  following  verse. 

6.  The  divine  address  begins,  as  it  were,  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence ; 
but  the  clause  suppressed  is  easily  supplied,  being  tacitly  involved  in  what 
precedes.  As  if  he  had  said,  you  renoimce  your  allegiance  and  assert  your 
independence,  and  I,  on  my  part,  the  pronoun  when  expressed  in  Hebrew 
being  commonly  emphatic,  and  here  in  strong  antithesis  to  those  who  are 
addressed.  You  pursue  your  course  and  I  mine.  The  translation  yet, 
though  inexact  and  arbitrary,  brings  out  the  antithesis  correctly  in  a  different 
form  from  that  of  the  original.  And  I  have  constituted,  or  created,  with 
allusion  in  the  Hebrew  to  the  casting  of  an  image,  or  as  some  less  probably 
suppose  to  unction,  1  have  constituted  my  King,  not  simply  a  king,  nor  even 
the  king,  neither  of  which  expressions  would  he  adequate,  but  my  king,  one 
who  is  to  reign  for  me  and  in  indissoluble  union  with  me,  so  that  his  reign- 
ing is  identical  with  mine.  This  brings  out  still  more  clearly  the  intimate 
relation  of  the  Anointed  to  Jehovah,  which  had  been  indicated  less  dis- 
tinctly in  ver.  2,  and  thus  prepares  us  for  the  full  disclosure  of  their  mutual 
relation  in  ver.  7.  And  I  have  constituted  my  King  upon  Zion,  my  hill  of 
holiness,  or  holy  hill,  i.  e.  consecrated,  set  apart,  distinguished  from  all 
other  hills  and  other  places,  as  the  seat  of  the  theocracy,  the  royal  resi- 
dence, the  capital  city,  of  the  Lord  and  of  his  Christ,  from  the  time  that 
David  took  up  his  abode,  and  deposited  the  ark  there.  The  translation 
over  Zion  would  convey  the  false  idea,  that  Zion  was  itself  the  kingdom 
over  which  this  sovereign  was  to  reign,  whereas  it  was  only  the  visible  and 
temporary  centre  of  a  kingdom  coextensive  with  the  earth,  as  we  expressly 
read  it,  ver.  8,  below.  This  shews  that  the  application  of  the  verse  before 
us  to  David  himself,  although  intrinsically  possible,  is  utterly  at  variance 
with  the  context  and  the  whole  scope  of  the  composition. 

7.  We  have  here  another  of  those  changes  which  impart  to  this  whole 


24  Psalm  2:7 

psalm  a  highly  dramatic  character.  A  third  personage  is  introduced  as 
speaking  without  any  formal  intimation  in  the  text.  As  the  first  stanza 
(ver.  1-8)  closes  with  the  words  of  the  insurgents,  and  the  second  (ver.  4-6) 
with  the  words  of  the  Lord,  so  the  third  (ver.  7-9)  contains  the  language 
of  the  king  described  in  the  preceding  verse,  announcing  with  his  own  lips 
the  law  or  constitution  of  his  kingdom.  1  will  declare^  or  let  me  declare, 
the  same  form  of  the  verb  as  in  ver.  3,  the  decree,  the  statute,  the  organic 
law  or  constitution  of  my  kingdom.  The  Hebrew  verb  is  followed  by  a 
preposition,  which  may  be  expressed  in  English,  without  any  change  of 
sense,  by  rendering  the  clause,  I  will  declare,  or  make  a  declaration,  i.  e. 
a  public,  formal  announcement  {as)  to  the  law  or  constitution  of  my  kingdom. 
This  announcement  is  then  made  in  a  historical  form,  by  reciting  what  had 
been  said  to  the  king  at  his  inauguration  or  induction  into  oflSce.  Jehovah 
said  to  me,  My  son  (art)  thou,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee.  Whether  this 
be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  decree  or  law  itself,  or  as  a  mere  preamble  to 
it,  the  relation  here  described  is  evidently  one  which  carried  with  it  uni- 
versal dominion  as  a  necessary  consequence,  as  well  as  one  which  justifies 
the  use  of  the  expression  my  King  in  ver.  6.  It  must  be  something  more, 
then,  than  a  figure  for  intense  love  or  peculiar  favour,  something  more  than 
the  filial  relation  which  the  theocratic  kings,  and  Israel  as  a  nation,  bore  to 
God.  (Exod.  iv.  22  ;  Deut.  xiv.  1,  2,  xxxii.  6  ;  Isa.  Ixiii.  16 ;  Hos.  xi.  1 ; 
Mai.  i.  6  ;  Kom  ix.  4.)  Nor  will  any  explanation  of  the  terms  fully  meet 
the  requisitions  of  the  context  except  one  which  supposes  the  relation  here 
described  as  manifest  in  time  to  rest  on  one  essential  and  eternal.  This 
alone  accounts  for  the  identification  of  the  persons  as  possessing  a  common 
interest,  and  reigning  with  and  in  each  other.  This  profound  sense  of  the 
passage  is  no  more  excluded  by  the  phrase  this  day,  impljdng  something 
recent,  than  the  imiversality  of  Christ's  dominion  is  excluded  by  the  local 
reference  to  Zion.  The  point  of  time,  like  the  point  of  space,  is  the  finite 
centre  of  an  infinite  circle.  Besides,  the  mere  form  of  the  declaration  is  a 
part  of  the  dramatic  scenery  or  costume  with  which  the  truth  is  here 
invested.  The  ideas  of  a  king,  a  coronation,  a  hereditary  succession,  are 
all  drawn  from  human  and  temporal  associations.  This  day  have  I  begotten 
thee  may  be  considered,  therefore,  as  referring  only  to  the  coronation  of 
Messiah,  which  is  an  ideal  one.  The  essential  meaning  of  the  phrase  I 
have  begotten  thee  is  simply  this,  I  am  thy  father.  The  antithesis  is  per- 
fectly identical  with  that  in  2  Sam.  vii.  14,  *'  I  will  be  his  father,  and  he 
shall  be  my  son."  Had  the  same  form  of  expression  been  used  here,  this 
day  am  I  thy  father,  no  reader  would  have  understood  this  day  as  limiting 
the  mutual  relation  of  the  parties,  however  it  might  limit  to  a  certain  point 
of  time  the  formal  recognition  of  it.  It  must  also  be  observed,  that  even 
if  this  day  be  referred  to  the  inception  of  the  filial  relation,  it  is  thrown 
indefinitely  back  by  the  form  of  reminiscence  or  narration  in  the  first  clause 
of  the  verse.  Jehovah  said  to  me,  but  when  ?  If  understood  to  mean  from 
everlasting  or  eternity,  the  form  of  expression  would  be  perfectly  in  keeping 
with  the  other  figurative  forms  by  which  the  Scriptures  represent  things 
really  ineffable  in  human  language.  The  opinion  that  this  passage  is  apphed 
by  Paul,  in  Acts  xiii.  33,  to  Christ's  resurrection,  rests  upon  a  misappre- 
hension of  the  verb  raised  up,  which  has  this  specific  meaning  only  when 
determined  by  the  context  or  the  addition  of  the  words  from  the  dead,  as  in 
the  next  verse  of  the  same  chapter,  which  is  so  far  from  requiring  the  more 
general  expressions  of  the  preceding  verse  to  be  taken  in  the  same  sense, 
that  it  rather  forbids  such  a  construction,  and  shews  that  the  two  verses 


Psalm  2:8, 9  25 

Bpeak  of  different  stages  in  the  same  great  process  :  first,  the  raising  up  of 
Jesus  in  the  same  sense  in  which  God  is  said  to  have  raised  him  up  in  Acts 
ii.  30,  iii.  22,  26,  vii.  36,  i. e.  bringing  him  into  being  as  a  man;  and  then 
the  raising  up  from  the  dead,  which  the  apostle  himself  introduces  as 
another  topic  in  Acts  xiii.  34.  There  is  nothing,  therefore,  inconsistent 
with  the  statement  that  the  psalmist  here  speaks  of  eternal  sonship,  either 
in  the  passage  just  referred  to,  or  in  Heb.  v.  5,  where  the  words  are  only 
cited  to  prove  the  solemn  recognition  of  Christ's  sonship,  and  his  conse- 
quent authority,  by  God  himself.  This  recognition  was  repeated,  and,  as 
it  were,  realised  at  our  Saviour's  baptism  and  transfiguration  (Mat.  iii.  17, 
xvii.  5),  when  a  voice  from  heaven  said,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom 
I  am  well  pleased,  hear  ye  him !  " 

8.  The  recital  of  Jehovah's  declaration  to  his  Son  is  still  continued. 
Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give  nations  (as)  thy  heritage,  i.  e.  thy  portion  as  my 
Son,  and  (as)  thy  [permanent)  possession,  from  a  verb  denoting  to  hold  fast, 
the  ends  of  the  earth,  a  common  Old  Testament  expression  for  the  whole 
earth,  the  remotest  bounds  and  all  that  lies  between  them.  The  phrase  is 
never  applied  to  "a  particular  country,  and  cannot  therefore  be  explained  of 
Palestine  or  David's  conquests,  without  violently  changing  the  sublime  to 
the  ridiculous.  The  only  subject,  who  can  be  assumed  and  carried  through 
without  absurdity,  is  the  Messiah,  who,  as  the  Son  and  heir  of  God,  had  a 
right  to  ask  this  vast  inheritance.  That  he  had  asked  it  and  received  it, 
is  implied  in  the  dominion  claimed  for  him  in  ver.  2  and  3,  where  the 
nations  are  represented  in  revolt  against  him  as  their  rightful  sovereign. 
It  was  to  justify  this  claim  that  the  divine  decree  is  here  recited,  the  con- 
stitution of  Messiah's  kingdom,  in  which  its  limits  are  defined  as  co-exten- 
sive with  the  earth. 

9.  This  extensive  grant  had  been  accompanied  by  that  of  power  ade- 
quate to  hold  it.  Th^t  power  was  to  be  exercised  in  wrath  as  well  as 
mercy.  The  former  is  here  rendered  prominent,  because  the  previous  con- 
text has  respect  to  audacious  rebels,  over  whom  Messiah  is  invested  with 
the  necessary  power  of  punishment,  and  even  of  destruction.  Thou  shalt 
break  them  with  a  rod  (or  sceptre)  of  iron,  as  the  hardest  metal,  and  there- 
fore the  best  suited  to  the  use  in  question.  By  a  slight  change  of  pointing 
in  the  Hebrew,  it  may  be  made  to  mean,  thou  shall  feed  them  (as  a  shep- 
herd) with  a  rod  of  iron,  which  is  the  sense  expressed  in  several  of  the 
ancient  versions,  and  to  which  there  may  be  an  ironical  allusion,  as  the 
figure  is  a  common  one  to  represent  the  exercise  of  regal  power.  (See  for 
example  2  Sam.  vii.  7,  and  Micah  vii.  14.)  Like  a  potter's  vessel  thou  shalt 
shiver  them,  or  dash  them  in  pieces,  which  last,  however,  weakens  the 
expression  by  multiplying  the  words.  The  idea  suggested  by  the  last 
comparison  is  that  of  easy  and  immediate  destruction,  perhaps  with  an 
implication  of  worthlessness  in  the  object.  This  view  of  the  Messiah  as  a 
destroyer  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  New  Testament  doctrine,  that  those 
who  reject  Christ  will  incur  an  aggravated  doom,  and  that  Christ  himself 
is  in  some  sense  the  destroyer  of  those  who  will  not  let  him  be  their 
Saviour,  or,  to  borrow  terms  from  one  of  his  own  parables,  in  strict  agree- 
ment with  the  scene  presented  by  the  psalm  before  us,  **  those  mine  ene- 
mies which  would  not  that  I  should  reign  over  them,  bring  hither  and  slay 
them  before  me"  (Luke  xix.  27).  That  false  view  of  the  divine  nature 
which  regards  God  as  delighting  in  the  death  of  the  sinner,  is  more  revolt- 
ing, but  not  more  dangerous  than  that  which  looks  upon  his  justice  as  ex- 
tinguished by  his  mercy,  and  supposes  that  the  death  of  Christ  has  rendered 


26  Psalm  2:10 -12 

perdition  impossible,  even  to  those  who  will  not  believe  in  him.  The  terms 
of  this  verse  are  repeatedly  applied  to  Christ  in  the  Book  of  Kevelation 
(ii.  27,  xii.  5,  xix.  15). 

10.  The  description  having  reached  its  height  in  the  preceding  verse, 
there  is  here  a  sudden  change  of  manner,  a  transition  to  the  tone  of  earnest 
admonition,  still  addressed,  however,  to  the  characters  originally  brought 
upon  the  scene.  And  vow  (0)  klnr/s,  after  all  that  you  have  seen  and 
heard,  after  this  demonstration  that  you  cannot  escape  from  the  dominion 
of  Messiah,  and  that  if  you  persist  in  your  rebellion  he  will  certainly  destroy 
you,  be  ivise,  act  wisely  ;  be  uarued,  be  admonished  of  your  danger  and  your 
duty,  (0)  jud(jes  of  the  earth !  A  specific  function  of  the  regal  office  is  here 
used  as  an  equivalent  or  parallel  to  Jdngs  in  the  first  clause,  just  as  rulers 
is  employed  for  the  same  purpose  in  ver.  2.  The  change  of  tone  in  this 
last  strophe  shews  that  the  previous  exhibition  of  Messiah  as  invested  with 
destroying  power  was,  as  it  usually  is  in  Scripture,  only  introductory  to 
another  aspect  of  the  same  great  object,  which  becomes  more  clear  and 
bright  to  the  conclusion  of  the  psalm.  At  the  same  time  the  original 
dramatic  structure  is  maintained  ;  for  the  speaker,  in  this  closing  stanza, 
is  the  Psalmist  himself. 

11.  Serve  the  Lord,  Jehovah,  in  the  way  that  he  requires,  by  acknow- 
ledging his  Anointed  as  your  rightful  sovereign.  Serve  the  Lord  icith  fear, 
religious  awe,  not  only  on  account  of  his  tremendous  majesty,  but  also  in 
view  of  his  vindicatory  justice  and  destroying  power.  And  shout,  as  a  cus- 
tomary recognition  of  a  present  sovereign,  ivith  trembling,  an  external  sign 
of  fear,  employed  as  an  equivalent  or  parallel  to  fear  itself.  The  word 
translated  shout  may  also  mean  rejoice,  as  joy  is  often  publicly  expressed 
by  acclamation.  The  sense  will  then  be,  and  rejoice  with  trembling,  i.e. 
exercise  those  mingled  feelings  which  are  suited  to  yom-  present  situation, 
in  fall  view  of  God's  wrath  on  one  side,  and  his  mercy  on  the  other.  This 
explanation  agrees  well  with  the  transition,  in  these  verses,  from  the  tone 
of  terrible  denunciation  to  that  of  friendly  admonition  and  encouragement. 

12.  Lest  the  exhortation  in  the  preceding  verse  should  seem  to  have 
respect  to  Jehovah  as  an  absolute  sovereign,  without  reference  to  any  other 
person,  the  attention  is  again  called  to  his  King,  his  Anointed,  and  his 
Son,  as  the  sovereign  to  whom  homage  must  be  paid,  in  order  to  escape 
destruction.  Kiss  the  Son,  an  ancient  mode  of  doing  homage  or  allegiance 
to  a  king  (1  Sam.  x.  1),  sometimes  applied  to  the  dress,  and  sometimes  to 
the  person,  either  of  the  sovereign  or  the  subject  himself.  Even  in  modem 
European  courts  the  kissing  of  the  hand  has  this  significance.  In  the  case 
before  us  there  may  possibly  be  an  allusion  to  the  kiss  as  a  religious  act 
among  the  heathen  (1  Kings  xix.  18;  Hos.  xiii.  2;  Job  xxxi.  27).  Kiss 
the  Son,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Messiah,  so  called  by  the  Jews  in  Christ's 
time  (John  i.  50 ;  Matt.  xxvi.  68 ;  Mark  xiv.  61 ;  Luke  xxii.  70) :  do 
him  homage,  own  him  as  your  sovereign,  lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye  lose  the 
rjcay,  i.e.  the  way  to  happiness  and  heaven,  as  in  Ps.  i.  6,  or  perish  from 
the  way,  which  is  the  same  thing  in  another  form,  or  perish  by  the  way,  i.  e. 
before  you  reach  your  destination.  All  these  ideas  are  suggested  by  the 
Hebrew  phrase,  which  is  unusual.  The  necessity  of  prompt  as  well  as 
humble  submission  is  then  urged.  For  his  wrath  will  soon  bum,  or  be 
kindled.  The  translation,  "  when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a  little,"  does 
not  yield  so  good  a  meaning,  and  requires  two  of  the  original  expressions 
to  be  taken  in  a  doubtful  and  unusual  sense.  The  same  view  of  the 
Messiah  as  a  judge  and  an  avenger,  which  appeared  in  ver.  9,  is  again 


Psalm  3:1  27 

presented  here,  but  only  for  a  moment,  and  as  a  prelude  to  the  closing  beati- 
tude or  benediction.  Blessed  (are)  all,  oh  the  felicities  of  all,  those  trusting 
him,  believing  on  him,  and  confiding  in  him.  This  delightful  contrast  of 
salvation  and  perdition,  at  one  and  the  same  view,  is  characteristic  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  should  teach  us  not  to  look  ourselves,  and  not  to  turn  the 
eyes  of  others,  towards  either  of  these  objects  without  due  regard  to  the 
other  also.  The  resemblance  in  the  language  of  this  verse  to  that  of  Ps. 
i.  1  and  6,  brings  the  two  into  connection,  as  parts  of  one  harmonious  com- 
position, or  at  least  as  kindred  and  contemporaneous  products  of  a  single 
mind,  under  the  influence  of  one  and  the  same  Spirit. 

Psalm  3 

This  Psalm  contains  a  strong  description  of  the  enemies  and  dangers  by 
which  the  writer  was  surrounded,  and  an  equally  strong  expression  of  con- 
fidence that  God  would  extricate  him  from  them,  with  particular  reference 
to  former  deliverances  of  the  same  kind.  Its  place  in  the  collection  does 
not  seem  to  be  fortuitous  or  arbitrary.  It  was  probably  among  the  first  of 
David's  lyrical  compositions,  the  two  which  now  precede  it  having  been 
afterwards  prefixed  to  the  collection.  In  these  three  psalms  there  is  a 
sensible  gradation  or  progressive  development  of  one  great  idea.  The 
general  contrast,  which  the  first  exhibits,  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked, 
is  reproduced,  in  the  second,  as  a  war  against  the  Lord  and  his  Anointed. 
In  the  third  it  is  still  further  individualised  as  a  conflict  between  David, 
the  great  historical  type  of  the  Messiah,  and  his  enemies.  At  the  same 
time,  the  expressions  are  so  chosen  as  to  make  the  psalm  appropriate  to 
its  main  design,  that  of  furnishing  a  vehicle  of  pious  feeling  to  the  church 
at  large,  and  to  its  individual  members  in  their  own  emergencies.  The 
structure  of  the  psalm  is  regular,  consisting  of  four  double  verses,  besides 
the  title. 

1.  A  Psalm  of  David,  literally  (belonging)  to  David,  i.e.  as  the  author. 
This  is  not  a  mere  inscription,  but  a  part  of  the  text  and  inseparable  from 
it,  so  far  as  we  can  trace  its  history.  It  was  an  ancient  usage,  both  among 
classical  and  oriental  writers,  for  the  author  to  introduce  his  own  name  into 
the  first  sentence  of  his  composition.  The  titles  of  the  psalms  ought,  there- 
fore, not  to  have  been  printed  in  a  difi'erent  type,  or  as  something  added  to 
the  text,  which  has  led  some  editors  to  omit  them  altogether.  In  all 
Hebrew  manuscripts  they  bear  the  same  relation  to  the  body  of  the  psalm, 
that  the  inscriptions  in  the  prophet's  or  in  Paul's  epistles  bear  to  the  sub- 
stance of  the  composition.  In  the  case  before  us,  as  in  every  other,  the 
inscription  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  psalm  itself,  as  well  as  with  the 
parallel  history.  Besides  the  author's  name,  it  here  states  the  historical 
occasion  of  the  composition.  A  Psalm  of  David,  in  his  fleeing,  when  he 
fled,  from  the  face,  from  the  presence,  or  before,  Absalom.,  his  son  (see 
2  Sam.  XV.  14,  17,  30),  Such  a  psalm  might  well  be  conceived,  and  even 
composed,  if  not  actually  written,  in  the  midst  of  the  dangers  and  distresses 
which  occasioned  it.  There  is  no  need  therefore  of  supposing  the  reference 
to  be  merely  retrospective.  That  the  terms  used  are  so  general,  is  because 
the  psalm,  though  first  suggested  by  the  writer's  personal  experience,  was 
intended  for  more  general  use. 

2  (1).  O  Lord,  Jehovah,  the  name  of  God  as  self-existent  and  eternal, 
and  also  as  the  covenant  God  of  Israel,  how  many,  or  how  midtiplied,  are 


28  Psalm  3:2 -4 

my  foes,  my  oppressors  or  tormentors  I  This  is  not  a  question,  but  an 
exclamation  of  surprise  and  grief.  Many  rising  up  against  me.  The  sen- 
tence may  either  be  completed  thus  :  many  (are  they)  that  rise  up  against 
me ;  or  the  construction  of  the  other  clause  may  be  continued.  {How) 
many  {are  there)  rising  up  against  me  !  The  same  periphrasis  for  enemies  is 
used  by  Moses,  Deut.  xxviii.  7.  What  is  here  said  of  the  multitude  of 
enemies  agrees  well  with  the  historical  statement  in  2  Sam.  xv.  13,  xvi.  18. 

3  (2).  {There  are)  many  saying,  or,  {how)  many  {are  there)  saying  to  my 
soul,  i.  e.  so  as  to  affect  my  heart,  though  really  said  of  him,  not  directly 
addressed  to  him.  (Compare  Ps.  xxxv.  3  ;  Isa.  li.  23.)  There  is  no  salva- 
tion, deliverance  from  evil,  whether  temporal,  spiritual,  or  eternal.  There 
is  no  salvation  for  him,  the  sufferer,  and  primarily  the  psalmist  himself,  in 
God,  i.  e.  in  his  power,  or  his  purpose,  implying  either  that  God  does  not 
concern  himself  about  such  things,  Ps.  x.  11,  or  that  he  has  cast  the  suf- 
ferer off,  Ps.  xUi.  4.  11  (3,  10),  Ixxi.  11,  xxii.  8,  9,  (7,  8) ;  Matt,  xxvii.  43. 
This  is  the  language,  not  of  despondent  friends,  but  of  malignant  ene- 
mies, and  is  really  the  worst  that  even  such  could  say  of  him.  For,  as 
Luther  well  says,  all  the  temptations  in  the  world,  and  in  hell  too,  melted 
together  into  one,  are  nothing  when  compared  with  the  temptation  to 
despair  of  God's  mercy.  The  first  stanza,  or  double  verse,  closes,  like  the 
jecond  and  fourth,  with  the  word  Selah.  This  term  occurs  seventy-three 
times  in  the  Psalms,  and  three  times  in  the  prophecy  of  Habakkuk.  It 
corresponds  to  rest,  either  as  a  noun  or  verb,  and  like  it  is  properly  a 
musical  term,  but  generally  indicates  a  pause  in  the  sense  as  well  as  the 
performance.  See  below,  on  Ps.  ix.  17  (16).  Like  the  titles,  it  invariably 
forms  part  of  the  text,  and  its  omission  by  some  editors  and  translators  is 
a  mutilation  of  the  word  of  God.  In  the  case  before  us,  it  serves  as  a  kind 
of  pious  ejaculation  to  express  the  writer's  feeUngs,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
warns  the  reader  to  reflect  on  what  he  reads,  just  as  our  Saviour  was  accus- 
tomed to  say :  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear  let  him  hear. 

4  (3).  From  his  earthly  enemies  and  dangers  he  looks  up  to  God,  the 
source  of  his  honours  and  his  tried  protector.  The  connection  is  similar 
to  that  between  the  fifth  and  sixth  verses  of  the  second  psahn.  The  and 
(not  but)  has  reference  to  a  tacit  comparison  or  contrast.  This  is  my  treat- 
ment at  the  hands  of  men,  and  thou,  on  the  other  hand,  0  Lord,  Jehovah, 
{art)  a  shield  about  me,  or  around  me,  i.  e.  covering  my  whole  body,  not 
merely  a  part  of  it,  as  ordinary  shields  do.  This  is  a  favourite  metaphor 
with  David ;  see  Ps.  vii.  11  (10),  xviii.  3  (2),  xxviii.  7.  It  occxirs,  how- 
ever, more  than  once  in  the  Pentateuch ;  see  Gen.  xv.  1 ;  Deut.  xxxiii.  29. 
My  honour,  i.  e.  the  source  of  the  honours  I  enjoy,  with  particular  refer- 
ence, no  doubt,  to  his  royal  dignity,  not  as  a  secular  distinction  merely, 
but  in  connection  with  the  honour  put  upon  him  as  a  type  and  representa- 
tive of  Christ.  The  honour  thus  bestowed  by  God  he  might  weU  be  expected 
to  protect.  My  honour,  and  the  {one)  raising  my  head,  i.  e.  making  me 
look  up  from  my  despondency.  The  whole  verse  is  an  appeal  to  the 
psalmist's  previous  experience  of  God's  goodness  as  a  ground  for  the  con- 
fidence afterwards  expressed. 

5  (4).  {With)  my  voice  to  the  Lord,  Jehovah,  I  will  call,  or  cry.  The 
fature  form  of  the  verb  is  probably  intended  to  express  continued  or  habi- 
tual action,  as  in  Ps.  i.  2.  I  cry  and  will  cry  still.  And  he  hears  me,  or, 
then  he  hears  me,  i.  e.  when  I  call.  The  original  construction  shews,  in  a 
peculiar  manner,  the  dependence  of  the  last  verb  on  the  first,  which  can 
hardly  be  conveyed  by  an  exact  translation.      The  second  verb  is  not  the 


Psalm  3:5  -  7  29 

usual  verb  to  hear,  but  one  especially  appropriated  to  the  gracious  hearing 
or  answering  of  prayer.  And  he  hears  (or  answers)  me  from  his  hill  of  holi- 
ness,  or  holy  hill.  This,  as  we  learn  from  Ps.  ii.  6,  is  Zion,  the  seat  and 
centre  of  the  old  theocracy,  the  place  where  God  visibly  dwelt  among  his 
people.  This  designation  of  a  certain  spot  as  the  earthly  residence  of  God, 
was  superseded  by  the  incarnation  of  his  Son,  whose  person  thenceforth 
took  the  place  of  the  old  sanctuary.  It  was,  therefore,  no  play  upon  words 
or  fanciful  allusion,  when  our  Saviour  "  spake  of  the  temple  of  his  body" 
(John  ii.  21),  but  a  disclosure  of  the  true  sense  of  the  sanctuary  under  the 
old  system,  as  designed  to  teach  the  doctrine  of  God's  dwelling  with  his 
people.  The  same  confidence  with  which  the  Christian  now  looks  to  God 
in  Christ  the  old  believer  felt  towards  the  holy  hill  of  Zion.  Here  again 
the  strophe  ends  with  a  devout  and  meditative  pause,  denoted  as  before  by 
Selah. 

6  (5.)  I,  even  I,  whose  case  you  regarded  as  so  desperate,  have  lain  down, 
and  slept,  (and)  awaked,  notwithstanding  all  these  dangers,  for  the  Lord, 
Jehovah,  ivill  sustain  me,  and  I  therefore  have  no  fears  to  rob  me  of  my 
sleep.  This  last  clause  is  not  a  reason  for  the  safety  he  enjoys,  which 
would  require  the  past  tense,  but  for  his  freedom  from  anxiety,  in  reference 
to  which  the  future  is  entirely  appropriate.  This  construction,  thp  only 
one  which  gives  the  Hebrew  words  their  strict  and  full  sense,  forbids  the 
supposition  that  the  psalm  before  us  was  an  evening  song,  composed  on  the 
night  of  David's  flight  from  Jerusalem.  If  any  such  distinctions  be  admis- 
sible or  necessary,  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  morning  rather  than  an  evening 
hymn. 

7  (6).  The  fearlessness  implied  in  the  preceding  verse  is  here  expressed. 
I  will  not  be  afraid  of  myriads,  or  multitudes,  the  Hebrew  word  being  used 
both  in  a  definite  and  vague  sense.  It  also  contains  an  allusion  to  the  first 
verb  in  ver.  2  (1),  of  which  it  is  a  derivative.  /  will  not  be  afraid  of 
myriads  of  people,  either  in  the  sense  of  persons,  men,  or  by  a  poetic  licence 
for  the  people,  i.  e.  Israel,  the  great  mass  of  whom  had  now  revolted. 
Whom  they,  my  enemies,  have  set,  or  posted,  round  about  against  me.  This 
is  a  simpler  and  more  accurate  construction  than  the  reflexive  one,  who 
have  set  [themselves)  against  me  round  about,  although  the  essential  meaning 
still  remains  the  same.  The  sum  of  the  whole  verse  is,  that  the  same 
courage  which  enabled  him  to  sleep  without  disturbance  in  the  midst  of 
enemies  and  dangers,  still  sustained  him  when  those  enemies  and  dangers 
were  presented  to  his  waking  senses. 

8  (7).  That  this  courage  was  not  founded  upon  self-reUance,  he  now 
shews  by  asking  God  for  that  which  he  before  expressed  his  sure  hope  of 
obtaining.  Arise,  0  Lord,  Jehovah  1  This  is  a  common  scriptural  mode 
of  calling  upon  God  to  manifest  his  presence  and  his  power,  either  in  wrath 
or  favour.  By  a  natural  anthropomorphism,  it  describes  the  intervals  of 
such  manifestations  as  periods  of  inaction  or  of  slumber,  out  of  which  he 
is  besought  to  rouse  himself.  Save  me,  even  me,  of  whom  they  say  there 
is  no  help  for  him  in  God.  See  above,  ver.  3  (2).  Save  me,  0  my  God, 
mine  by  covenant  and  mutual  engagement,  to  whom  I  therefore  have  a 
right  to  look  for  deliverance  and  protection.  This  confidence  is  warranted, 
moreover,  by  experience.  For  thou  hast,  in  former  exigencies,  smitten  all 
my  enemies,  without  exception,  {on  the)  cheek  or  jaw,  an  act  at  once  violent 
and  insulting.  See  1  Kings  xxii.  24 ;  Micah  iv.  14 ;  v.  1 ;  Lam.  iii.  80. 
The  teeth  of  the  wicked,  here  identified  with  his  enemies,  because  he  was 
the  champion  and  representative  of  God's  cause,  thou  hast  broken,  and  thus 


30  Psalm  4:1 

rendered  harmless.  The  image  present  to  his  mind  seems  to  be  that  of 
wild  beasts  eager  to  devour  him,  under  which  form  his  enemies  are  repre- 
sented in  Ps.  xxvii.  2. 

9  (8).  To  the  Lord,  Jehovah,  ihe  salvation,  which  I  need  and  hope  for, 
is  or  belongs,  as  to  its  only  author  and  dispenser.  To  him,  therefore,  he 
appeals  for  the  bestowment  of  it,  not  on  himself  alone,  but  on  the  church 
of  which  he  was  the  visible  and  temporary  head.  On  thij  people  (be) 
thy  blessing  !  This  earnest  and  disinterested  intercession  for  God's  people 
forms  a  noble  close  or  winding  up  of  the  whole  psalm,  and  is  therefore 
preferable  to  the  version,  07i  thy  people  (is)  thy  blessing,  which,  though 
equally  grammatical,  is  less  significant,  and  indeed  little  more  than  a  repe- 
tition of  the  fact  asserted  in  the  first  clause,  whereas  this  is  really  an  im- 
portunate petition  founded  on  it.  The  whole  closes,  like  the  first  and 
second  stanzas,  with  a  solemn  and  devout  pause.     Selah. 

Psalm  4 

The  Psalmist  prays  God  to  deliver  him  from  present  as  from  past  dis- 
tresses, ver.  2  (1).  He  assures  the  haters  of  his  regal  dignity  that  God 
bestowed  it,  and  will  certainly  protect  it,  ver.  3,  4  (2,  3).  He  exhorts 
them  to  quiet  submission,  righteousness,  and  trust  in  God,  ver.  5,  6  (4,  5). 
He  contrasts. his  own  satisfaction,  springing  from  such  trust,  with  the  hope- 
less disquietude  of  others,  even  in  the  midst  of  their  enjoyments,  ver.  7,  8 
(6,  7).  He  closes  with  an  exquisite  proof  of  his  tranquillity  by  falling 
asleep,  as  it  were,  before  us,  under  the  divine  protection,  ver,  9  (8).  The 
resemblance  of  the  last  verse  to  ver.  6  (5)  of  the  preceding  psalm,  together 
with  the  general  similarity  of  structure,  shews  that,  like  the  first  and  second, 
they  were  meant  to  form  a  pair,  or  double  psalm.  For  the  reasons  given 
in  explaining  Ps.  iii.  6  (5),  the  third  may  be  described  as  a  morning,  and 
the  fourth  as  an  evening  psalm.  The  historical  occasion  is  of  course 
the  same  in  both,  though  mentioned  only  in  the  title  of  the  third,  while 
the  musical  directions  are  given  in  the  title  of  the  fourth.  The  absence  of 
personal  and  local  allusions  is  explained  by  the  object  of  the  composition, 
which  was  not  to  express  private  feelings  merely,  but  to  furnish  a  vehicle 
of  pious  sentiment  for  other  sufferers,  and  the  church  at  large. 

1.  To  the  chief  musician,  literally  the  overseer  or  superintendent,  of  any 
work  or  labour  (2  Chron.  ii.  1, 17,  xxxiv.  12),  and  of  the  temple  music  in 
pai'ticular  (1  Chxon.  xv.  21).  The  psalm  is  described  as  belonging  to  him, 
as  the  performer,  or  as  intended  for  him,  to  be  given  to  him.  This  shews 
that  it  was  written  for  the  use  of  the  ancient  church,  and  not  for  any  merely 
private  purpose.  That  this  direction  was  not  added  by  a  later  hand  is 
clear  from  the  fact  that  it  never  appears  in  the  latest  psalms.  The  same 
formula  occurs  at  the  beginning  of  fifty-three  psalms,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  one  in  the  third  chapter  of  Habakkuk.  A  more  specific  musical  direc- 
tion follows.  In,  on,  or  with  stringed  instruments.  This  may  either  qualify 
chief  musician,  as  denoting  the  leader  in  that  particular  style  of  perform- 
ance, or  dii-ect  him  to  perform  this  particular  psalm  with  that  kind  of  accom- 
paniment. A  psalm  to  David,  i.e.  belonging  to  him  as  the  author,  just  as 
it  belonged  to  the  chief  musician,  as  the  performer.  The  original  expres- 
sion is  the  same  in  both  cases.  Of  David  conveys  the  sense  correctly,  but 
is  rather  a  paraphrase  than  a  translation. 

2  (1).  The  psalm  opens  with  a  prayer  for  deliverance  founded  on  pre- 


Psalm  4:2, 3  31 

vious  experience  of  God's  mercy.  In  my  calling,  when  I  call,  hear  me,  in 
the  pregnant  sense  of  hearing  favourably,  hear  and  answer  me,  grant  me 
what  I  ask.  0  my  God  of  righteousness,  my  righteous  God !  Compare 
my  hill  o/"  holiness,  Ps.  ii.  6,  and  his  hill  of  holiness,  Ps.  iii.  5  (4).  The 
appeal  to  God,  as  a  God  of  righteousness,  implies  the  justice  of  the  Psalm- 
ist's cause,  and  shews  that  he  asks  nothing  inconsistent  with  God's  holi- 
ness. The  same  rule  should  govern  all  our  prayers,  which  must  be  impious  if 
they  ask  God  to  deny  himself.  The  mercy  here  asked  is  no  new  or  untried 
favour.  It  is  because  he  has  experienced  it  before  that  he  dares  to  ask  it 
now.  In  the  pressure,  or  confinement,  a  common  figure  for  distress,  which 
I  have  heretofore  experienced,  thou  hast  widened,  or  made  room /or  me,  the 
corresponding  figure  for  relief.  All  he  asks  is  that  this  may  be  repeated. 
Have  mercy  upon  me,  or  he  gracious  unto  me,  now  as  in  former  times,  and 
hear  my  prayer.  This  appeal  to  former  mercies,  as  a  ground  for  claiming  new 
ones,  is  characteristic  of  the  Bible  and  of  true  religion.  Among  men  past 
favours  may  forbid  all  further  expectations ;  but  no  such  rule  applies  to 
the  divine  compassions.  The  more  we  draw  from  this  source,  the  more 
copious  and  exhaustless  it  becomes. 

3  (2).  Sons  of  man !  In  Hebrew,  as  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  German, 
there  are  two  words  answering  to  man,  one  generic  and  the  other  specific. 
When  placed  in  opposition  to  each  other,  they  denote  men  of  high  and  low 
degree,  as  in  Ps.  xlix.  3  (2),  Ixii.  10  (9),  Prov.  viii.  4.  It  seems  better, 
therefore,  to  give  the  phrase  here  used  its  emphatic  senge,  as  signifying  men 
of  note  or  eminence,  rather  than  the  vague  one  of  men  in  general  or  human 
beings.  This  agrees,  moreover,  with  the  probable  occasion  of  this  psalm, 
viz.,  the  rebellion  of  Absalom,  in  which  the  leading  men  of  Israel  were 
involved.  To  what  (time),  i.e.  how  long,  or  to  what  (point),  degree  of 
wickedness  ;  most  probably  the  former.  How  long  (shall)  my  honour,  not 
merely  personal,  but  official,  (be)  for  shame,  i.  e.  be  so  accounted,  or  (6» 
converted)  into  shame,  by  my  humiliation  ?  David  never  loses  sight  of  hia 
religious  dignity  as  a  theocratical  king  and  a  type  of  the  Messiah,  or  of  the 
insults  ofiered  to  the  latter  in  his  person.  The  question,  how  long  ?.  im- 
plies that  it  had  lasted  long  enough,  nay,  too  long,  even  when  it  first  began ; 
in  other  words,  that  it  was  wrong  from  the  beginning.  (How  long)  will  ye 
love  vanity,  or  a  vain  thing,  in  the  sense  both  of  a  foolish,  hopeless  under- 
taking, and  of  something  morally  defective  or  worthless.  The  same  word 
is  used  above  in  reference  to  the  insurrection  of  the  nations  against  God 
and  Christ  (Ps.  ii.  1).  (How  long)  will  ye  seek  a  lie,  i.e.  seek  to  realise  a 
vain  imagination,  or  to  verify  a  false  pretension,  with  particular  reference 
perhaps  to  the  deceitful  policy  of  Absalom  (2"  Sam,  xv.  4,7).  As  the  love 
of  the  first  clause  denotes  the  bent  of  their  affections,  so  the  seek  of  this 
clause  signifies  the  acting  out  of  their  internal  dispositions.  Compare  Ps. 
xxxiv.  15  (14),  and  Zeph.  ii.  3.  The  feeling  of  indignant  surprise  implied 
in  the  interrogation  is  expressed  still  further  by  a  solemn  pause.  Selah. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  3  (2).  The  position  of  this  word,  here  and  in  ver. 
5  (4)  below,  seems  to  forbid  the  division  of  the  psalm  into  strophes  or 
stanzas  of  equal  length. 

4  (3).  The  pause  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  verse  expresses  feeling. 
The  connection  of  the  verses,  as  to  sense,  is  as  intimate  as  possible.  The 
and  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse  before  us  has  reference  to  the  exhortation 
implied  in  the  foregoing  question.  (See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  6.)  Cease  to 
love  vanity  and  seek  a  lie,  ajid  know,  be  assured,.  t^a<  the  Lord,  Jehovah, 
hath  set  apart,  the  same  verb  used  to  signify  the  segregation  of  Israel  from 


32  Psalm  4:4 

the  rest  of  men  (Ex.  viii.  18,  ix.  4,  xi.  7,  xxxiii.  16),  here  applied  to  the 
designation  of  an  individual  to  the  highest  theocratical  dignity.  The  Lord 
hath  set  apart  for  hiynself,  for  his  own  service,  the  execution  of  his  own  plans, 
and  the  promotion  of  his  own  honour.  It  was  not,  therefore,  an  attack  on 
David,  but  on  God  himself  and  the  Messiah  whom  he  represented.  The 
Hebrew  word  1^011,  derived  from  IDn,  love  to  God  or  man,  may  either 

signify  an  object  of  the  divine  mercy,  or  one  actuated  by  religious  love.  If 
both  ideas  are  included,  which  is  altogether  probable,  neither  godhj  nor  any 
other  single  word  in  English  is  an  adequate  translation.  The  predominant 
idea  seems  to  be  the  passive  one,  so  that  the  words  arc  not  so  much  de- 
scriptive of  religious  character  as  of  divine  choice :  and  know  that  the  Lord 
hath  set  apart  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  own  purpose  one  selected  in 
his  sovereign  mercy  for  that  purpose.  This  is  mentioned  as  a  proof  that 
their  hostility  was  vain,  and  that  the  prayer  of  verse  2  (1)  would  certainly 
be  heard  and  answered.  This  followed  as  a  necessary  consequence  from 
the  relation  which  the  Psalmist  bore  to  God,  not  only  as  a  godly  man,  but 
as  a  theocratic  sovereign.  The  Lord,  Jehovah,  ivUl  hear,  in  wj  calUrKj, 
when  I  call,  unto  hbn.  The  terms  of  the  opening  petition  are  here  studi- 
ously repeated,  so  as  to  connect  the  prayer  itself  with  the  expression  of 
assured  hope  that  it  wdll  be  answ^ered. 

5  (4).  The  address  to  his  enemies  is  still  continued,  but  merely  as  a 
vehicle  of  truth  and  his  own  feelings.  Lafic  and  sin  not,  i.  c.  do  not  sin 
by  raging,  as  you  have  done,  against  me,  the  Lord's  Anointed,  and  indirectly 
therefore  against  himself.  This  construction  of  the  Hebrew  words,  though 
not  the  most  obvious  or  agreeable  to  usage,  agrees  best  with  the  context 
and  with  the  Septuagint  version,  adopted  by  Paul  in  Ephesians  iv.  2G,  where 
the  precept,  Be  ye  anrirtj  and  sin  not,  seems  to  be  a  positive  prohibition  of 
anger,  i.  e.,  of  its  wilful  continuance,  as  appears  from  what  the  apostle  adds, 
perhaps  in  allusion  to  the  last  clause  of  the  verse  before  us.  Some,  it  is 
true,  have  understood  Paul  as  meaning,  Be  angry  upon  just  occasions,  but 
be  careful  not  to  sin  by  groundless  anger  or  excess.  But  even  if  this  be 
the  sense  of  the  words  there,  it  is  entirely  inappropriate  here,  where  the 
anger  of  the  enemies  was  altogether  sinful,  and  they  could  not  therefore  be 
exhorted  to  indulge  it.  There  is  still  another  meaning  which  the  Hebrew 
words  will  bear.  The  verb  strictly  means  to  be  violently  moved  with  any 
passion  or  emotion,  whether  anger  (Prov.  xxix.  9),  grief  (2  Sam.  xviii.  33), 
or  fear  (Isa.  xxxii.  11).  It  might  therefore  be  translated  here,  tremble, 
stand  in  awe,  and  sin  not.  But  this,  although  it  yields  a  good  sense,  cuts 
off  all  connection  between  David's  words  and  those  of  Paul,  and  makes  the 
explanation  of  the  latter  still  more  difficult.  The  English  word  rar/e  not 
only  conveys  the  sense  of  the  original  correctly,  but  is  probably  connected 
with  it  in  its  etymology.  The  command  to  cease  from  raging  against  God 
and  his  Anointed,  is  still  further  carried  out  in  the  next  clause.  Saij  in 
your  heart,  to  yourselves,  and  not  aloud,  much  less  with  clamour,  what  you 
have  to  say.  The  Hebrew  verb  does  not  mean  to  speak  but  to  say,  and, 
like  this  English  word,  is  always  followed  by  the  words  spoken,  except  in 
a  few  cases  where  they  can  be  instantly  supplied  from  the  context.  E.y. 
Exod.xix.  25,  "  So  Moses  went  unto  the  people  and  said  (not  spake)  to  them" 
what  God  had  just  commanded  him.  Gen.  iv.  8,  "And  Cain  said  to  Abel 
his  brother  (not  talked  with  him),"  let  us  go  into  the  field,  as  appears  from 
what  immediately  follows.  Compare  2  Chron.  ii.  10  (11).  It  might  here 
bo  rendered,  say  {so)  in  your  heart,  i.  e.  say  we  will  no  longer  sin  by  raging 


Psalm  4:5 -8  33 

against  David;  but  the  other  is  more  natural,  and  agrees  better  with  what 
follows.  Say  (what  you  do  say)  in  your  heart,  tipon  your  bed,  i.e.  in  the 
silence  of  the  night,  often  spoken  of  in  Scripture  as  the  season  of  reflec- 
tion (Eph.  iv.  26),  and  be  still,  be  silent,  implying  repentance  and  submis- 
sion to  authority.  The  efi'ect  of  this  exhortation  to  be  still  is  beautifully 
strengthened  by  a  pause  in  the  performance.     Selah. 

6  (5).  Before  his  enemies  can  be  successful  they  must  have  a  fear  of 
God  and  a  faith,  of  which  they  are  entirely  destitute.  This  confirmation 
of  the  Psalmist's  hopes  is  clothed  in  the  form  of  an  exhortation  to  his 
enemies.  Offer  offerings,  or  sacrifice  sacrifices,  of  riyhteonsness,  i.  e.  righteous 
sacrifices,  prompted  by  a  right  motive,  and  implying  a  correct  view  of  the 
divine  nature.  There  may  be  an  allusion  to  the  hypocritical  services  of 
Absalom,  and  especially  his  pretended  vow  (2  Sam.  xv.  7,  8).  ^  The  form  of 
expression  here  is  borrowed  from  Deut.  xxxiii.  19.  As  an  indispensable 
prerequisite  to  such  a  service,  he  particularly  mentions  faith.  And  trust  in 
the  Lord,  Jehovah,  not  in  any  human  help  or  temporal  advantages. 

7  (6).  Many  {there  are)  sayiny,  Who  ivill  shew  us  yood?  This  may  be 
in  allusion  to  the  anxious  fears  oif  his  companions  in  misfortune,  but  is  more 
probably  a  picture  of  the  disquiet  and  unsatisfied  desire  arising  from  the 
want  of  faith  and  righteousness  described  in  the  foregoing  verse.  Of  all 
who  do  not  trust  in  God  it  may  be  said,  that  they  are  continually  askmg 
Who  ivill  shew  us  yood,  who  will  shew  us  wherein  happiness  consists,  and 
how  we  may  obtaiu  it?  In  contrast  with  this  restlessness  of  hope  or  of 
despair,  he  shews  his  own  acquaintance  with  the  true  source  of  tranquillity 
by  a  petition  founded  on  the  ancient  and  authoritative  form  in  which  the 
High  Priest  was  required  to  bless  the  people  (Num.  vi.  24-26).  "  The 
Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee ;  the  Lord  make  his  face  shine  upon  thee 
and  be  gracious  unto  thee ;  the  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  thee  and 
give  thee  peace."  Two  of  these  solemn  benedictions  are  here  mingled  in 
a  prayer.  Lift  upon  us  the  liyht  of  thy  countenance,  0  Lord,  Jehovah ! 
The  light  of  the  countenance  is  a  favourite  figure  in  the  Psalms,  for  a  favour- 
able aspect  or  expression.  See  Ps.  xxxi.  17  (16),  xliv.  4  (3),  Ixxx.  4(3).  The 
lifting  up  may  have  reference  to  the  rising  of  the  sun,  or  be  put  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  act  of  looking  down  or  away  from  any  object,  as  a  token  of 
aversion  or  displeasure.  Upon  us  extends  the  prayer  to  his  companions  in 
misfortune,  or  to  all  God's  people,  or  to  men  in  general,  as  if  he  had  said, 
This  is  the  only  hope  of  our  lost  race.  The  plural  form  may  be  compared 
with  those  in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  as  indicating  the  expansive  comprehensive 
spirit  of  true  piety. 

8  (7).  The  faith,  of  which  his  enemies  were  destitute,  he  possessed  in 
snch  a  measure,  that  the  mere  anticipation  of  God's  favour  made  him 
happier,  in  the  midst  of  his  distresses,  than  his  foes  in  the  actual  posses- 
sion of  their  temporal  advantages.  Thou  hast  yiven  gladness  in  my  heart, 
not  to  my  heart,  but  to  me  in  my  heart,  i.e.  a  real,  inward,  heartfelt  glad- 
ness, 7nore  than  the  time,  or  more  than  when,  i.e.  more  than  they  ever  en- 
joyed when  their  corn  and  their  icine  abounded,  or  increased.  The  original 
nouns  properly  denote  the  new  corn  and  wine  of  the  passing  year,  the  fresh 
fruits  of  the  field  and  vineyard.  The  reference  may  be  either  to  the  pro- 
Terbial  joy  of  harvest  and  of  vintage,  or  to  the  abundant  stores  of  David's 
enemies  contrasted  with  his  own  condition  when  dependent  on  a  faithful 
servant  for  subsistence  (2  Sam.  xvi.  1,2). 

9  (8).  With  this  faith  in  the  divine  protection,  he  has  nothing  even  to 
disturb  his  rest.     In  peace,  tranquillity,  composure,  at  once,  or  at  the  same 


34  Psalm  4:8 

time,  by  the  same  act,  I  will  lie  down  and  will  sleep,  or  rather  go  to  sleep, 
fall  asleep,  which  is  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  verb  in  Gen.  ii.  21,  xli.  5, 
1  Kings  xix.  5,  and  elsewhere.  Nothing  could  be  more  natural  and  beauti- 
ful, as  a  description  of  complete  tranquillity,  than  this  trait  borrowed  from 
the  physical  habits  of  the  young,  the  healthy,  and  those  free  from  all 
anxiety,  to  whom  the  act  of  lying  down  and  that  of  sleeping  are  almost 
coincident.  The  ground  of  this  security  is  given  in  the  last  clause.  For 
thou,  Lord,  Jehovah,  alone  in  safety,  or  security,  wilt  make  me  dwell.  The 
future  form,  though  not  exclusive  of  the  present  (see  above,  on  Ps.  i.  2), 
should  be  retained  because  it  indicates  the  Psalmist's  assured  hope  of 
something  not  yet  realised,  and  is  thus  in  perfect  keeping  with  ver.  8  (7). 
Ahne  may  be  connected  with  what  goes  before  :  for  thou  Lord,  and  no 
other,  thou,  even  though  all  other  friends  and  advantages  should  fail  me,  art 
sufficient  to  protect  and  provide  for  me.  Or  it  may  be  connected  with 
what  follows  :  alone,  in  safety,  thou  vnlt  make  me  dwell.  There  is  then  an 
allusion  to  the  repeated  application  of  the  same  Hebrew  word  to  Israel  as 
dwelling  apart  from  other  nations  imder  God's  protection  and  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  his  favour.  See  Num.  xxiii.  9,  Duet,  xxxiii.  28,  29,  and  com- 
pare Micah  vii.  14,  Jer.  xlix.  31,  Deut.  iv.  7,  8,  2  Sam.  vii.  23.  What 
was  originally  said  of  the  people  is  then  transferred,  as  in  ver.  4  (3) 
above,  to  David,  not  as  a  private  member  of  the  ancient  church,  however 
excellent,  but  as  its  theocratic  head  and  representative,  in  whom,  as  after- 
wards more  perfectly  in  Christ,  the  promises  to  Israel  were  verified  and 
realised.  This  last  interpretation  of  alone  is  so  striking,  and  agrees  so 
well  with  the  other  allusions  in  this  context  to  the  Pentateuch,  e.  g.  to  Lev. 
XXV.  18,  19,  and  Deut.  xxxiii.  12  in  this  verse,  and  to  Num.  vi.  24—26  in 
ver,  7  (6),  that  some  combine  the  two  constructions,  and  suppose  alone  to 
have  a  kind  of  double  sense,  as  if  he  had  said.  Thou  alone  wilt  make  me 
dwell  alone.  Although  the  form  of  this  verse  has  respect  to  the  particular 
historical  occasion  of  the  psalm,  ij^e  sentiment  is  so  expressed  as  to  admit 
of  an  unforced  application  to  the  cUseof  every  suffering  believer,  and  to  the 
distresses  of  the  church  at  large,  for  whose  use  it  was  not  only  left  on 
record  but  originally  written. 

Psalm  5 

The  Psalmist  prays  for  the  divine  help,  ver.  2  (1),  on  the  ground  that 
Jehovah  is  his  King  and  his  God,  ver.  3  (2),  that  he  early  and  constantly 
invokes  his  aid,  ver.'  4  (3),  that  the  enemies,  from  whom  he  seeks  to  be  de- 
livered, are  the  enemies  of  God,  ver.  5,  6  (4,  6),  and  as  such  must  inevit- 
ably perish,  ver.  7  (6),  while  he,  as  the  representative  of  God's  friends,  must 
be  rescued,  ver.  8  (7).  He  then  goes  over  the  same  ground  afresh,  asking 
agjain  to  be  protected  from  his  enemies,  ver.  9  (8),  again  describing  them  as 
desperately  wicked,  ver.  10  (9),  again  appealing  to  God's  justice  to  destroy 
them,  ver.  11  (10),  and  again  anticipating  certain  triumph,  ver.  12  (11), 
on  the  ground  of  God's  habitual  and  uniform  dealing  with  the  righteous, 
ver.  13  (12).  As  the  two  preceding  psalms  appear  to  constitute  a  pair,  so 
this  one  seems  to  contain  such  a  pair  or  double  psalm  within  itself.  It  is 
also  obvious  that  this  is  but  a  further  variation  of  the  theme  which  runs 
through  the  preceding  psalms,  and  therefore  an  additional  proof  that  their 
arrangement  in  the  book  is  not  fortuitous  or  arbitrary.  If  ver.  4  (3)  of 
this  psalm  be  supposed  to  mark  it  as  a  morning  hymn,  its  affinity  to  the 
two  before  it  becomes  still  more  close  and  striking. 


Psalm  5:1 -3  35 

1.  To  {or  for)  the  Chief  Musician.  See  above  on  Ps.  iv.  1.  To  (or  for) 
Nehiloth.  This,  though  undoubtedly  a  part  of  the  original  inscription,  is 
obscure  and  enigmatical.  Its  very  obscurity  indeed  may  be  regarded  as  a 
proof  of  its  antiquity  and  genuineness.  Some  understand  it  to  mean  flutes 
or  wind-instruments  in  general,  as  Kefiinoth,  in  the  title  of  the  fourth 
psalm,  means  stringed  instruments.  The  sense  would  then  be :  (to  be 
sung)  to  (an  accompaniment  ol)  flutes  or  wind-instruments.  But  as  the 
Hebrew  word  is  nowhere  else  used  in  this  sense,  and  the  preposition  here 
employed  is  not  the  one  prefixed  to  names  of  instruments,  and  flutes  are 
nowhere  mentioned  as  a  part  of  the  temple  music,  others  make  Nehiloth 
the  name  of  a  tune,  or  of  another  song  to  the  melody  of  which  this  was 
to  be  adapted  :  (to  be  sung)  to  (the  air  of)  Nehiloth.  Others  follow  the 
ancient  version  in  making  it  refer,  not  to  the  musical  performance,  but  the 
subject  of  the  psalm  :  (as)  to  inheritances,  lots,  or  destinies,  viz.  those  of 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  This  is  favoured  by  the  circumstance,  that 
most  of  the  other  enigmatical  inscriptions  of  the  psalms  may  be  more  pro- 
bably explained  as  having  reference  to  their  theme  or  subject  than  in  any 
other  manner.  The  title  closes,  as  in  the  foregoing  psalm,  by  ascribing  it 
to  David  as  its  author.  Nor  is  there  anything,  as  we  shall  see,  to  militate 
against  the  truth  of  this  inscription. 

2  (1).  To  my  uords,  0  Lord,  Jehovah,  c/ive  ear,  perceive  my  thought. 
Attend  not  only  to  my  vocal  and  audible  petitions,  but  to  my  unexpressed 
desires,  to  those  ''groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered,"  but  are  no  less 
significant  to  God  than  language  (Rom.  viii.  2G,  27).  The  second  verb 
suggests  the  idea  of  attention,  as  well  as  that  of  simple  apprehension. 

3  (2).  Hearken  to  the  voice  of  my  cryiny,  or  my  cry  for  help,  to  which 
the  Hebrew  word  is  always  specially  applied.  My  king  and  my  God,  not 
as  a  mere  creator  and  providential  ruler,  but  as  the  covenant  God  and  king 
of  Israel,  whom  David  represented.  As  he  was  himself  the  king  of  Israel, 
so  God  was  his  king,  the  lord  paramount  or  sovereign,  in  whose  right  he 
reigned.  This  address  involves  a  reason  why  his  prayer  must  be  heard. 
God,  as  the  king  of  his  people,  could  not  deny  them  his  protection,  and 
they  asked  no  other.  For  to  thee,  and  thee  only,  ivill  I  j)ray.  As  if  he 
had  said.  It  is  in  this  capacity  that  I  invoke  thee,  and  I  therefore  must 
be  heard.  This  is  a  specimen  of  that  •^railriSia,  or  freedom  of  speech  to- 
wards God,  which  is  recognised  as  an  effect  and  evidence  of  faith,  in  the 
New  as  well  as  the  Old  Testament,  Hcb.  iv.  16,  x.  19,  35  ;  1  John  ii.  28, 
iii.  21,  iv.  17,  v.  14. 

4  (3).  0  Lord,  Jehovah,  {in)  the  morning  thou  shall  hear  my  voice. 
This  is  not  so  much  a  request  to  be  heard  as  a  resolution  to  persist  in 
prayer.  The  reference  may  be  either  to  stated  hours  of  prayer  or  to  early 
devotion  as  a  proof  of  earnestness  and  faith.  See  Ps.  Iv.  18  (17),  Ixxxviii. 
14  (13.)  {In)  the  morning  I  will  set  (my  prayer)  in  order,  to  (or  for)  thee. 
There  is  here  a  beautiful  allusion  to  the  Mosaic  ritual,  which  is  unavoidably 
lost  in  a  translation.  The  Hebrew  verb  is  the  technical  term  used  in  the 
Old  Testament  to  signify  the  act  of  arranging  the  wood  upon  the  altar 
(Gen.  xxii.  9,  Lev.  i.  7,  1  Kings  xviii.  33),  and  the  shewbread  on  the  table 
(Exod.  xl.  23,  Lev.  xxiv.  G,  8).  It  would  therefore  necessarily  suggest  the 
idea  of  prayer  as  an  oblation,  here  described  as  a  kind  of  morning  sacrifice 
to  God.  A7id  I  ivill  look  out,  or  watch,  for  an  answer  to  my  prayers.  The 
image  presented  is  that  of  one  looking  from  a  wall  or  tower  in  anxious 
expectation  of  approaching  succour.  A  similar  use  of  the  same  verb 
occurs  in  Hab.  ii.   1,  and  Micah  vii.  7.      True  faith  is  not  contented 


36  Psalm  5:4 -7 

with  the  act  of  supplication,  but  displays  itself  in  eager  expectation  of  an 
answer. 

5  (4).  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  Psalmist  identifies  his  cause  with  God's, 
and  anticipates  the  downfall  of  his  enemies  because  they  are  sinners  and 
therefore  odious  in  God's  sight.  For  not  a  God  delighting  in  wickedness  (art) 
thou,  as  might  appear  to  be  the  case  if  these  should  go  unpunished.  It  is 
necessary,  therefore,  for  the  divine  honour,  that  they  should  not  go  un- 
punished. Not  with  thee,  as  thy  guest  or  friend,  shall  evil,  or  the  bad  (man), 
dwell.  For  an  opposite  use  of  the  same  figure,  see  below,  Ps.  xv.  1,  Ixi. 
5  (4).  It  is  still  implied,  that  the  impunity  of  sinners  would  appear  as  if 
God  harboured  and  abetted  them,  and  therefore  must  be  inconsistent  with 
his  honour  as  a  holy  God. 

6  (5).  What  was  said  in  the  preceding  verse  of  sin  is  here,  to  prevent 
misapprehension,  said  of  sinners.  They  shall  not  stand,  the  proud,  or 
insolent,  here  put  for  wicked  men  in  general  and  for  the  Psalmist's  enemies 
in  particular,  before  thine  eyes.  Thou  canst  not  bear  the  presence  of  thy 
moral  opposites.  Sin  is  not  only  opposed  to  God's  vdll,  but  repugnant  to 
his  nature.  By  ceasing  to  hate  it,  he  would  cease  to  be  holy,  cease  to  be 
perfect,  cease  to  be  God.  This  idea  is  expressed  more  directly  in  the  other 
clause.  Thou  hast  hated,  and  must  still  hate,  all  doers  of  iniquity.  This 
last  word  is  originally  a  negative,  meaning  inanity  or  nonentity,  but  like 
several  other  negatives  in  Hebrew,  is  employed  as  a  strong  term  to  denote 
moral  deficiency  and  worthlessness. 

7  (6).  As  the  preceding  verse  extends  what  was  said  of  sin  in  the  abstract 
to  personal  off"enders,  so  here  what  was  said  of  the  divine  dispositions  is 
applied  to  divine  acts.  That  which  God  hates  he  must  destroy.  Particular 
classes  of  transgressors  are  here  put,  as  before,  by  way  of  specimen  or 
sample,  for  the  whole ;  with  special  reference,  however,  to  the  sins  of 
David's  enemies.  Thou  wilt  destroy  speakers  of  falsehood;  see  above,  on 
Ps.  iv.  3  (2.)  A  man  of  blood,  literally  bloods,  the  plural  form  being  com- 
monly used  where  there  is  reference  to  blood-guiltiness  or  murder.  See 
Gen.  iv.  10,  11 ;  Ps.  li.  16  (14).  A  man  of  blood  and  fraud,  a  bloody  and 
deceitful  man,  the  Lord,  Jehovah,  will  abhor ;  he  must  and  will  shew  his 
abhorrence  by  the  punishment  of  such  ofi'enders.  This  confident  anticipa- 
tion of  God's  righteous  retributions  really  involves  a  prayer  for  the  deliver- 
ance of  the  Psalmist  firom  his  enemies. 

8  (7).  For  the  same  reason  he  is  equally  confident  in  the  anticipation  of 
his  own  deliverance.  Since  his  enemies  must  perish  as  the  enemies  of  God, 
he  must  escape,  not  on  account  of  his  own  merit,  nor  simply  as  an  object 
of  God's  favour,  but  as  the  champion  of  his  cause,  his  earthly  vicegerent, 
the  type  and  representative  of  his  Messiah.  And  I,  as  distinguished  from 
these  sinners,  in  the  abundance  of  thy  mercy,  which  excludes  all  reliance  on 
his  own  strength  or  goodness,  will  come  to  thy  house,  the  tabernacle  set  up 
on  Moimt  Zion  by  David.  I  will  worship,  literally  prostrate  or  bow  myself, 
towards  thy  temple  of  holiness,  thy  holy  temple,  or  rather  palace,  so  called 
as  the  residence  of  Israel's  divine  King,  and  therefore  no  less  applicable  to 
the  tabernacle  than  the  temple.  See  1  Sam.  i.  9,  iii.  3,  Ps.  xxvii.  4, 
xxviii.  2.  Towards,  not  in,  because  the  worshippers  did  not  go  into  the 
sanctuary  itself,  but  worshipped  in  the  court,  with  their  faces  turned  towards 
the  place  of  God's  manifested  presence.  Such  usages  are  now  superseded 
by  the  advent  of  the  true  sanctuary.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  5  (4).  In  thy 
fear,  the  reverence  engendered  even  by  the  view  and  the  experience  of  God's 
mercy.     There  may  be  an  allusion  in  this  verse  to  David's  painful  sense  of 


Psalm  5:8 -11  37 

his  exclusion  from  the  house  of  God  (2  Sam.  xv.  25) ;  but  it  cannot  be 
merely  an  anticipation  of  renewed  access  to  the  sanctuary,  which  was 
equally  open  to  all  others,  and  could  not  therefore  be  used  to  indicate  the 
contrast  between  his  condition  and  that  of  others.  The  verse  is  rather  an 
engagement  to  acknowledge  God's  delivering  mercy  in  the  customary  man- 
ner. See  below,  Ps.  Ixvi.  13.  As  if  he  had  said,  While  my  enemies 
perish  by  the  hand  of  God,  I  shall  be  brought  by  his  mercy  to  give  thanks 
for  my  deliverance  at  his  sanctuary. 

9  (8).  The  Psalmist  here  begins  his  prayer  and  argument  anew,  pursuing 
the  same  order  as  before.  0  Lord,  Jehovah,  lead  me,  guide  me  safely, 
in  thy  riyhteousness,  i.  e.  in  the  exercise  of  that  same  justice  which  destroys 
my  enemies,  on  account  of  my  enemies,  that  they  may  not  triumph  ;  make 
straiyht  be/ore  my  face  thy  way,  i.  e.  mark  out  a  safe  and  easy  path  for  me 
to  tread.  The  explanation  of  the  way  as  that  of  duty  and  obedience, 
although  not  at  variance  with  scriptural  usage,  is' less  suited  to  the  context 
here,  in  which  the  prayer  throughout  is  for  protection  and  deliverance. 

10  (9).  The  same  reason  as  before  is  now  assigned  for  his  deliverance 
from  his  enemies,  viz.  because  they  were  the  enemies  of  God,  and  they 
were  such  because  they  were  atrocious  sinners.  For  there  is  nothing  in  his 
mouth,  i.  e.  the  mouth  of  any  one  of  them,  or  of  all  concentrated  in  one  ideal 
person,  sure  or  certain,  i.  e.  true.  Their  inside,  their  heart;  their  real  dis- 
position, as  distinguished  from  the  outward  appearance,  (is)  mischiefs,  in- 
juries, or  crimes,  consists  of  nothing  else.  A  grave  opened,  to  receive  the 
victim,  (is)  their  throat,  like  that  of  a  devouring  monster.  Or  the  throat 
may  be  mentioned  as  an  organ  of  speech,  as  in  Ps.  cxlix.  6,  cxv.  7,  and 
compared  with  the  grave  as  a  receptacle  of  corruption  or  a  place  of  de- 
struction. Their  tongue  they  smooth,  or  make  smooth,  by  hypocrisy  or 
flattery,  as  the  wicked  woman  is  said  to  make  her  words  smooth,  Prov.  ii. 
16,  vii.  5.  The  Septuagint  version  of  this  clause  is  quoted  by  Paul  (Rom. 
iii.  13),  with  several  other  passages  from  the  Old  Testament,  as  a  strong 
description  of  human  depravity.  The  last  words  are  rendered  in  that 
version,  "  with  their  tongues  they  have  used  craft  or  deceit,"  an  idea  really 
included  in  the  literal  translation. 

11  (10).  Condemn  them,  literally  make  them  guilty,  i.  e.  recognise  and 
treat  them  as  such,  0  God  !  They  shall  fall,  i.  e.  they  must,  they  cannot 
but  fall,  a  common  figure  for  destruction  (Ps.  xxx\'i.  13,  cxli.  lQ>),from  their 
plans,  i.  e.,  before  they  can  accomplish  them,  or  in  consequence,  by  means 
of  them.  (Compare  Hos.  xi.  6).  In  the  fulness,  or  abundance,  of  their 
sins,  thrust  them  forth,  cast  them  out  from  thy  presence,  and  down  from 
theip  present  exaltation.  For  they  have  rebelled  against  thee,  not  me,  or 
against  me  only  as  thy  instrument  and  representative.  Or  the  opposition 
may  be  between  rebelling  against  God  and  simply  sinning  against  man. 
The  imperative  and  future  forms,  in,  this  verse,  both  express  the  certainty 
of  the  event,  with  an  implication  of  approving  acquiescence.  Such  expres- 
sions, in  the  Psalms,  have  never  really  excited  or  encouraged  a  spirit  of 
revenge  in  any  reader,  and  are  no  more  fitted  to  have  that  effect  than  the 
act  of  a  judge  who  condemns  a  criminal  to  death,  or  of  the  officer  who 
executes  the  sentence.  The  objections  often  urged  against  such  passages 
are  not  natural,  but  spring  from  over-refinement  and  a  false  view  of  the 
Psalms  as  expressions  of  mere  personal  feeling.  See  below,  on  Ps.  vii. 
13  (12). 

12  (11).  The  transition  and  contrast  are  the  same  as  in  ver.  8  (7)  above. 
While  the  wicked  perish,  the  righteous  shall  have  cause  for  everlasting  joy. 


38  Psalm  5:12 

And  all  (those)  trusting  in  thee,  making  thee  their  refuge,  shall  be  glad  ;for 
ever  shall  they  shout  (or  sing)  for  joy,  and  (not  without  cause,  for)  thou  wilt 
cover  over  (or  protect)  them ;  and  in  thee,  in  thy  presence  and  thy  favour, 
shall  exult,  or  triumph,  {the)  lovers  of  thy  name,  i.  e.  of  thy  manifested 
excellence,  which  is  the  usual  sense  of  this  expression  in  the  Old  Testament. 
The  believers  and  lovers  of  God's  name,  here  spoken  of,  are  not  merely 
friends  of  the  psalmist  who  rejoice  in  his  deliverance,  but  the  great  congre- 
gation of  God's  people,  to  which  he  belonged,  and  of  which  he  was  the 
representative,  so  that  his  deliverance  was  theirs,  and  a  rational  occasion 
of  their  joy,  not  only  on  his  account  but  on  their  own. 

13  (12).  The  confident  hope  expressed  in  the  foregoing  verse  was  not  a 
groundless  or  capricious  one,  but  founded  on  the  nature  of  God  and  the 
uniform  tenor  of  his  dispensations.  The  psalmist  knows  what  God  will 
do  in  this  case,  because  he  knows  what  he  does  and  will  do  still  in  general. 
For  thou  wilt  bless,  and  art  wont  to  bless,  the  righteous,  the  opposite  of  those 
described  in  ver.  5-7  (4-6)  and  10,  11  (9,  10),  0  Lord,  Jehovah !  Like 
the  shield,  as  the  shield  protects  the  soldier  {so  with)  favour  thou  wilt  sur- 
round him,  or  enclose  him,  still  referring  to  the  righteous  ;  see  the  same 
comparison  in  Ps.  iii.  4  (3.)  The  confident  assertion  that  God  will  do  so, 
implies  that  he  has  done  so,  and  is  wont  to  do  so,  to  the  righteous  as  a 
class.  And  this  affords  a  reasonable  ground  for  the  belief,  expressed  in  the 
preceding  verse,  that  he  will  do  so  also  in  the  present  case. 

Psalm  6 

The  psalmist  prays  for  the  removal  of  God's  chastisements,  ver.  2  (1), 
because  they  have  already  brought  him  very  low,  ver.  3,  4  (2,  3),  because 
the  divine  glory  will  be  promoted  by  his  rescue,  ver.  5  (4),  and  obscured 
by  his  destruction,  ver.  6  (5),  and  because,  unkss  speedily  relieved,  he  can 
no  longer  bear  up  under  his  sufferings,  ver.  7,  8  (6,  7).  He  is  neverthe- 
less sure  of  the  divine  compassion,  ver.  9  (8).  His  prayer  is  heard  and 
will  be  answered,  ver.  10  (9),  in  the  defeat  and  disappointment  of  his  ene- 
mies, by  whose  malignant  opposition  his  distress  was  caused,  ver.  11  (10). 
This  reference  to  his  enemies  constitutes  the  link  of  connection  between 
this  psalm  and  the  foregoing  series,  and  maintains  the  contrast, 'running 
through  that  series,  between  two  great  classes  of  mankind,  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked,  the  subjects  of  Messiah  and  the  rebels  against  him,  the 
friends  and  foes  of  the  theocracy,  the  friends  and  foes  of  David,  as  an  indi- 
vidual, a  sovereign,  and  a  type  of  the  Messiah.  At  the  same  time,  this 
psalm  diff'ers  wholly  from  the  others  in  its  tone  of  querulous  but  humble 
grief,  which  has  caused  it  to  be  reckoned  as  the  first  of  the  Penitential 
psalms.  This  tone  is  suddenly  exchanged,  in  ver.  9  (8),  for  one  of  confi- 
dent assurance,  perfectly  in  keeping  with  what  goes  before,  and  true  to 
nature. 

1.  For  the  Chief  Musician,  (to  be  sung)  with  stringed  instruments  upon 
the  eighth.  This  last  word  corresponds  exactly  to  our  octave  ;  but  its  pre- 
cise application  in  the  ancient  music  we  have  now  no  means  of  ascertaining. 
An  instrument  of  eight  strings,  which  some  suppose  to  be  the  sense,  could 
hardly  be  described  by  the  ordinal  number  eighth.  We  probably  lose  little 
by  our  incapacity  to  imderstand  these  technical  expressions,  while,  at  the 
same  time,  their  very  obscurity  may  serve  to  confirm  our  faith  in  their 
antiquity  and  genuineness,  as  parts  of  the  original  composition.     This 


Psalm  6:] -5  39 

psalm,  like  the  three  which  immediately  precede  it,  describes  itself  as  a 
psalm  of  (or  by)  David,  belonging  to  David,  as  its  author.  The  correct- 
ness of  this  statement  there  is  as  little  reason  to  dispute  in  this  as  in  either 
of  the  other  cases. 

2  (1).  0  Lord,  Jehovah,  do  not  in  thine  anger  rehukc  me,  and  do  not  in 
thy  heat,  or  hot  displeasure,  chasten  me.  Both  the  original  verbs  properly 
denote  the  conviction  and  reproof  of  an  oflender  in  words,  but  are  here,  as 
often  elsewhere,  applied  to  providential  chastisements,  in  which  God  speaks 
with  a  reproving  voice.  This  is  not  a  prayer  for  the  mitigation  of  the 
punishment,  like  that  in  Jcr.  x.  24,  but  for  its  removal,  as  appears  from 
the  account  of  the  answer  in  ver.  9-11  (8-10).  Such  a  petition,  while  it 
indicates  a  strong  faith,  at  the  same  time  recognises  the  connection  between 
suffering  and  sin.  In  the  very  act  of  asking  for  relief,  the  psalmist  owns 
that  he  is  justly  punished.  This  may  serve  to  teach  us  how  far  the  confi- 
dent tone  of  the  preceding  psalms  is  from  betraying  a  self-righteous  spirit, 
or  excluding  the  consciousness  of  personal  unworthiness  and  ill-desert. 
The  boldness  there  displayed  is  not  that  of  self-reliance,  but  of  faith. 

3  (2).  Have  mercy  vpon  me,  or  he  gracious  unto  me,  0  Lord,  Jehovah, 
for  drooping,  languishing,  am  I.  The  original  construction  is,  for  I  am 
{one  who)  droops  or  withers,  like  a  blighted  plant.  Like  a  child  complain- 
ing to  a  parent,  he  describes  the  greatness  of  his  suffering  as  a  reason  for 
relieving  him.  Heal  me,  0  Lord,  Jehovah,  for  shaken,  agitated  with  dis- 
tress and  terror,  are  my  hones,  here  mentioned  as  the  strength  and  frame- 
work of  the  body.  This  might  seem  to  indicate  corporeal  disease  as  the 
whole  fi'om  which  he  prays  to  be  delivered.  But  the  absence  of  any  such 
allusion  in  the  latter  part  of  the  psalm,  and  the  explicit  mention  there  of 
enemies  as  the  occasion  of  his  sufferings,  shews  that  the  pain  of  body  here 
described  was  that  arising  from  distress  of  mind,  and  which  could  only  be 
relieved  by  the  removal  of  the  cause.  To  regard  the  bodily  distress  as  a 
mere  figure  for  internal  anguish,  would  be  wholly  arbitrary  and  destructive 
of  all  sure  interpretation.  The  physical  effect  hei'e  ascribed  to  moral  causes 
is  entirely  natural  and  confirmed  by  all  experience. 

4  (3).  The  Psalmist  himself  guards  against  the  error  of  supposing  that 
his  worst  distresses  were  corporeal.  And  my  soul,  as  well  as  my  bod}",  or 
more  than  my  body,  which  merely  sympathizes  with  it,  is  greatly  agitated, 
terror-stricken,  the  same  word  that  was  applied  to  the  bones  in  the  preced- 
ing verse.  The  description  of  his  sufliering  is  then  interrupted  by  another 
apostrophe  to  God.  And  thou,  0  Lord,  Jehovah,  until  when,  how  long  ? 
The  sentence  is  left  to  be  completed  by  the  reader :  how  long  wilt  thou 
leave  me  thus  to  suffer  ?  how  long  before  thou  wilt  appear  for  my  deliver- 
ance ?  This  question,  in  its  Latin  fonn,  Domine  quousque,  was  Calvin's 
favourite  ejaculation  in  his  times  of  suffering,  and  especially  of  painful 
sickness. 

5  (4).  The  expostulatory  question  is  now  followed  by  direct  petition. 
Return,  0  Lord,  Jehovah,  deliver  my  said,  my  life,  my  self,  from  this  im- 
pending death.  As  God  seems  to  be  absent  when  his  people  suffer,  so 
relief  is  constantly  described  as  his  return  to  them.  (Oh)  save  me,  a  still 
more  comprehensive  term  than  that  used  in  the  first  clause,  for  the  sake  of 
thy  mercy,  not  merely  according  to  it,  as  a  rule  or  measure,  but  to  vindicate 
it  from  reproach,  and  do  it  honour,  as  a  worthy  end  to  be  desired  and 
accomplished. 

6  (5).  As  a  further  reason  for  his  rescue,  he  now  urges  that  without  it 
God  will  lose  the  honour,  and  himself  the  happiness,  of  his  praises  and 


40  Psalm  6:6  -  9 

thanksgivings.  For  there  is  not  in  death,  or  the  state  of  the  dead,  thy 
remembrance,  any  remembrance  of  thee.  In  Sheol,  the  grave,  as  a  gener^ 
receptacle,  here  parallel  to  death,  and,  like  it,  meaning  the  unseen  veorld  or 
state  of  the  dead,  who  xoill  acknowledge,  or  give  thanks,  to  thee  ?  The  Hebrew 
verb  denotes  that  kind  of  praise  called  forth  by  the  experience  of  goodness. 
The  question  in  the  last  clause  is  equivalent  to  the  negative  proposition  in 
the  first.  This  verse  does  not  prove  that  David  had  no  belief  or  expecta- 
tion of  a  future  state,  nor  that  the  intermediate  state  is  an  unconscious  one, 
but  only  that  in  this  emergency  he  looks  no  farther  than  the  close  of  life, 
as  the  appointed  term  of  thanksgiving  and  praise.  Whatever  might  even- 
tually follow,  it  was  certain  that  his  death  would  put  an  end  to  the  praise 
of  God,  in  that  form  and  those  circumstances  to  which  he  had  been  accus- 
tomed. See  below,  on  Ps.  xxx.  10  (9) ;  Ixxxviii.  11-13  (10-12),  cxv.  17, 
18,  and  compare  Isa.  xxxviii.  18.  So  far  is  the  argument  here  urged  from 
being  weakened  by  our  clearer  knowledge  of  the  future  state,  that  it  is  greatly 
strengthened  by  the  substitution  of  the  second  or  eternal  death. 

7  (6).  I  am  weary  in  (or  of)  my  groaning,  I  have  become  wearied  with 
it,  and  unless  I  am  relieved,  I  shall  (still  as  hitherto)  make  my  bed  swim 
every  night,  my  couch  with  tears  I  shall  dissolve,  or  make  to  flow.  The 
uniform  translation  of  the  verbs  as  presents  does  not  bring  out  their  full 
meaning,  or  express  the  idea,  suggested  in  the  Hebrew  by  the  change  of 
tense,  that  the  grief  which  had  already  become  wearisome  must  still  con- 
tinue without  mitigation,  unless  God  should  interpose  for  his  deliverance. 
Thus  understood,  the  verse  is  not  a  mere  description,  but  a  disguised  prayer. 

8  (7).  Mine  eye  has  failed,  grown  dim,  a  common  symptom  both  of  men- 
tal and  bodily  distress,  from  vexation,  not  mere  grief,  but  grief  mixed  with 
indignation  at  my  enemies.  It  has  grown  old,  dim  like  the  eye  of  an  old 
man,  a  still  stronger  expression  of  the  same  idea,  in  (the  midst  of)  all  my 
enemies,  or  in  (consequence  of)  all  my  enemies,  i.  e.  of  their  vexatious  con- 
duct. Compare  Ps.  xx^.  10  (9).  In  these  two  verses  he  resumes  the 
description  of  his  own  distress,  in  order  to  shew  that  the  argument  in  ver. 
6  (5)  was  appropriate  to  liis  case,  as  that  of  one  drawing  near  to  death, 
and  therefore  likely  soon  to  lose  the  capacity  and  opportunity  of  praising 
God. 

9  (8).  Here  the  key  abruptly  changes  from  the  tone  of  sorrowful  com- 
plaint to  that  of  joyful  confidence.  No  gradual  transition  could  have  so 
successfully  conveyed  the  idea  that  the  prayer  of  the  psalmist  has  been 
heard,  and  will  be  answered.  The  efl'ect  is  like  that  of  a  whisper  in  the 
Buflferer's  ear,  while  still  engrossed  vdth  his  distresses,  to  assure  him  that 
they  are  about  to  terminate.  This  he  announces  by  a  direct  and  bold 
address  to  his  persecuting  enemies.  Depart  from  me,  all  ye  doers  of  ini- 
quity, the  same  phrase  that  occurs  in  Ps.  v.  6  (5).  The  sense  is  not  that 
he  will  testify  his  gratitude  by  abjuring  all  communion  with  the  wicked, 
but  that  his  assurance  of  divine  protection  relieves  him  from  all  fear  of  his 
wicked  foes.  When  God  arises,  then  his  enemies  are  scattered.  This 
sense  is  required  by  the  last  clause  of  ver.  8  (7),  and  confirmed  by  a  com- 
parison with  ver.  11  (10),  For  the  Lord,  Jehovah,  hath  heard  the  voice  of 
my  weeping,  or  my  weeping  voice.  The  infrequency  of  silent  grief  is  said 
to  be  characteristic  of  the  orientals,  and  the  same  thing  may  be  observed 
in  Homer's  pictures  of  heroic  manners. 

10  (9).  Jehovah  hath  heard  my  supplication.  The  assurance  of  this  fact 
relieves  all  fear  as  to  the  future.  Jehovah  my  prayer  will  receive.  The 
change  of  tense  is  not  unmeaning  or  fortuitous.     The  combination  of  the 


Psalm  6:10  41 

past  and  future  represents  the  acceptance  as  complete  and  final,  as  already 
begun,  and  certain  to  continue.  The  particular  petition  thus  accepted  is 
the  one  expressed  or  implied  in  the  next  verse. 

11  (10).  Ashamed  and  confounded,  i.e.  disappointed  and  struck  with 
terror,  shall  he  all  viy  enemies.  The  desire  that  they  may  be  is  not  expressed, 
but  involved  in  the  confident  anticipation  that  they  will  be.  In  the  second 
verb  there  is  an  obvious  allusion  to  its  use  in  ver.  3,  4  (2,  3).  As  he  had 
been  terror-stricken,  so  shall  they  be.  As  they  filled  him  with  consterna- 
tion, so  shall  God  fill  them.  They  shall  return,  turn  back  from  their  assault 
repulsed  ;  they  shall  be  ashamed,  filled  with  shame  at  their  defeat ;  and  that 
not  hereafter,  {in)  a  moment,  instantaneously. 


Psalm  7 

The  Psalmist  still  prays  for  deliverance  from  his  enemies,  ver.  2,  3  (1,  2), 
on  the  ground  that  he  is  innocent  of  that  wherewith  they  charge  him,  ver. 
4-6  (3-5).  He  prays  for  justice  to  himself  and  on  his  enemies,  as  a  part  of 
that  great  judicial  process  which  belongs  to  God  as  the  universal  judge,  ver. 
7-10  (6-9).  He  trusts  in  the  divine  discrimination  between  innocence  and 
guilt,  ver.  11,  12  (10,  11).  He  anticipates  God's  vengeance  on  impeni- 
tent ofi'enders,  ver.  13,  14  (12,  13).  He  sees  them  forced  to  act  as  self- 
destroyers,  ver.  15-17  (14-16).  At  the  same  time  he  rejoices  in  God's 
mercy  to  himself,  and  to  the  whole  class  whom  he  represents,  ver.  18  (17). 

The  penitential  tone,  which  predominated  in  the  sixth  psalm,  here  gives 
way  again  to  that  of  self-justification,  perhaps  because  the  Psalmist  here 
speaks  no  longer  as  an  individual,  but  as  the  representative  of  the  righteous 
or  God's  people.  The  two  views  which  he  thus  takes  of  himself  are  per- 
fectly consistent,  and  should  be  suffered  to  interpret  one  another. 

1.  Shiggaion,  i.e.  wandering,  error.  The  noun  occurs  only  here,  and 
in  the  plural  form,  Hab.  iii.  1,  but  the  verb  from  which  it  is  derived  is  not 
uncommon,  and  is  applied  by  Saul  to  his  own  errors  with  respect  to 
David  (1  Sam.  xxvi.  21).  See  also  Ps.  cxix.  10,  118.  Hence  some  ex- 
plain the  word  here  as  denoting  moral  error,  sin,  and  make  it  descriptive 
of  the  subject  of  the  psalm.  See  above  on  Ps.  v.  1.  Still  more  in  accord- 
ance with  the  literal  meaning  of  the  root  is  the  opinion  that  it  here  denotes 
the  wandering  of  David  at  the  period  when  the  psalm  was  probably  con- 
ceived. In  either  case,  it  means  a  song  of  wandering  or  error,  which  he 
sang,  in  the  literal  sense,  or  in  the  secondary  one  of  poetical  -composition, 
as  Virgil  says,  I  sing  the  man  and  arms,  i.e.  they  are  the  subject  of  my 
poem.  To  the  Lord,  Jehovah,  to  whom  a  large  part  of  the  psalm  is  really 
addressed.  Concerning  (or  because  of)  the  words  of  Ctish  the  Benjamite.  It 
is  clear  from  ver'.  4-6  (3-5),  that  the  words  referred  to  were  calumnious 
reports  or  accusations.  These  may  have  been  uttered  by  one  Gush,  a  Ben- 
jamite, who  nowhere  else  appears  in  history.  But  as  this  very  circum- 
stance makes  it  improbable  that  he  would  have  been  singled  out,  as  the 
occasion  of  this  psalm,  from  among  so  many  slanderers,  some  suppose 
Cush  to  be  Shimei,  who  cursed  David  when  he  fled  fi-om  Absalom  (2  Sam. 
xvi.  5-13).  As  the  psalm,  however,  seems  much  better  suited  to  the  times 
of  Saul,  some  suppose  Cush,  which  is  properly  the  Hebrew  name  of  Ethi- 
opia, to  be  here  an  enigmatical  name  applied  to  Saul  himself,  in  reference 
to  the  blackness  of  his  heart,  and  perhaps  to  his  incorrigible  wickedness. 
See  Jer.  xiii.  23,  and  Amos  ix.  7.     The  description  Benjamite,  is  equally 


42  Psalm  7:1 -5 

appropriate  to  Saul  (1  Sam.  ix.  1,  2;  xvi.  6,  11)  and  Shimei,  who,  indeed, 
were  kinsmen.  This  explanation  of  the  word  Cush  is  less  forced  than  it 
might  otherwise  appear,  because  enigmatical  descriptions  of  the  theme  are 
not  unfrequent  in  the  titles  of  the  Psalms.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  1,  and 
below,  on  Ps.  ix.  1 ;  xxii.  1 ;  liii.  1;  Ivii.  1 ;  Ix.  1. 

2  (1).  The  psahn  opens  with  an  expression  of  strong  confidence  in  God, 
and  a  prayer  founded  on  it.  0  Lord,  Jehovah,  my  God,  not  merely 
by  creation,  but  by  special  covenant,  in  thee,  as  such,  and  therefore  in 
no  other,  /  have  trusted,  and  do  still  trust.  This  relation  and  this  trust 
entitle  him  to  audience  and  deliverance.  Save  me  from  all  my  persecu- 
tors, or  pursuers,  a  term  frequently  employed  in  David's  history.  See 
1  Sam.  xxiv.  15  (14) ;  xxvi.  20.  By  these  we  are  here  to  understand  the 
whole  class  of  worldly  and  ungodly  men,  of  which  Saul  was  the  type  and 
representative.  The  all  suggests  the  urgency  of  the  necessity,  as  a  motive 
to  immediate  interposition.  And  extricate  me,  or  deliver  me.  The  primary 
idea  of  the  verb  translated  save  is  that  of  making  room,  enlarging.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  iv.  2  (1). 

3  (2).  Lest  he  tear,  like  a  lion,  my  soul.  The  singular  form,  following 
the  plural  in  the  foregoing  verse,  may  have  particular  reference  to  Saul,  or 
to  the  class  of  which  he  was  a  type,  personified  as  an  ideal  individual.  The 
imagery  of  the  verse  is  borrowed  from  the  habits  of  wild  beasts,  with  which 
David  was  familiar  from  a  child.  See  1  Sam.  xvii.  34-37.  The  soul  or 
life  is  mentioned  as  the  real  object  of  attack,  and  not  as  a  mere  periphrasis 
for  the  personal  pronoun,  as  if  my  soul  were  equivalent  to  me.  Rending, 
or  breaking  the  bones,  and  there  is  none  delivering,  or  with  none  to  deliver. 

4  (3.)  He  proceeds  upon  the  principle  that  God  will  not  hear  the  prayer 
of  the  wicked,  and  that  he  must  hear  that  of  the  righteous.  He  proceeds, 
therefore,  to  assert  his  innocence,  not  his  freedom  from  all  sin,  but  from 
that  particular  offence  with  which  he  had  been  charged.  0  Lord,  Jeho- 
vah, my  God,  as  in  ver.  2  (1),  if  I  have  done  this,  which  follows,  or  this  of 
which  I  am  accused,  referring  to  "  the  words  of  Cush,"  the  calumnies, 
which  gave  occasion  to  the  psalm  itself.  If  there  is,  with  emphasis  on  the 
verb,  which  might  have  been  omitted  in  Hebrew,  and  is  therefore  em- 
phatic, if  there  is  indeed,  as  my  accusers  say,  perverseness,  iniquity,  in  my 
palms,  in  the  palms  of  my  hands,  here  mentioned  as  instruments  of  evil. 
The  apodosis  of  the  sentence  is  contained  in  ver.  6  (5)  below. 

5  (4).  If  I  have  repaid  my  fnend,  one  at  peace  with  me,  evil,  and  spoiled, 
plundered,  (one)  distressing  me,  acting  as  my  enemy,  without  a  cause.  There 
seems  to  be  an  allusion  here  to  the  two  periods  of  David's  connection  with 
Saul,  that  of  their  friendly  intercourse,  and  that  of  their  open  enmity. 
During  neither  of  these  had  David  been  guilty  of  the  sins  charged  upon 
him.  He  had  not  conspired  against  Saul  while  in  his  service  (1  Sam.  xxii. 
7,  8),  and  when  persecuted  by  him  he  had  spared  his  life  (1  Sam.  xxiv.  10, 
11).  Some  suppose  this  last  fact  to  be  here  referred  to,  and  tfanslate  the 
second  clause,  yea,  I  have  delivered  him  that  without  cause  is  mine  enemy. 
The  Hebrew  verb  is  certainly  used  elsewhere  in  this  sense  (2  Sam.  xxii.  20, 
Ps.  vi.  5),  but  its  primary  meaning  seems  to  be  that  of  stripping  or  spoil- 
ing a  conquered  enemy.  The  first  construction  above  given  is  moreover 
much  more  natural,  and  agrees  better  with  the  grammatical  dependence  of 
the  second  verb  upon  the  first. 

6  (6).  His  consciousness  of  innocence  is  expressed  in  the  strongest  man- 
ner by  invoking  the  divine  displeasure  if  the  charge  can  be  established.  An 
enemifi  or  by  poetic  licence,  thg  enemif,  whether  Saul  or  the  ideal  enemj 


Psalm  7:6 -8  43 

referred  to  in  verse  3  (2),  shall  pursue,  or  may  pursue,  which  is  equivalent 
to  saying,  Let  the  enemy  pursue  my  soul,  the  figure  being  still  the  same  as  in 
verse  3  (2)  above,  but  carried  out  with  more  minuteness,  and  overtake  (it), 
and  trample  to  the  earth  my  life,  and  my  honour  in  the  dust  make  dwell,  i.  e. 
completely  prostrate  and  degrade.  Some  regard  honour  as  equivalent  to 
soul  and  life,  the  intelligent  and  vital  part,  which  is  the  glory  of  man's  con- 
stitution. But  the  analogy  of  Ps.  iii.  4  (3)  and  iv.  3  (2)  makes  it  more 
probable  that  in  this  case  also  there  is  reference  to  the  Psalmist's  personal 
and  official  honour.  The  allusion,  however,  is  not  so  much  to  posthumous 
disgrace  as  to  present  humiliation.  All  this  he  imprecates  upon  himself  if 
really  guilty  of  the  charges  calumniously  brought  against  him.  The  solem- 
nity of  this  appeal  to  God,  as  a  witness  and  a  judge,  is  enhanced  by  the 
usual  pause.     Selah. 

7  (6).  Upon  this  protestation  of  his  innocence  he  founds  a  fresh  prayer 
for  protection  and  deliverance.  Arise,  arouse  thyself,  0  Lord,  Jehovah. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  8  (7).  Arise  in  thine  anger,  raise  thyself,  or  be  exalted, 
in,  i.  e.  amidst,  the  ragings  of  my  enemies.  The  idea  because  of  my  enemies  is 
rather  implied  than  expressed.  The  sense  directly  intended  seems  to  be 
that,  as  his  enemies  are  raging,  it  is  time  for  God  to  arise  in  anger  too.  As 
they  rage  against  him,  he  calls  upon  God  to  rise  in  anger  against  them. 
And  awake,  a  still  stronger  figure  than  arise,  because  implying  sleep  as  well 
as  inactivity.  Awake  unto  me,  at  my  call  and  for  my  benefit.  Judgment 
hast  thou  commayided,  or  ordained.  Let  that  judgment  now  be  executed. 
He  appeals  to  the  general  administration  of  God's  justice,  as  a  ground  for 
expecting  it  in  this  one  case.  As  it  was  part  of  the  divine  plan  or  pur- 
pose to  do  justice,  both  on  friends  and  foes,  here  was  an  opportunity  to 
put  it  into  execution. 

8  (7).  Ayid  the  congregation  of  nations  shall  surround  thee,  which  in  this 
connection  is  equivalent  to  saying,  let  it  surround  thee.  The  most  probable 
sense  of  these  obscure  words  is,  appear  in  the  midst  of  the  nations  as  their 
judge.  The  same  connection  between  God's  judicial  government  in  general 
and  his  judicial  acts  in  a  particular  case,  that  is  implied  in  the  preceding 
verse,  is  here  embodied  in  the  figure  of  an  oriental  king  dispensing  justice 
to  his  subjects  in  a  popular  assembly.  And  above  it,  the  assembly,  to  the 
high  place,  or  the  height,  return  thou.  This  may  either  mean,  return  to 
heaven  when  the  judgment  is  concluded,  or,  which  seems  more  natural, 
Resume  thy  seat  as  judge  above  this  great  ideal  congregation.  Above  it, 
thus  assembled  to  receive  thee,  to  the  high  place,  or  the  judgment-seat,  re- 
turn thou,  after  so  long  an  absence,  previously  intimated  by  the  summons  to 
arise  and  awake.  Inaction,  sleep,  and  absence  from  the  judgment- seat,  are  aU 
bold  metaphors  for  God's  delay  to  save  his  people  and  destroy  their  enemies. 

9  (8).  The  same  thing  is  now  expressed  in  a  direct  and  formal  manner. 
Jehovah  will  judge,  is  to  judge,  the  nations.  This  is  laid  down  as  a  certain 
general  proposition,  from  which  the  Psalmist  draws  a  special  inference  in 
the  shape  of  a  petition.  Judge  me,  O  Lord,  Jehovah !  If  it  be  true  that 
God  will  judge  the  world,  redress  all  wrong,  and  punish  all  iniquity,  let  him 
begin  with  me.  Let  me  share  now  in  the  justice  which  is  to  be  universally 
administered.  Judge  me,  0  Lord,  according  to  my  right,  and  my  complete- 
ness, or  perfection,  over  me,  i.e.  according  to  my  innocence  which  covers  and 
protects  me.  All  such  expressions  must  be  qualified  and  explained  by  the 
confession  of  unworthiness  in  Ps.  vi.  and  elsewhere,  which  sufficiently  demon- 
strates that  the  Psalmist  here  makes  no  claim  to  absolute  perfection  and 
innocence,  nor  to  any  whatever  that  is  independent  of  God's  sovereign  mercy. 


44  Psalm  7:9  - 13 

10  (9).  Let  cease,  I  pray,  the  badness  of  wicked  (rnen).  The  future  has 
an  optative  meaning  given  to  it  by  the  Hebrew  particle  ( W),  which  is  often 

rendered  now,  not  as  an  adverb  of  time,  but  of  entreaty.  Between  man  and 
man,  it  is  frequently  equivalent  to  if  you  please  in  modern  parlance.  When 
addressed  to  God,  it  scarcely  admits  of  any  other  version  than  I  pray.  The 
assonance  or  paronomasia  in  the  common  version,  loickedness  of  the  wicked, 
is  not  found  in  the  original,  where  two  words,  not  akin  to  one  another, 
are  employed.  The  plural  form  of  wicked  is  also  lost  or  left  ambiguous  in 
the  common  version.  And  thou  wilt  confirm,  or  establish,  a  righteous  {man), 
and  a  trier  of  hearts  and  reins,  constantly  used  in  Scripture  for  the  internal 
dispositions,  (is  the)  righteous  God,  or  {art  thou)  0  righteous  God,  which 
last  agrees  best  with  the  direct  address  to  God  in  the  preceding  clauses. 
This  does  not  merely  mean  that  God  is  omniscient,  and  therefore  able  thus 
to  try  the  hearts  and  reins,  but  that  he  actually  does  it.  Here  he  is  spe- 
cially appealed  to,  as  a  judge  or  umpire  between  Saul,  or  "the  wicked"  whom 
he  represented,  and  "  the  righteous,"  of  whom  David  was  the  type  and 
champion. 

11  (10).  My  shield  (is)  upon  God.  My  protection  or  defence  depends 
on  him  alone.  The  figure  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  iii.  4  (3)  and  v.  13  (12). 
Here  again  the  hope  of  personal  deliverance  is  founded  on  a  general  truth, 
as  to  the  course  of  the  divine  administration.  My  shield  {is)  upon  God,  sav- 
ing, or  who  saves,  the  Saviour  of  the  upright,  straightforward,  or  sincere  in 
heart.     This  is  a  new  indirect  assertion  of  his  own  integrity  and  innocence. 

12  (11).  The  second  word  in  the  original  of  this  verse  may  be  either  a 
participle  or  a  noun,  so  that  the  clause  admits  of  two  translations,  God  {is) 
a  righteous  judge,  and,  God  is  judging,  i.  e.  judges,  the  nghteous.  The  first 
would  be  a  repetition  of  the  general  truth  taught  in  ver.  9  (8)  above,  but 
here  applied  to  the  punishment  of  the  wicked,  as  it  is  there  to  the  salvation 
of  the  innocent.  According  to  the  other  construction,  the  verse  before  us 
presents  both  ideas  :  God  judges  the  righteous,  i.  e.  does  him  justice,  and 
God  is  angi-y  every  day.  The  object  of  this  anger,  although  not  expressed, 
is  obvious,  and  is  even  rendered  more  conspicuous  by  this  omission.  As  if 
he  had  said,  "God,  who  does  justice  to  the  righteous,  has  likewise  objects 
for  his  indignation." 

13  (12).  If  he,  the  sinner  at  whom  God  is  angry,  uill  not  turn,  i.e. 
turn  back  from  his  impious  and  rebellious  undertakings,  his  sword  he  uill 
whet,  i.  e.  with  a  natural  though  sudden  change  of  subject,  God  will  whet 
his  sword,  often  referred  to  as  an  instrument  of  vengeance.  His  bow  he  has 
trodden  on,  alluding  to  the  ancient  mode  of  bending  the  large  and  heavy 
bows  used  in  battle,  and  made  it  ready.  The  bow  and  the  sword  were  the 
most  common  weapons  used  in  ancient  warfare.  The  past  tense  of  these 
verbs  implies  that  the  instruments  of  vengeance  are  prepared  already,  and 
not  merely  viewed  as  something  future. 

14  (13).  And  at  him  (the  wicked  enemy)  he  has  aimed,  or  directed,  the 
instruments  of  death,  his  deadly  weapons.  This  is  still  another  step  in 
advance.  The  weapons  are  not  only  ready  for  him,  but  aimed  at  him. 
his  arrows  to  {be)  burning  he  unll  make,  i.  e.  he  will  make  his  arrows 
burning  arrows,  in  allusion  to  the  ancient  military  custom  of  shooting 
ignited  darts  or  arrows  into  besieged  towns,  for  the  purpose  of  setting  them 
on  fire,  as  well  as  that  of  personal  injury.  The  figurative  terms  in  these 
two  verses  all  express  the  certainty  and  promptness  of  the  divine  judgments 
on  incorrigible  sinners.     For  even  these  denunciations  are  not  absolute, 


Psalm7:14-17  45 

but  suspended  on  the  enemy's  repentance  or  persistency  in  evil.  That 
significant  phrase,  if  he  will  not  turn,  may  be  tacitly  suppUed  as  quaUfying 
every  threatening  in  the  book,  however  strong  and  unconditional  in  its 
expressions. 

15  (14).  BeJiold,  he,  the  wicked  man,  will  writhe,  or  travail  (with) 
iniquity,  (towards  others),  and  conceive  mischief  (to  himself),  and  bring 
forth  falsehood,  self-deception,  disappointment.  The  meaning  seems  to  be, 
that  while  bringing  his  malignant  schemes  to  maturity,  he  will  uncon- 
sciously conceive  and  bring  forth  ruin  to  himself. 

16  (15)  The  same  idea  is  then  expressed  by  other  figures,  borrowed 
perhaps  from  certain  ancient  modes  of  hunting.  A  well  he  has  digged, 
i.  e.  a  pitfall  for  his  enemy,  and  hollowed  it,  or  made  it  deep,  and  fallen 
info  the  pit  he  is  making,  or  about  to  make.  The  change  from  the  past 
tense  to  the  future  seems  to  place  the  catastrophe  between  the  inception 
and  completion  of  the  plan.  The  translation  of  the  last  verb  as  a  simple 
preterite  is  entirely  ungrammatical. 

17  (16).  Still  a  third  variation  of  the  same  theme.  His  mischief  shall 
return  upon  his  own  head,  literally  into  it,  like  a  falling  body  which  not 
only  rests  upon  an  object,  but  sinks  and  is  imbedded  in  it.  And  on  his  oum 
crown  his  violence,  including  the  ideas  of  injustice  and  cruelty,  shall  come 
down. 

18  (17).  "While  the  wicked  enemy  of  Grod  and  his  people  is  thus  made 
to  execute  the  sentence  on  himself,  the  Psalmist  already  exults  in  the  ex- 
perience of  God's  saving  mercy.  /  xoill  praise  the  Lord,  Jehovah,  i.  e. 
acknowledge  his  favours.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5).  According  to  his 
right,  desert,  or  due,  as  in  ver.  9  (8)  above.  Or  according  to  his  righteous- 
ness, his  justice,  i.  e.  the  praise  shall  correspond  to  the  display  just  made 
of  this  attribute,  as  well  in  the  deliverance  of  the  Psalmist  as  in  the  des- 
truction of  his  enemies.  And  I  will  sing  praise,  praise  by  singing,  praise 
in  song,  the  name,  the  manifested  excellence  (see  above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11),) 
of  the  Lord,  Jehovah,  High  or  Most  High.  He  will  praise  the  Lord  in  this 
exalted  character  as  manifested  by  his  dealings  in  the  case  which  gave 
occasion  to  the  psalm.  The  resolution  thus  expressed  may  be  considered 
as  fulfilled  in  the  psalm  itself,  so  confident  is  he  that  it  cannot  be  performed 
before  his  prayer  is  answered.  Or  the  words  may  be  understood  as  en- 
gaging to  continue  these  acknowledgments  hereafter. 

Psalm  8 

This  psalm  begins  and  ends  with  an  admiring  recognition  of  God's  mani- 
fested excellence,  ver.  2  (1)  and  10  (9).  In  the  intermediate  verses  the 
manifestation  is  traced,  first  in  the  inanimate  creation,  ver.  3,  4  (2,  3  , 
and  then  in  animated  nature,  vers.  5-9  (4-8),  with  particular  reference 
to  man's  superiority.  This  is  indeed  the  main  subject  of  the  psalm,  the 
glory  of  God  in  nature  being  only  introduced  to  heighten  his  goodness  to 
mankind.  We  have  here,  therefore,  a  description  of  the  dignity  of  human 
nature,  as  it  was  at  first,  and  as  it  is  to  be  restored  in  Christ,  to  whom  the 
descriptive  terms  may  therefore  be  applied,  without  forced  or  fanciful 
accommodation  on  the  one  hand,  and  without  denying  the  primary  generic 
import  of  the  composition  on  the  other, 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician,  on  (or  according  to)  the  Gittith.  This  word, 
which  reappears  in  the  titles  of  two  other  psalms  (the  eighty-first  and 


46  Psalm  8:1, 2 

eighty-fourth),  would  seem,  from  its  form,  to  be  the  feminine  of  Gittir 
■which  always  means  a  Gittite  or  inhabitant  of  Gath.  See  Josh.  xiii.  3 ; 
2  Sam.  vi.  10,  xv.  18.  As  David  once  resided  there,  and  had  afterwards 
much  intercourse  with  the  inhabitants,  the  word  may  naturally  here  denote 
an  instrument  there  invented  or  in  use,  or  an  air,  or  a  style  of  performance, 
borrowed  from  that  city.  Some  prefer,  however,  to  derive  it  from  the 
primary  sense  of  Gath  in  Hebrew,  which  is  wine-press,  and  apply  it  either 
to  an  instrument  of  that  shape,  or  to  a  melody  or  style  which  usage  had 
connected  with  the  joy  of  vintage  or  the  pressing  of  the  grapes.  Either  of 
these  explanations  is  more  probable  than  that  which  derives  Gittiih  from 
the  same  root  with  Neginoth  in  the  titles  of  Ps.  iv.  and  vi.,  and  gives  it 
the  same  sense,  viz.  stringed  instruments,  or  the  music  of  stringed  instru- 
ments. Besides  the  dubious  etymology  on  which  this  explanation  rests,  it 
is  improbable  that  two  such  technical  terms  would  have  been  used  to- 
signify  precisely  the  same  thing.  The  only  further  observation  to  be  made- 
'Upon  this  title  is,  that  all  the  psalms  to  which  it  is  prefixed  are  of  a  joyoua 
character,  which  agrees  well  with  the  supposition  that  it  signifies  an  air  or 
style  of  musical  performance.  The  ascription  of  this  Fsalm  to  David,  as 
its  author,  is  fully  confirmed  by  its  internal  character. 

2  (1).  Jehovah^  our  Lord,  not  of  the  Psalmist  only,  but  of  all  men,  and 
especially  all  Israel,  how  glorious  {is)  thy  name,  thy  manifested  excellence 
(see  above,  Ps.  v.  11,  vii.  17),  in  all  the  earth,  which  gave  thy  glory,  i.e. 
which  glory  of  thine  give  or  place,  above  the  heavens.  The  verbal  form  here 
used  is,  in  every  other  place  where  it  occurs,  an  imperative,  and  should  not 
therefore,  without  necessity,  be  otherwise  translated.  Thus  understood, 
the  clause  contains  a  prayer  or  wish,  that  the  divine  glory  may  be  made 
still  more  conspicuous.  To  give  or  place  glory  on  an  object  is  an  idiomatic 
phrase  repeatedly  used  elsewhere,  to  denote  the  conferring  of  honour  on  an  in- 
ferior. See  Num.  xxvii.  20  ;  1  Chron.  xxix.  25  ;  Dan.  xi.  21.  It  here  implies 
that  the  glory  belonging  to  the  frame  of  nature  is  not  inherent  but  derivative. 
8  (2.)  From  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast  founded  strength. 
The  instinctive  admiration  of  thy  works,  even  by  the  youngest  children,  is 
a  strong  defence  against  those  who  would  question  thy  being  or  obscure 
thy  glory.  The  Septuagint  version  of  the  last  words  in  this  clause,  thou 
hast  prepared  (or  provided)  praise,  conveys  the  same  idea  with  a  change  of 
form,  since  it  is  really  the  praise  or  admiration  of  the  child  that  is  de- 
scribed in  the  original  as  strength.  This  version  is  adopted  by  Matthew, 
in  his  record  of  our  Lord's  reply  to  the  Pharisees,  when  they  complained  of 
the  hosannas  uttered  by  the  children  in  the  temple  (Mat.  xxi.  16).  That 
allusion  does  not  prove  that  Christ  was  the  primary  subject  of  this  psalm, 
but  only  that  the  truth  expressed  in  the  words  quoted  was  exemplified  in 
that  case.  If  the  Scriptures  had  already  taught  that  even  the  unconscious 
admiration  of  the  infant  is  a  tribute  to  God's  glory,  how  much  more  might 
children  of  maturer  age  be  suffered  to  join  in  acclamations  to  his  Son.  The 
sense  thus  put  upon  the  words  of  David  agrees  better  with  the  context  than 
the  one  preferred  by  some  interpreters,  viz.,  that  the  defence  in  question  is 
afforded  by  the  structure  and  progress  of  the  child  itself.  If  this  had  been 
intended,  he  would  hardly  have  said  from  the  mouth,  or  have  confined  his 
subsequent  allusions  to  the  splendour  of  the  firmament. — The  effect,  or  rather 
the  legitimate  tendency  of  this  spontaneous  testimony  is  to  silence  enemy 
and  avenger,  i.  e.  to  stop  the  mouths  of  all  malignant  railers  against  God, 
■whose  cavils  and  sophisms  are  put  to  shame  by  the  instinctive  recognition 
of  God's  being  and  his  glory  by  the  youngest  children. 


Psalm  8:3  -6  47 

4  (3).  Wlien  I  see  thy  heavens,  the  work  of  thy  fingers,  an  expression 
borrowed  from  the  habits  of  men,  to  whom  the  fingers  are  natural  organs  of 
contrivance  and  construction,  the  moon  and  the  stars  which  thou  hast  fixed, 
or  settled  in  their  several  spheres.  As  we  constantly  associate  the  sky 
and  sun  together,  the  latter,  although  not  expressly  mentioned,  may  be 
considered  as  included  in  the  subject  of  the  first  clause.  Or  the  mention 
of  the  moon  and  stars  without  the  sun  may  be  understood  to  mark  this  as 
an  evening  hymn.  There  is  no  ground,  however,  for  referring  this  psalm 
to  the  pastoral  period  of  David's  life,  or  for  doubting  that  it  was  composed 
when  he  was  king. 

5  (4).  The  sentence  begun  in  the  preceding  verse  is  here  completed. 
When  I  see  thy  heavens,  &c.,  what  is  man,  frail  man,  as  the  original  word 
signifies,  that  thou  shouJdst  remember  him,  think  of  him,  attend  to  him,  and 
{any)  son  of  man,  or  the  son  of  man,  as  a  generic  designation  of  the  race, 
that  thou  shouldst  visit  him,  i.  e.  according  to  the  usage  of  this  figure, 
manifest  thyself  to  him,  either  in  wrath  or  mercy.  See  Gen.  xviii.  14, 
xxi.  1,  Ruth  i.  6,  &c.  Here  of  course  the  latter  is  intended.  The 
scriptural  idea  of  a  divine  visitation  is  of  something  which  reveals  God's 
special  presence  and  activity,  whether  as  a  friend  or  foe.  The  interrogation 
in  this  verse  implies  a  strong  negation  of  man's  worthiness  to  be  thus 
honoured,  not  in  comparison  with  the  material  universe,  to  which  he  is  in 
truth  superior,  but  with  the  God  whose  glory  the  whole  frame  of  nature  was 
intended  to  display  and  does  display,  even  to  the  least  matured  and  culti- 
vated minds.  It  was  with  a  view  to  this  comparison,  and  not  for  its  own 
sake,  or  as  the  main  subject  of  the  psalm,  that  the  glory  of  creation  waa 
referred  to  the  foregoing  verse. 

6  (5).  And  remove  him  little  from  divinity,  i.  e.  from  a  divine  and 
heavenly,  or  at  least  a  superhuman  state.  The  Hebrew  noun  is  the  com- 
mon one  for  God,  but  being  plural  in  its  form,  is  sometimes  used  in  a  more 
vague  and  abstract  sense,  for  all  conditions  of  existence  higher  than  our 
own.  1  Sam.  xxviii.  13,  Zech.  ix.  7.  Hence  it  is  sometimes  rendered 
angels  in  the  Septuagint,  which  version,  although  inexact,  is  retained  in 
the  New  Testament  (Heb.  ii.  7),  because  it  sufficiently  expresses  the  idea 
which  was  essential  to  the  writer's  argument.  The  verb  in  this  clause 
strictly  means  to  make  or  let  one  want,  to  leave  deficient.  Eccles.  iv.  8, 
vi.  2.  The  form  here  used  (that  of  the  future  with  vav  conversive),  con- 
nects it  in  the  closest  manner  with  the  verb  of  the  preceding  verse,  a  con- 
struction which  may  be  imperfectly  conveyed  by  the  omission  of  the 
auxiUary  verbs  in  English.  "  What  is  man,  that  thou  shouldst  remember 
him,  and  visit  him,  and  make  him  want  but  Uttle  of  divinity,  and  crown 
him  with  honour  and  glory?"  The  Hebrew  order  of  the  last  clause  is, 
and  {with)  honour  and  glory  crown  him.  These  nouns  are  elsewhere  put 
together  to  express  royal  dignity.  Ps.  xxi.  1,  6  (5),  xlv.  4  (3),  Jer. 
xxii.  18,  1  Chron.  xxix.  25.  There  is  an  obvious  allusion  to  man's  being 
made  in  the  image  of  God,  with  dominion  over  the  inferior  creation.  Gen. 
i.  26,  28 ;  ix.  2.  This  is  predicated  not  of  the  individual  but  of  the  race, 
which  lost  its  perfection  in  Adam  and  recovers  it  in  Christ.  Hence  the 
description  is  pre-eminently  true  of  him,  and  the  appUcation  of  the  words 
in  Heb.  ii.  7,  is  entirely  legitimate,  although  it  does  not  make  him  the 
exclusive  subject  of  the  psalm  itself. 

7  (6).  The  same  construction  is  continued  through  the  first  clause  of 
this  verse.  Make  him  rule,  i.  e.  what  is  man  that  thou  shouldst  make 
him  rule,  in,  among,  and  by  impUcation  over,  the  works,  the  other  and 


48  Psalm  8:7 -9 

inferior  creatures,  of  thy  hands.  The  use  of  the  future  form  in  Hebrew  up 
to  this  point  is  dependent  on  the  question  and  contingent  particle  {u-hat  is 
man  that)  in  ver.  5  (4).  The  question  being  now  exhausted  or  exchanged 
for  a  direct  affirmation,  the  past  tense  is  resumed.  All,  everything,  hast 
thou  put  under  his  feet,  i.  e.  subjected  to  his  power.  The  application  of 
these  terms  to  Christ  (1  Cor.  xv.  27,  Eph.  i.  22),  as  the  ideal  representative 
of  human  nature  in  its  restored  perfection,  is  precisely  similar  to  that  of 
the  expressions  used  in  the  preceding  ver^e. 

8  (7).  This  verse  contains  a  mere  specification  of  the  general  term  all 
in  the  verse  before  it.  Sheep,  or  rather  flocks,  including  sheep  and  goats,  and 
oxen,  as  a  generic  term  for  larger  cattle,  and  also,  not  only  these  domesti- 
cated animals,  but  also,  beasts  of  the  field,  which  always  means  in  Scripture 
wild  beasts  (Gen.  ii.  20,  iii.  14,  1  Sam.  xvii.  44,  Joel  i.  20),  field  being 
used  in  such  connections  to  denote,  not  the  cultivated  land,  but  the  open, 
unenclosed,  and  wilder  portions  of  the  country.  The  whole  verse  is  a 
general  description  of  all  quadrupeds  or  beasts,  whether  tame  or  wild. 

9  (8).  To  complete  the  cycle  of  animated  nature,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
air  and  water  are  now  added  to  those  of  the  earth.  Bird  of  heaven,  a 
collective  phrase,  denoting  the  birds  of  the  sky,  i.  e.  those  which  fly  across 
the  visible  heavens.  The  common  version,  "  fowl  of  the  air,"  is  de§criptive 
of  the  same  objects,  but  is  not  a  strict  translation.  And  fishes  of  the  sea, 
and  (every  thing)  passing  in,  or  through,  the  patlis  of  the  sea.  Some  read 
without  supplying  anything,  fishes  of  the  sea  passing  through  the  paths  of  the 
sea.  But  this  weakens  the  expression,  and  is  also  at  variance  with  the 
form  of  the  original,  where  passing  is  a  singular.  Others  construe  it  with 
man,  who  is  then  described  as  passing  over  the  sea  and  ruling  its  inhabi- 
tants. But  neither  the  syntax  nor  the  sense  is,  on  the  whole,  so  natural 
as  that  proposed  above,  which  makes  this  a  residuary  comprehensive  clause, 
intended  to  embrace  whatever  might  not  be  included  in  the  more  specific 
terms  by  which  it  is  preceded.  The  dominion  thus  ascribed  to  man,  as  a 
part  of  his  original  prerogative,  is  not  to  be  confovmded  with  the  coercive 
rule  which  he  still  exercises  over  the  inferior  creation  (Gen.  ix.  2,  James 
iii.  7),  although  this  is  really  a  relic  of  his  pristine  state,  and  at  the  same 
time  an  earnest  of  his  future  restoration. 

10  (9).  Jehovah,  our  Lord,  how  glorious  is  thy  name  in  all  the  earth,  not 
only  made  so  by  the  splendour  of  the  skies,  but  by  God's  condescending 
goodness  to  mankind.  With  this  new  evidence  and  clearer  view  of  the 
divine  perfection,  the  Psalmist  here  comes  back  to  the  point  fi:om  which  he 
started,  and  closes  with  a  solemn  repetition  of  the  theme  propounded  in  the 
opening  sentence. 


Psalm  9 

This  psalm  expresses,  in  a  series  of  natural  and  striking  alternations, 
gratitude  for  past  deliverances,  trust  in  God's -power  and  disposition  to 
repeat  them,  and  direct  and  earnest  prayer  for  such  repetition.  We  have 
first  the  acknowledgment  of  former  mercies,  ver.  2-7  (1-6) ;  then  the 
expression  of  trust  for  the  future,  ver.  8-13  (7-12) ;  then  the  petition 
founded  on  it,  ver.  14,  15  (13,  14).  The  same  succession  of  ideas  is 
repeated  :  recollection  of  the  past,  ver.  16,  17  (15,  16) ;  anticipation  of 
the  future,  ver.  18,  19  (17,  18) ;  prayer  for  present  and  immediate  help, 
ver.  20,  21  (19,  20).     This  parallelism  of  the  parts  makes  the  structure  of 


Psalm  9.] -3  49 

the  psalm  remarkably  like  that  of  the  seventh.  The  composition  was  inten- 
tionally so  framed  as  to  bo  a  vehicle  of  pious  feeling  to  the  church  at  any 
period  of  strife  and  persecution.  The  form  is  that  of  the  Old  Testament; 
but  the  substance  and  the  spirit  are  common  to  both  dispensations. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician^  Al-muth-luhhen.  This  enigmatical  title  has 
been  variously  explained.  Some  understand  it  as  descriptive  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  make  lahhen  an  anagram  of  Nahal,  the  name  of  one  of  Da^dd's 
enemies,  and,  at  the  same  time,  an  appellative  denoting /ooZ,  in  which  sense 
it  is  frequently  applied  to  the  wicked  ;  see,  for  example,  Ps.  xiv.  1.  The 
whole  would  then  mean  on  the  death  of  the  fool,  i.  e.  the  sinner.  Such 
enigmatical  changes  are  supposed  to  occur  in  Jer.  xxv.  26,  li.  1,  41;  Zech. 
ix.  1.  Others,  by  a  change  of  pointing  in  the  Hebrew,  for  al-muth  read 
ulamoth,  a  musical  term  occurring  in  the  title  of  Ps.  xlvi.,  or  a  cognate 
form  almuth,  and  explain  labben  to  mean  ybr  Ben,  or  the  {children  of)  Ben, 
one  of  the  Levitical  singers  mentioned  in  1  Chron.  xv.  18.  Neither  of 
these  explanations  seem  so  natural  as  a  third,  which  supposes  muth-lahben 
to  be  the  title,  or  the  first  words,  or  a  prominent  expression  of  some  other 
poem,  in  the  style,  or  to  the  air  of  which,  this  psalm  was  composed.  After 
the  manner,  or  to  the  air,  of  (the  song  or  poem)  Death  to  the  son,  or  the 
death  of  the  son.  Compare  2  Sam.  i.  18,  where  David's  elegy  on  Saul 
appears  to  be  called  Kesheth  or  the  Boiv,  because  that  word  is  a  prominent 
expression  in  the  composition.  As  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  expres- 
sion was  originally  without  meaning,  the  obscurity,  in  this  and  many 
similar  cases,  is  rather  a  proof  of  antiquity  than  of  the  opposite. 

•2  (1).  /  will  thank  Jehovah,  praise  him  for  his  benefits,  with  all  my 
heart,  sincerely,  cordially,  and  with  a  just  appreciation  of  the  greatness  of 
his  favours.  I  will  recount  all  thy  toonders,  the  wonderful  things  done  by 
thee,  with  special  reference  to  those  attested  by  his  own  experience.  The 
change  from  the  third  to  the  second  person  is  entirely  natural,  as  if  the 
Psalmist's  warmth  of  feeling  would  not  suffer  him  to  speak  any  longer 
merely  of  God,  as  one  absent,  but  compelled  him  to  turn  to  him,  as  the 
immediate  object  of  address.  There  is  no  need,  therefore,  of  supplying 
thee  in  the  first  clause,  and  construing  Jehovah  as  a  vocative. 

3  (2).  I  will  joy  and  triumph  in  thee,  not  merely  in  thy  presence,  or 
because  of  thee,  i.  e.  because  of  what  thou  hast  done,  but  in  communion 
with  thee,  and  because  of  my  personal  interest  in  thee.  The  form  of  the 
verbs,  both  here  and  in  the  last  clause  of  the  preceding  verse,  expresses 
strong  desire  and  fixed  determination;  see  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  3.  I  will 
praise,  or  celebrate  in  sovg ;  see  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  18  (17).  Thy  name, 
thy  manifested  excellence  ;  see  above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11).  {Thou)  Highest, 
or  Most  High!  see  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  18  (17).  Here  again  there  is  special 
reference  to  the  proofs  of  God's  supremacy  afforded  by  his  recent  dealings 
with  the  Psalmist  and  his  enemies. 

4  (3).  In  the  turning  of  my  enemies  bach,  i.  e.  from  their  assault  on  me, 
which  is  equivalent  to  saying,  in  their  retreat,  their  defeat,  their  disappoint- 
ment. This  may  either  be  connected  with  what  goes  before,  and  understood 
as  a  statement  of  the  reason  or  occasion  of  the  praise  there  promised  :  "I 
will  celebrate  thy  name  when  (or  because)  my  enemies  turn  back;"  or 
it  may  begin  a  new  sentence,  and  ascribe  their  defeat  to  the  agency  of 
God  himself:  "  When  my  enemies  turn  back  (it  is  because)  they  arc  to 
stumble,  and  perish  from  thy  presence,  from  before  thee,  or  at  thy  presence, 
i.  e.  as  soon  as  thou  appearest."  The  Hebrew  preposition  has  both  a  causa- 
tive and  local  meaning.     The  form  of  the  verbs  does  not  necessarily  imply 


50  Psalm  9:4  -  6 

that  the  deliverance  acknowledged  was  still  future,  but  only  that  it  might 
occur  again,  and  that  in  any  such  case,  whether  past  or  yet  to  come, 
Jehovah  was  and  would  be  the  true  author  of  the  victory  achieved.  The 
act  of  stumbling  implies  that  of  falling  as  its  natural  consequence,  and  is 
often  used  in  Scripture  as  a  figure  for  complete  and  ruinous  failure. 

5  (4).  This  was  not  a  matter  of  precarious  expectation,  but  of  certain 
experience.  For  thou  hast  made,  done,  executed,  wrought  out,  and  thereby 
maintained,  my  caitse  and  my  right.  This  phrase  is  always  used  elsewhere 
in  a  favourable  sense,  and  never  in  the  vague  one  of  simply  doing  justice, 
whether  to  the  innocent  6r  guilty.  See  Deut.  x.  18  ;  1  Kings  viii.  45,  49 ; 
Ps.  cxl.  12 ;  and  compare  Isa.  x.  2.  And  this  defence  was  not  merely  that 
of  an  advocate,  but  that  of  a  judge,  or  rather  of  a  sovereign  in  the  exercise 
of  those  judicial  functions  which  belong  to  royalty.  See  Prov.  xx.  8.  Thou 
hast  sat,  and  sittest,  on  a  throne,  the  throne  of  universal  sovereignty, 
judging  right,  i.  e.  rightly,  or  a  judge  of  righteousness,  a  righteous  judge. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  vii,  12  (11).  In  this  august  character  the  Psalmist  had 
already  seen  Jehovah,  and  he  therefore  gives  it  as  a  reason  for  expecting 
him  to  act  in  accordance  with  it  now. 

6  (5).  The  forensic  terms  of  the  preceding  verse  are  now  explained  as 
denoting  the  destruction  of  God's  enemies.  Thou  hast  rebuked  nationSf 
not  merely  individuals,  but  nations.  God's  chastisements  are  often  called 
rebukes,  because  in  them  he  speaks  by  act  as  clearly  as  he  could  by  word. 
Thou  hast  destroyed  a  wicked  [one),  i.  e.  many  a  wicked  enemy,  in  former 
times,  in  other  cases,  and  that  not  with  a  partial  ruin,  but  with  complete 
extermination  even  of  their  memory.  Their  name,  that  by  which  men  are 
distinguished  and  remembered,  thou  hast  blotted  out,  erased,  effaced,  obli- 
terated, to  perpetuity  and  eternity,  an  idiomatic  combination,  coincident  in 
sense,  though  not  in  form,  with  the  English  phrase,  for  ever  and  ever.  This 
verse  does  not  refer  exclusively  to  any  one  manifestation  of  God's  power 
and  wrath,  but  to  the  general  course  of  his  dealings  with  his  enemies,  and 
especially  to  their  invariable  issue,  the  destruction  of  the  adverse  party. 

7  (6).  The  enemy,  or  as  to  the  enemy,  a  nominative  absolute  placed  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sentence  for  the  sake  of  emphasis — finished,  completed, 
are  (his)  ruins,  desolations,  for  ever,  i.  e.  he  is  ruined  or  made  desolate 
for  ever.  The  construction  of  the  first  word  as  a  vocative — 0  enemy,  ended 
are  (thy)  desolations  for  ever,  i.  e.  the  desolations  caused  by  thee — affords  a 
good  sense,  but  is  neither  so  agreeable  to  usage  nor  to  the  context  as  the 
one  first  given.  Still  less  so  are  the  other  versions  which  have  been  given 
of  this  difficult  clause.  E.  g.  The  enemies  are  completely  desolate  for  ever; 
— the  enemies  are  consumed,  (there  are)  ruins  (or  desolations)  for  ever,  &c. 
The  address  is  still  to  Jehovah,  as  in  the  preceding  verse.  And  (their) 
cities,  viz.  those  of  the  enemy,  hast  thou  destroyed.  According  to  the  second 
construction  above  given,  this  would  mean,  thou  (0  enemy)  hast  destroyed 
cities,  but  art  now  destroyed  thyself.  The  same  reasons  as  before  require 
ns  to  prefer  Jehovah  as  the  object  of  address.  Gone,  perish,  is  their  very 
memory.  The  idiomatic  form  of  the  original  in  this  clause  cannot  be 
retained  in  a  translation.  The  nearest  approach  to  it  would  be,  gone  is 
their  memory,  themselves.  This  may  either  mean  their  memory,  viz.  [that 
of)  themselves,  i.  e.  their  own  ;  or,  perished  is  their  memory  (and)  themselves 
{with  it).  There  seems  to  be  an  obvious  allusion  to  the  threatenings 
against  Amalek  in  the  books  of  Moses  (Exod.  xvii.  14 ;  Num.  xxiv.  20 ; 
Deut.  XXV.  19),  which  received  their  literal  fulfilment  in  the  conquests  of 
Saul  and  David  (1  Sam.  xv.  8,  7,  xxvii.  8,  9,  xxx.  1,  17 ;  2  Sam.  viii.  12; 


Psalm9:7-12  51 

1  Chron.  iv.  43).  But  this  is  evidently  here  presented  merely  as  a  sample 
of  other  conquests  over  the  surrounding  nations  (2  Sam.  viii.  11-14),  and 
even  these  as  only  samples  of  the  wonders  wrought  by  God  for  his  own 
people,  and  celebrated  in  ver.  2  (1)  above. 

8  (7).  And  Jehovah  to  eternity,  for  ever,  will  sit,  as  he  sits  now,  upon 
the  throne  and  judgment- seat.  He  has  set  up  for  judgment,  for  the  purpose 
of  acting  as  a  judge,  Jiis  throne.  It  is  not  as  an  absolute  or  arbitrary  ruler, 
but  as  a  just  judge,  that  Jehovah  reigns.  This  recognition  of  God's  judicial 
character  and  office  as  perpetual  is  intended  to  prepare  the  way  for  an 
appeal  to  his  righteous  intervention  in  the  present  case. 

9  (8).  And  he,  himself,  with  emphasis  upon  the  pronoun,  is  to  judge  the 
world,  the  fruitful  and  cultivated  earth,  as  the  Hebrew  word  properly 
denotes,  here  put  for  its  inhabitants,  injustice,  or  righteousness,  i.e.  in 
the  exercise  of  this  divine  perfection.  He  will  judge,  a  diflferent  Hebrew 
verb,  to  which  we  have  no  equivalent,  he  will  judge  nations,  peoples,  races, 
not  mere  individuals,  in  equities,  in  equity,  the  plural  form  denoting  fulness 
or  completeness,  as  in  Ps.  i.  1.  As  the  preceding  verse  describes  Jehovah's 
kingship  as  judicial,  so  the  verse  before  us  represents  him  in  the  actual 
exercise  of  his  judicial  functions. 

10  (9).  And  {so)  toill  Jehovah  he  a  high  place,  out  of  reach  of  danger, 
hence  a  refuge,  for  the  oppressed,  literally  the  bruised  or  broken  in  pieces, 
a  high  place,  refuge,  in  times  of  distress,  literally  at  times  in  distress,  i.  e. 
at  times  (when  men  are)  in  distress.  God's  judicial  sovereignty  is  exercised 
so  as  to  relieve  the  sufferer  and  deliver  those  in  danger. 

11  (10).  And  in  thee  will  trust,  as  now  so  in  all  times  to  come,  the 
Jcnowers  of  thy  name,  those  who  know  the  former  exhibitions  of  thy  great- 
ness and  thy  goodness,  all  which  are  included  in  the  name  of  God.  See 
ver.  3  (2),  and  Ps.  viii.  2  (1),  vii.  18  (17),  ver.  12  (11).  For  thou  hast 
not  forsaken  thy  seekers,  or  (those)  seeking  thee,  0  Lord,  Jehovah,  i.  e.  seek- 
ing thy  favour  in  general,  and  thy  protection  against  their  enemies  in  par- 
ticular. The  certain  knowledge  of  this  fact  is  laid  as  the  foundation  of  the 
confidence  expressed  in  the  first  clause. 

12  (11).  Sing,  make  music,  give  praise  by  song  or  music,  to  Jehovah, 
as  the  God  of  Israel,  inhabiting  Zion,  i.  e.  the  sanctuary  there  established. 
Or  the  words  may  mean  sitting,  as  a  king,  enthroned,  (in)  Zion,  which 
agrees  well  with  the  use  of  the  same  verbs  in  ver.  5,  8  (4,  7)  above,  al- 
though the  other  version  is  favoured  by  the  obvious  allusion  to  the  symboli- 
cal import  of  the  sanctuary  under  the  Mosaic  law,  as  teaching  the  great 
doctrine  of  God's  dwelling  among  men.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  5  (4), 
V.  8  (7).  Zion  is  here  represented  as  the  centre  of  a  circle  reaching  far 
beyond  the  house  of  Israel,  and  indeed  co-extensive  with  the  earth.  Tell, 
declare,  make  known,  in,  among,  the  nations,  his  exploits,  his  noble  deeds, 
the  wonders  mentioned  in  ver.  2  (1).  We  have  here,  in  his  inspired 
formula  of  worship,  a  clear  proof  that  the  ancient  church  believed  and 
understood  the  great  truth,  that  the  law  was  to  go  forth  from  Zion,  and  the 
word  of  the  Lord  fi-om  Jerusalem,  Isa.  ii.  3,  Mic.  iv.  2. 

13  (12).  For  seeking  blood,  or  as  an  inqtiisitor  of  blood,  he  has  remem- 
bered, he  remembers,  it,  i.  e.  the  blood  ;  he  has  not  forgotten  the  cry  of  the 
distressed.  God  is  here  revealed  in  the  character  which  he  assumes  in  Gen. 
ix.  5,  where  the  same  verb  and  noun  are  used  in  the  first  clause  of  the 
verse  before  us.  The  word  translated  blood  is  in  the  plural  form.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  v.  7  (6).  Hence  the  literal  translation  of  the  next  word  is, 
he  has  remembered  them,  i.  e.  the  bloods  or  murders.     The  cry  meant  is- 


52  Psalm  9:13, 14 

the  cry  of  suffering  and  complaint,  with  particular  reference  to  Gen.  iv.  10. 
According  to  another  reading  of  the  last  clause,  the  cry  is  that  of  the  meek 
or  humble,  not  of  the  distressed.  But  the  common  text  affords  a  better 
sense,  and  really  includes  the  other,  as  the  innocence  of  the  sufferers  is  im- 
plied, though  not  expressed.  The  general  import  of  the  verse  is  that  God's 
judgments,  though  deferred,  are  not  abandoned,  that  he  does  not  forget 
even  what  he  seems  to  disregard,  and  that  sooner  or  later  he  will  certainly 
appear  as  an  avenger.  Murder  is  here  put  as  the  highest  crime  against 
the  person,  for  all  others,  and  indeed  for  wickedness  in  general. 

14  (13).  Have  mercy  upon  me,  or  be  gracious  to  me,  0  Jehovah,  see  my 
suffering  from  my  haters,  raising  me  from  the  gates  of  death.  The  view 
previously  taken  of  God's  faithfulness  and  justice  is  now  made  the  ground 
of  an  importunate  petition  for  deliverance  from  present  dangers  and  dis- 
tress. My  haters,  those  who  hate  me.  From  my  haters  may  be  taken  as 
a  pregnant  construction,  meaning,  see  my  suffering  (and  free  me)  from  my 
enemies.  Thus  in  2  Sam.  xviii.  19,  "  Jehovah  hath  judged  him  from  the 
hand  of  his  enemies,"  means  "  hath  done  him  justice  (and  so  freed  him) 
from  the  power  of  his  enemies."  See  a  similar  expression  in  Ps.  xxii.  22 
(21)  below.  It  seems  more  natural  and  obvious,  however,  in  the  case 
before  us,  to  give  from  a  causal  meaning.  "  See  my  distress  (arising) 
from,  or  caused  by,  those  who  hate  me."  Raising  me  does  not  denote  an 
accompanying  act,  as  if  he  had  said,  see  my  distress,  and  at  the  same  time 
lift  me  up,  &c.  It  is  rather  descriptive  of  a  certain  divine  character  or 
habit,  and  agrees  with  the  pronoun  of  the  second  person  understood. 
*'  Thou  that  liftest  me  up,"  that  art  accustomed  so  to  do,  that  has  done  so 
in  other  cases,  with  an  implied  prayer,  do  so  now.  The  gates  of  death  may 
have  reference  to  the  image  of  a  subterranean  dungeon,  from  which  no 
prisoner  can  free  himself ;  or  it  may  be  simply  a  poetical  expression  for  the 
entrance  to  the  grave  of  the  state  of  the  dead.  Compare  Isa.  xxxviii.  10, 
and  Mat.  xvi.  18. 

15  (14).  That  I  may  recount  all  thy  praise  in  the  gates  of  the  daughter  of 
Zion,  may  joy  in  thy  salvation.  This  is  one  important  end  for  which  he 
asks  to  be  dehvered,  namely,  that  God  may  have  the  praise  of  his  deliver- 
ance. There  is  a  trace,  in  the  Hebrew  text,  of  an  original  plural  form, 
praises,  which  might  then  denote  praiseworthy  deeds,  actions  worthy  to  be 
celebrated.  But  the  singular  form  occurs  with  all  in  Ps.  cvi.  2  below. 
The  gates  here  mentioned  are  contrasted  with  those  of  the  preceding  verse. 
The  God  who  saves  him  from  the  gates  of  death  shall  be  praised  for  this 
deliverance  in  the  gates  of  the  daughter  of  Zion.  This  last  expression  is 
supposed  by  some  to  be  a  personification  of  the  people  inhabiting  Zion  or 
Jerusalem,  who  are  then  put  for  Israel  at  large,  as  the  church  or  chosen 
people.  Others  regard  the  genitive  construction  as  equivalent  to  a  simple 
apposition,  as  in  river  of  Euphrates,  or  in  our  familiar  phrase,  the  city  of 
Jerusalem.  The  personification  is  then  that  of  the  city  itself,  considered 
as  an  ideal  virgin,  and  on  that  account  called  daughter,  by  a  usage  similar 
to  that  of  the  corresponding  word  in  French.  In  either  case,  there  is  an 
obvious  reference  to  the  ancient  church,  as  the  scene  or  the  witness  of  the 
Psalmist's  praises.  The  verb  in  the  last  clause  may  be  made  to  depend  upon 
the  particle  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse,  [that]  I  may  exult ;  or  it  may  be 
still  more  emphatically  construed  as  an  independent  proposition,  /  will  exult 
in  thy  salvation.  The  form  of  the  verb  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  ii.  3  above. 
The  second  verb  itself  occurs  in  ver.  11  of  that  psalm,  and  as  in  that  case, 
may  either  denote  an  inward  emotion  or  the  outward  expression  of  it,  I  will 


Psalm  9:15  -  18  53 

shout.     In  thy  salvation,  i.  e.  in  the  possession  or  experience  of  it,  and  in 
acknowledgment  of  having  thus  experienced  or  possessed  it. 

16  (15).  Sunk  are  nations  in  a  pit  they  made;  in  a  net  which  they  hid, 
taken  is  their  foot.  This  may  be  either  a  confident  anticipation  of  the  future 
as  if  already  past,  or  a  further  reference  to  previous  deliverance,  as  a  ground 
of  hope  for  others  yet  to  come.  Nations,  whole  nations,  when  opposed  to 
God.  Compare  Ps,  ii.  1.  The  accessory  idea  of  Gentiles,  heathen,  would 
be  necessarily  suggested  at  the  same  time  to  a  Hebrew  reader.  Most  ver- 
sions have  the  definite  forms,  the  pit,  the  net ;  but  the  indefinite  form  of  the 
original  is  equally  intelligible  in  English,  and  therefore  preferable  as  a  more 
exact  translation.  The  ellipsis  of  the  relative,  a  pit  (which)  they  made,  is 
common  to  the  Hebrew  idiom  and  our  own.  The  figures  are  borrowed 
from  ancient  modes  of  himting.     See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  16  (15).     Their 

foot,    their   own   foot,    not   that    of   the   victim  whose    destruction   they 
intended. 

17  (16).  Known  is  Jehovah,  or  has  made  himself  known.  Justice  has  he 
done,  or  judgment  has  he  executed.  In  the  work  of  Jiis  (own)  hands  en- 
snared is  a  wicked  (man).  Higgaion,  meditation.  Selah,  pause.  God  has 
revealed  himself  as  present  and  attentive,  notwithstanding  his  apparent  obli- 
vion and  inaction,  by  doing  justice  on  his  enemies,  or  rather  by  making 
them  do  justice  on  themselves,  converting  their  devices  against  others  into 
means  of  self-destruction.  In  view  of  this  most  striking  attestation  of 
God's  providential  government,  the  reader  is  summoned  to  reflect,  and 
enabled  so  to  do  by  a  significant  and  solemn  pause.  The  sense  of  medita- 
tion or  reflection  is  clear  ifrom  Ps.  xix.  15  (14),  and  Lam.  iii.  62.  See 
below,  on  Ps.  xcii.  4  (3),  The  addition  of  Higgaion  to  Selah  here  con- 
firms the  explanation  already  given  of  the  latter  word.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
iii.  3  (2).  With  this  understanding  of  the  terms,  we  may  well  say,  to  our- 
selves or  others,  in  view  of  every  signal  providential  retribution,  especially 
where  sin  is  conspicuously  made  its  own  avenger,  Higgaion  Selah ! 

18  (17).  The  vncked  shall  turn  back  even  to  hell,  to  death,  or  to  the  grave, 
all  nations  forgetfu.  of  God.  The  enemies  of  God  and  of  his  people  shall 
be  not  only  thwarted  and  repulsed,  but  driven  to  destruction ;  and  that  not 
merely  individuals,  but  nations.  For  the  meaning  of  Sheol  see  above,  on 
Ps.  vi.  6  (5).  The  figure  of  turning  back,  retreating,  failing,  is  tUfe  same 
as  in  ver.  4  (3)  above.  The  idea  expressed  is  not  that  of  being  turned 
directly  into  hell,  but  that  of  turning  back,  first  to  one's  original  position, 
and  then  beyond  it,  to  the  grave  or  hell.  In  the  last  clause  there  is  an 
allusion  to  the  implied  charge  of  forgetfulness  on  God's  part  in  ver.  13  (12) 
above.  He  had  not  forgotten  the  "poor  innocents,"  as  they  feared,  and 
as  their  enemies  believed ;  but  these  very  enemies  had  forgotten  him,  and 
must  now  abide  the  consequences  of  their  own  forgetfulness.  The  future 
forms  of  this  verse  may  have  reference  to  the  same  things  mentioned  in  the 
verse  preceding  as  already  past.  It  seems  more  natural,  however,  to  explain 
them  as  a  confident  anticipation  of  results  precisely  similar  to  those  which 
had  already  been  produced  by  the  same  causes.  As  Jehovah  had  already 
caused  the  heathen  to  become  their  own  destroyers,  so  he  might  be  expected 
to  renew  the  same  judicial  process  in  another  case. 

19  (18).  For  not  for  ever  shall  the  poor  be  forgotten,  (and)  the  hope  of  the 
humble  perish  to  eternity.  However  long  God  may  appear  to  be  forgetful 
of  his  sufi'ering  people,  even  this  seeming  obhvion  is  to  have  an  end.  Still 
another  allusion  to  the  charge  or  imputation  of  forgetfulness  implied  in  ver. 
18  (12)  above.     The  difference  between  the  readings  humble  and  afflicted 


54  Psalm  10:1 

iP^y^J  and  U^'^y}))  is  not  essential,  as  the  context  shews  that  the  humble 
meant  are  humble  sufferers. 

20  (19).  Arise,  Jehovah!  Let  not  man,  frail  man,  he  strong.  Let  na- 
tions, or  the  heathen,  he  judged,  and  as  a  necessary  consequence  condemned, 
hefore  thy  face,  in  thy  presence,  at  thy  bar.  Here  again,  as  in  ver.  13,  14 
(12,  13),  the  expression  of  strong  confidence  is  made  the  occasion  of  an 
earnest  prayer.  So  far  is  an  impUcit  trust  from  leading  men  to  cast  off 
fear  and  restrain  prayer  before  God.  On  the  exhortation  to  arise,  as  from  a 
state  of  previous  inaction,  see  above,  Ps.  iii.  7  (6).  For  the  full  sense  of  the 
word  translated  man,  see  above,  on  Ps.  viii,  5  (4).  Let  him  not  he  strong, 
i.  e.  let  him  not  so  appear,  or  so  esteem  himself.  Let  him  have  no  occasion, 
by  indulgence  or  prolonged  impunity,  to  cherish  this  delusion,  or  to  prac- 
tise this  imposture.  The  absurdity  of  making  man  the  stronger  party  in 
this  strife  with  God  is  so  preposterous,  that  God  is  summoned  to  arise  for 
the  purpose  of  exploding  it.  To  be  judged,  in  the  case  of  the  wicked,  is  of 
com-se  to  be  condemned.  To  be  judged  in  God's  presence,  or  at  his  tri- 
bunal, is  of  course  to  be  condemned  without  appeal. 

21  (20).  Set,  place,  or  join,  O  Jehovah,  fear  to  them.  Let  nations  know, 
or  then  shall  nations  know,  [that)  man,  not  God,  (are)  they.  Selah.  God 
is  entreated  so  to  frighten  them,  that  they  may  become  conscious  of  their 
own  insignificance  and  weakness.  The  word  translated  fear  is  elsewhere 
used  to  signify  a  razor.  Hence  some  would  render  the  first  clause,  apply 
the  razor  to  them,  i.e.  shave  them,  in  allusion  to  the  oriental  feeling  with 
respect  to  the  beard.  But  this  seems  far-fetched,  and  the  masoretic  read- 
ing yields  a  better  sense.  The  precise  import  of  the  first  phrase  seems  to 
be,  set  fear  as  a  guard  over  them  (Ps.  cxli.  3),  or  join  it  to  them  as  a  con- 
stant companion.  The  word  translated  man  is  still  the  same  as  in  the 
foregoing  verse,  and  was  therefore  intended  to  suggest  the  idea  of  human 
frailty,  as  contrasted  with  divine  omnipotence. 

Psalm  10 

The  Psalmist  complains  of  God's  neglect,  and  of  the  malice  of  his  ene- 
mies, ver.  1-11.  He  prays  that  both  these  subjects  of  complaint  may  be 
removed,  ver.  12—15.  He  expresses  the  most  confident  assurance  that 
his  prayer  will  be  heard  and  answered,  ver.  16-18. 

The  Septuagint  and  Vulgate  unite  this  with  the  ninth  psalm  as  a  single 
composition.  But  each  is  complete  in  itself,  and  the  remarkable  coinci- 
dences even  of  expression  only  shew  that  both  were  meant  to  form  a  pair 
or  double  psalm  lilie  the  first  and  second,  third  and  fourth,  &c.  From  the 
same  facts  it  is  clear,  that  this  psalm,  though  anonymous,  is,  like  the  ninth, 
the  work  of  David,  and  that  both  were  probably  composed  about  the  same 
time. 

1.  For  tvhat  [cause),  why,  0  Jehovah,  wilt  thou  stand  afar,  wilt  thou  hide 
at  times  (when  we  are)  in  trouble  ?  The  question  really  propounded  is, 
how  this  inaction  can  be  reconciled  with  what  was  said  of  God  in  Ps.  ix. 
10  (9). — To  stand  afar  off,  is  to  act  as  an  indifferent,  or,  at  the  most,  a 
curious  spectator.  Wilt  thou  hide,  i.  e.  thyself  or  thine  eyes,  by  refusing  to 
see,  as  in  Lev.  xx.  4,  1  Sam.  xii.  3.  The  fiatures  imply  present  action 
and  the  prospect  of  continuance  hereafter.  The  question  is  not  merely  why 
he  does  so,  but  why  he  still  persists  in  doing  so.  The  singular  phrase,  ai 
times  in  trouble,  occurs  only  here  and  in  Ps.  ix.  10  (9),  a  strong  proof  of  the 


Psalm  10:2-4  55 

intimate  connection  of  the  two  psalms,  and  perhaps  of  their  contemporary- 
composition.  This  expostulation  betrays  no  defect  either  of  reverence  or 
faith,  but,  on  the  contrary,  indicates  a  firm  belief  that  God  is  able,  and 
must  be  willing,  to  deliver  his  own  people.  Such  demands  are  never  uttered 
either  by  scepticism  or  despair. 

2.  In  the  pride  of  the  ivicked  bums  the  sufferer  ;  they  are  caught  in  de- 
vices which  they  have  contrived.  This  very  obscure  verse  admits  of  several 
different  constructions.  The  first  verb  sometimes  means  to  persecute,  lite- 
rally to  burn  after,  or  pursue  hotly.  Gen.  xxxi.  36  ;  1  Sam.  xvii.  53.  In 
one  case  it  seems  to  have  this  meaning  even  without  the  preposition  after. 
Lam.  iv.  19.  The  sense  would  then  be,  in  the  pride  of  the  wicked  he  will 
persecute,   &c.     But  the  collocation  of  the  words  seems  to  point  out  ""jy 

•T 

as  the  subject,  not  the  object,  of  the  verb.  The  sufferer's  burning  may 
denote  either  anger  or  anguish,  or  a  mixed  feeling  of  indignant  sorrow. — 
The  adjective  ''jy  means  afilicted,  suffering,  whether  from  poverty  or  pain. 

Poor  is  therefore  too  specific  a  translation.  In  the  Psalms  this  word  is 
commonly  appUed  to  innocent  sufferers,  and  especially  to  the  people  of  God, 
as  objects  of  malignant  persecution.  It  thus  suggests  the  accessory  idea,- 
which  it  does  not  formally  express,  of  righteousness  or  piety. — In  the  last 
clause  there  is  some  doubt  as  to  the  subject  of  the  first  verb.  If  referred 
to  the  wicked,  the  sense  will  be,  that  they  are  taken  in  their  own  devices. 
If  to  the  poor,  that  they  are  caught  in  the  devices  of  the  wicked.  The  first 
is  favoured  by  the  analogy  of  Ps.  vii.  15-17  (14-16),  and  Ps.  ix.  16,  17 
(15,  16).  But  the  other  agrees  better  with  the  context,  as  a  description  of 
successful  wickedness. 

3.  For  a  wicked  (man)  boasts  of  (or  simply  praises)  the  desire  of  his  soul, 
and  ivinning  (i.  e.  when  he  wins),  blesses,  despises  Jehovah.  This  seems  to 
be  a  description  of  the  last  stage  of  corruption,  in  which  men  openly  defend 
or  applaud  their  own  vices,  and  impiously  thank  God  for  their  dishonest 
gains  and  other  iniquitous  successes. — The  preterite  forms,  has  praised,  &c., 
denote  that  it  always  has  been  so,  as  a  matter  of  familiar  experience.  The 
desire  of  his  soul  means  his  natural  selfish  inclination,  his  heart's  lust. 
And  winning,  i.  e.  when  he  wins  or  gains  his  end,  with  special  reference 
to  increase  of  wealth.  Hence  the  word  is  sometimes  used  to  signify  the 
covetous  or  avaricious  grasper  after  wealth  by  fraud  or  force.  The  same 
participle,  joined  with  a  cognate  noun,  is  rendered  "greedy  of  gala"  in 
Prov.  i.  19,  XV.  27,  and  "given  to  covetousness"  in  Jer.  vi.  3,  viii.  10. 
See  also  Hab.  ii.  9,  where  the  true  sense  is  given  in  the  margin  of  the 
English  Bible. — He  who  gains  an  evil  gain  blesses  (and)  despises  Jehovah, 
i.  e.  expresses  his  contempt  of  him  by  thanking  him,  whether  in  jest  or 
earnest,  for  his  own  success.  He  blesses  God,  and  thereby  shews  that  he 
despises  him.  An  illustrative  parallel  is  Zech.  xi.  4,  5.  "  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  my  God,  Feed  the  flock  of  the  slaughter,  whose  possessors  slay  them 
and  hold  themselves  not  guilty,  and  they  that  sell  them  say.  Blessed  is  the 
Lord,  for  I  am  rich."  This  parallel,  moreover,  shews  that  blesses,  in  the 
Terse  before  us,  does  not  mean  blesses  himself,  as  some  suppose,  but  blesses 
God. 

4.  A  wicked  (man),  according  to  his  pride,  will  not  seek.  There  is  no 
God  (are)  all  his  thoughts.  Pride  is  here  expressed  by  one  of  its  outward 
indications,  loftiness  of  look,  or  as  some  suppose  the  Hebrew  phrase  to 
signify  originally,  elevation  of  the  nose. — Will  not  seek,  i.  e.  seek  Gx)d  in 
prayer  (Ps.  xxxiv.  4),  or  in  the  wider  sense  of  worship  (Ps.  xiv.  2),  or  in 


56  Psalm  10:5,6 

that  of  inquiring  the  divine  will  (Gen.  xxv.  22),  all  which  religious  acts  are 
at  variance  with  the  pride  of  the  human  heart. — All  his  thoughts,  not  merely 
his  opinions,  but  his  plans,  his  purposes,  which  is  the  proper  meaning  of 
the  Hebrew  word.  The  language  of  his  life  is,  that  there  is  no  God. — Another 
construction  of  the  first  clause  is  as  follows.  The  ivicked,  according  to  his 
pride  (says).  He,  i.  e.  God  will  not  require,  judicially  investigate  and  punish, 
as  in  Ps.  ix.  13  (12),  and  in  ver.  13  below,  where  there  seems  to  be  a  re- 
ference to  the  words  before  us,  as  uttered  by  the  wicked  man  himself. — A 
third  construction  thus  avoids  the  necessity  of  supplying  says. — '  As  to  the 
wicked  in  his  pride — He  will  not  require,  there  is  no  God — are  all  his 
thoughts."  This  maybe  transferred  into  our  idiom  as  follows:  All  the 
thoughts  of  the  wicked  in  his  pride  ai-e,  that  God  will  not  require,  or  rather 
that  there  is  no  God.  In  favour  of  the  first  construction  given  is  the  fact 
that  it  requires  nothing  to  be  supplied  like  the  second,  and  does  not  disturb 
the  parallelism  of  the  clauses  like  the  third.  Common  to  all  is  the  impu- 
tation of  proud  self-confidence  and  practical  atheism  to  the  sinner. 

5.  His  icays  are  firm,  or  will  be  firm,  in  all  time,  always.  A  height,  or 
high  thing,  (are)  thy  judgments  from  before  him,  away  from  him,  out  of  his 
sight.  {As  for)  his  enemies  he  icill  puf  at  them,  as  a  natural  expression  of 
contempt,  or  he  will  blow  upon  them,  i.  e.  blow  them  away,  scatter  them, 
with  ease.  This  describes  the  prosperity  and  success  of  sinners,  not  only 
as  a  fact  already  familiar,  but  as  something  which  is  likely  to  continue. 
Hence  the  future  forms,  which  indicate  continuance  hereafter,  just  as  the 
preterites  in  ver.  3  indicate  actual  experience. — The  only  other  sense  which 
can  be  put  upon  the  first  clause  is,  his  ways  are  txvisted,  i.  e.  his  actions  are 
perverse.  But  the  Chaldee  paraphrase,  the  cognate  dialects,  and  the  ana- 
logy of  Job  XX.  21,  are  in  favour  of  the  rendering,  his  ways  are  strong,  i.  e. 
his  fortunes  are  secure,  his  life  is  prosperous,  which  moreover  agrees  best 
with  the  remainder  of  the  verse,  as  a  description  of  the  sinner's  outward 
state.  Thus  understood,  the  second  clause  describes  him  as  untouched  or 
unaffected  by  God's  providential  judgments,  and  the  third  as  easily  ridding 
himself  of  all  his  human  adversaries.  Both  together  represent  him  as  im- 
pregnable on  all  sides,  in  appearance  equally  beyond  the  reach  of  God  and 
man.  (Compare  Luke  xviii.  2,  4.)  As  this  immunity  from  danger,  strictly 
understood,  could  exist  only  in  appearance,  the  whole  verse  may  be  regarded 
as  an  expression  of  the  sinner's  own  opinion  rather  than  his  true  condition, 

6.  He  hath  said  in  his  heart,  I  shall  not  be  moved ;  to  generation  and 
generation,  (I  am  one)  who  (shall)  not  (be)  in  evil,  or  as  the  same  Hebrew 
phrase  is  rendered  in  the  English  version  of  Exod.  v.  19,  in  evil  case,  i.e. 
in  trouble,  in  distress.  This  is  a  natural  expression  of  the  proud  security 
engendered  in  the  natural  man  by  great  prosperity.  He  hath  said,  implying 
that  the  cause  has  already  been  in  operation  long  enough  to  shew  its  natural 
effect.  In  his  heart,  to  himself,  in  a  spirit  of  self- gratulation  and  self- 
confidence.  To  age  and  age,  throughout  all  ages  or  all  generations.  The 
strength  of  this  expression  shews  that  the  speaker  is  not  a  real  person,  but 
the  ideal  type  of  a  whole  class.  The  sinner,  who  thus  says  in  his  heart,  is 
not  the  sinner  of  one  period  or  country,  but  the  sinner  of  all  times  and 
places,  one  who  never  disappears,  or  ceases  thus  to  feel  and  act. — The  form 
of  the  last  clause  in  Hebrew  is  peculiar  and  emphatic.  He  does  not  simply 
say,  I  shall  never  be  in  evil  or  adversity,  but  I  am  he,  I  am  the  man,  who 
shall  never  be  in  evil,  as  if  the  very  supposition  of  such  a  contingency, 
however  justified  by  general  experience,  would  be  not  only  groundless  but 
absurd  in  this  one  case.      (Compare  Isaiah  xlvii.  8-10.)      There  could 


Psalm  10:7 -9  57 

scarcely  be  a  stronger  expression  of  the  self-relying  spirit  of  the  sinner,  as 
contrasted  with  the  saints'  implicit  confidence  in  God's  will  and  power,  not 
only  to  preserve  him  from  falling,  but  to  raise  him  when  he  does  fall. 

7.  (Of)  cursing  his  mouth  is  full,  and  deceits,  and  oppression.  Under  his 
tongue  (are)  trouble  and  iniquity.  He  now  gives  a  more  particular  descrip- 
tion of  the  wicked  man,  beginning  with  his  sins  against  his  neighbour,  and 
among  these,  with  his  sins  of  word  or  speech.  If  this  be  a  correct  view  of 
the  whole  verse,  the  cursing,  mentioned  in  the  first  clause,  is  most  probably 
false  swearing,  or  the  invocation  of  God's  name,  and  imprecation  of  his 
wrath  upon  one's  self,  in  attestation  of  a  falsehood.  This  kind  of  cursing 
is  closely  connected  with  the  fraud  and  violence  which  follow.    The  Hebrew 

word  'TtD,  to  which  the  older  writers  gave  the  sense  of  fraud,  is  now  com- 
monly explained  to  mean  oppression  ;  so  that  with  the  noun  preceding,  it 
denotes  injustice,  injmy  to  others,  both  by  fraud  and  violence. — Under  the 
tongue  may  have  reference  to  the  poison  of  serpents,  or  to  the  use  of  the 
tongue  for  speaking,  as  in  Ps.  Ixvi.  17,  where  the  same  phrase  occurs  in 
the  original,  though  not  in  the  common  version. — Toil,  labour,  trouble, 
endured  by  others  as  the  consequence  of  his  deceits  and  violence. — For  the 
meaning  of  the  last  word  in  the  verse,  see  above,  on  Ps.  v.  6  (5). — Oppres- 
sion is  here  reckoned  among  sins  of  speech,  because  the  latter  may  be  made 
the  means  of  violent  injustice,  by  tyrannical  command,  by  unjust  judgment, 
or  by  instigating  others  to  deprive  the  victim  of  his  rights.  If  only  fraud 
had  been  referred  to,  this  description  of  the  sins  committed  with  the  tongue 
would  have  been  palpably  defective. 

8.  He  will  sit  in  the  lurking-place  of  villages  ;  in  tlie  secret  places  he  will 
slay  the  innocent ;  his  eyes  for  the  sufferer  will  hide,  watch  secretly,  or  lie  in 
wait.  From  sins  ^of  word  he  now  proceeds  to  those  of  deed  or  outward 
action.  The  wicked  enemy  is  here  represented  as  a  robber.  The  futures, 
as  in  ver.  5,  imply  that  what  is  now  is  likely  to  continue.  Sitting  implies 
patient  waiting  for  his  prey  or  victim.  The  lurking-place,  the  place  where 
murderers  and  robbers  usually  lurk  or  lie  in  wait.  Where  such  crimes  are 
habitually  practised,  there  is  commonly  some  spot  especially  associated  with 
them,  either  as  the  scene  of  the  iniquity  itself,  or  as  a  place  of  refuge  and 
resort  to  those  who  perpetrate  it. — The  mention  of  villages  is  no  proof  that 
the  psalm  relates  to  any  specific  case  of  lawless  violence,  but  only  that  the 
Psalmist  gives  individuality  to  his  description  by  traits  directly  drawn  from 
real  Ufe.  A  slight  change  in  the  form  of  expression  would  convert  it  into  a 
poetic  simile.  '  As  the  robber  sits  in  the  lurking-place  of  villages,'  &c. 
The  verb  hide  has  the  same  sense  as  in  Prov.  i.  11,  18. — The  word  trans- 
lated sufferer  {HD/tl  for  ^Vh)  is  peculiar  to  this  psalm,  and  was  not 

improbably  coined  for  the  occasion,  as  a  kind  of  enigmatical  description,  in 
which  David  seems  ta  have  delighted.  A  Jewish  tradition  makes  it  mean 
thy  host,  i.  e.  the  church  of  God  ;  but  this,  besides  being  forced  in  itself,  is 
forbidden  by  the  use  of  the  plural  in  ver.  10  below.  Others  derive  it  from 
an  Arabic  root,  meaning  to  be  black,  dark,  gloomy,  sad,  unhappy.  A  third 
hypothesis  explains  it  as  a  compound  of  two  Hebrew  words,  one  meaning 
weak  or  sick,  the  other  sad  or  sorrowful,  and  both  together  representing  the 
object  of  the  enemy's  malice,  in  the  strongest  light,  as  a  sufferer  both  in 
mind  and  body. 

9.  He  will  lurk  in  the  hiding-place  as  a  lion  in  his  den ;  he  will  lurk  (or 
lie  in  wait)  to  catch  the  sufferer ;  he  will  catch  tlie  sufferer  by  drawing  him 
into  his  net,  or  in  drawing  him  (towards  him)  with  his  net.     That  the  pre- 


58  Psalm  10:10  -  12 

ceding  verse  contains  a  simile,  and  not  a  description  of  the  enemy  as  an 
actual  robber,  is  here  rendered  evident  by  the  addition  of  two  new  compari- 
sons, applied  to  the  same  object.  In  the  first  clause  he  is  compared  to  a 
lion,  in  the  second  to  a  hunter.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  16  (15),  ix.  16  (15), 
and  below,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  7,  Ivii.  7  (6).  The  force  of  the  futures  is  the  same 
as  in  the  foregoing  verse. — His  deti,  his  shelter,  covert,  hiding-place.  The 
Hebrew  word  is  commonly  appUed  to  any  temporary  shed  or  booth,  com- 
posed of  leaves  and  branches.  He  lies  in  wait  to  seize  the  prey,  and  he 
succeeds,  he  accompUshes  his  purpose.  A  third  possible  construction  of 
the  last  clause  is,  in  his  drawing  {i.e.  when  he  draws)  his  net.  The  whole 
verse,  with  the  one  before  it,  represents  the  wicked  as  employing  craft  no 
less  than  force  for  the  destruction  of  the  righteous. 

10.  And  bruised  he  will  sink ;  and  by  (or  m,  i.  e.  into  the  power  of)  his 
strong  ones  fall  the  sufferers,  the  victims.  These  are  represented,  in  the 
first  clause,  by  a  collective  singular,  and  in  th^  second  by  a  plm-al  proper, 
that  of  the  unusual  word  used  in  ver.  8  above.  Its  peculiar  etymology  and 
form  might  be  imitated  in  an  English  compound,  such  as  sick-sad,  weak-sad, 
or  the  hke.  By  his  strong  ones  some  would  understand  the  strong  parts  of 
the  lion,  teeth,  claws,  &c.  ;  others  the  same  parts  personified  as  warriors. 
But  even  in  the  foregoing  verse,  the  figure  of  a  lion  is  exchanged  for  that  of 
a  hunter ;  and  this  again  gives  place  here  to  that  of  a  military  leader  or  a 
chief  of  robbers,  thus  insensibly  returning  to  the  imagery  of  ver,  8.  These 
numerous  and  rapid  changes,  although  not  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of 
artificial  rhetoric,  add  greatly  to  the  life  of  the  description,  and  are  not 
without  their  exegetical  importance,  as  evincing  that  the  whole  is  metaphori- 
cal, a  varied  tropical  exhibition  of  one  and  the  same  object,  the  combined 
craft  and  cruelty  of  wicked  men,  considered  as  the  enemies  of  God  and  of 
his  people.  According  to  this  view  of  the  passage,  by  his  strong  ones  we 
may  understand  the  followers  of  the  hostile  chief,  those  who  help  him  and 
execute  his  orders,  or  the  ideal  enemy  himself,  before  considered  as  an  indi- 
vidual, but  now  resolved  into  the  many  individuals,  of  whom  the  class  which 
he  represents  is  really  composed. 

11.  He  hath  said  in  his  heart,  God  hath  forgotten,  he  hath  hidden  his 
face,  he  hath  not  seen,  doth  not  see,  and  will  not  see,  for  ever.  The  opening 
words  are  the  same,  and  have  the  same  sense,  as  in  ver.  6  above.  The  three 
parallel  clauses  which  follow  all  express  the  same  idea,  namely,  that  God 
takes  no  note  of  human  off'ences.  This  is  first  expressed  by  the  figure  of 
forgetfulness ;  then  by  that  of  deUberately  refusing  to  see,  as  in  ver.  1  above  ; 
then  by  a  literal  and  direct  af&rmation  tiiat  he  does  not  see,  either  the  suf- 
ferings of  his  people  or  the  malice  of  their  enemies  ;  and  that  this  is  not  a 
transient  or  occasional  neglect,  but  one  likely  to  continue  for  ever. 

12.  Ai-ise,  Jehovah!  Almighty  [God),  raise  thy  hand!  Forget  not 
suferei-s  (or  the  wretched) !  The  impious  increduhty,  expressed  in  the  pre- 
ceding verse,  is  now  made  the  ground  of  an  importunate  petition.  God  is 
besought  to  do  away  with  the  appearance  of  inaction  and  indifierence.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  vii.  7  (6).     Raise  thy  hand,  exert  thy  power.     The  second 

name  by  which  God  is  addressed  ('?^^)  is  one  expressive  of  omnipotence, 

and  may  be  correctly  rendered  by  our  phrase,  Almighty  God.  As  the  name 
Jehovah  appeals  to  his  covenant  relation  to  his  people,  as  a  reason  for 
granting  their  requests,  so  this  invokes  his  power  as  necessary  to  their 
deliverance  and  the  vindication  of  his  own  honour  from  the  imputation  of 
forgetiulness  cast  upon  him  by  his  enemies.    This  imputation  he  is  entreated, 


Psalm  10:13  -  16  59 

in  the  last  clause,  to  wipe  oflFby  shewing  that  he  does  remember.  Forget  not 
is,  in  this  connection,  tantamount  to  saying,  shew  that  thou  dost  not  forget. 
Here,  as  in  Ps.  ix.  13  (12),  the  margin  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  reads  (D^pS/) 
meek  or  humble,  while  the  text  has  (D^^J^)  suffering  or  afflicted.  The 
Kethih,  or  textual  reading,  is  regarded  by  the  highest  critical  authorities  as 
the  more  ancient,  and  therefore,  except  in  some  rare  cases,  entitled  to  the 
preference. 

13.  On  what  [ground)  has  the  wicked  contemned  God,  has  he  said  in  his 
heart,  Thou  wilt  not  require  ?  •  The  question  imphes  the  sin  and  folly  of  the 
conduct  described.  The  past  tense  suggests  the  inquiry  why  it  has  been 
suffered  to  go  on  so  long.  Contemned,  i.  e.  treated  with  contempt.  The 
reference  is  not  to  inward  feeling  merely,  but  to  its  external  manifestation. 
The  second  clause  shews  how  the  feeling  has  been  manifested.  Said  in  his 
heart,  is  here  repeated  for  the  third  time  in  this  psalm.  See  ver.  6,  11, 
above.  The  direct  address  to  God  in  the  last  clause  is  pecuharly  emphatic. 
The  wicked  man  not  only  speaks  in-everently  of  him,  but  insults  him  to  his 
face.  Thou  wilt  not  require.  The  Hebrew  verb  includes  the  ideas  of  ia- 
vestigation  and  exaction.  Thou  wilt  not  inquire  into  my  conduct,  or  require 
an  account  of  it.  See  ver,  4  above,  and  compare  Ps.  ix.  13  (12).  The 
whole  verse  contains  an  indirect  expostulation  or  complaint  of  the  divine 
forbearance  towards  such  high-handed  and  incorrigible  sinners. 

14.  Thou  hast  seen  (this  particular  instance  of  iniquity);  for  trouble,  the 
suffering  occasioned  by  such  sins,  and  provocation,  that  afforded  by  such 
sins,  thou  wilt  behold,  it  is  thy  purpose  and  thy  habit  to  behold  it,  to  give 
with  thy  hand  a  becoming  recompence,  or  to  give  into  thy  hand,  i.  e.  to  lay 
it  up  there  in  reserve,  as  something  to  be  recompensed  hereafter.  Upo7z 
•thee  the  sufferer  will  leave  (his  burden),  will  rely.  An  orphan,  here  put  for 
the  whole  class  of  innocent  and  helpless  sufferers,  thou  hast  been  helping  ; 
God  has  ever  been  a  helper  of  the  friendless,  and  may  therefore  be  expected 
to  do  Ukewise  now.  The  whole  verse  is  an  argument  drawn  from  the 
general  course  of  the  divine  administration.  Hence  the  preterite  and  future 
forms.  Thou  hast  seen  in  this  case,  for  thou  always  wilt  see  in  such  cases. 
For  the  meaning  of  trouble  and  provocation,  see  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  8  (7),  vii. 
15  (14). 

15.  Break  thou  the  arm,,  destroy  the  power,  of  the  wicked,  and  the  bad 
(rnan),  or  as  to  the  bad  man,  thou  vdlt  seek  for  his  wickedness  (and)  not 
find  it.  This  may  either  mean,  thou  wilt  utterly  destroy  him  and  his 
wickedness,  so  that  when  sought  for  it  cannot  be  found  (Ps.  xxxvii.  86),  or 
thou  wilt  judicially  investigate  his  guilt,  and  punish  it  till  nothing  more  is 
left  to  punish.  The  Hebrew  verb  (Ii^")l)  has  then  the  same  sense  as  in  ver. 
4,  13,  above,  and  there  is  a  direct  allusion  to  the  sinner's  boast  that  God 
will  not  inquire  into  men's  acts  or  require  an  account  of  them.  There  may 
be  a  latent  irony  or  sarcasm,  as  if  he  had  said.  Thou  vn^t  find  nothing,  as  ho 
boasts,  but  in  a  very  different  sense ;  not  because  there  is  nothing  worthy 
of  punishment,  but  because  there  will  be  nothing  left  unpunished. 

16.  Jehovah  (is)  king!  He  is  not  dethroned,  as  his  enemies  imagine;  he 
is  still  king,  and  will  so  remain,  perpetuity  and  eternity,  for  ever  and  ever. 
Lost,  perished,  ai-e  nations,  the  heathen,  i.  e.  hoslile  nations,  from,  out  of, 
his  land,  the  Holy  Land,  the  Land  of  Israel,  the  land  of  which  he  is  the  king 
in  a  peculiar  sense,  distinct  from  that  of  providential  ruler.  The  Psalmist 
sees  Jehovah  still  enthroned,  hot  only  as  the  sovereign  of  the  world,  but  as 
the  sovereign  of  his  people.  (See  Num.  xxiii.  21,  Deut.  xxxiii.  5).  The 
nations  or  heathen  of  this  verse  may  be  either  Hteral  or  spiritual  gentiles 


60  Psalm  10:17, 18 

(Jer.  ix.  25,  Ezek.  xvi.  8).  The  psalm  is  so  framed  as  to  express  the  feel- 
ings of  God's  people  in  various  emergencies.  The  preterite  tense  in  the 
last  clause  represents  the  destruction  of  Grod's  enemies  as  already  past, 
not  only  on  account  of  its  absolute  certainty,  but  because  the  process  of 
destruction,  although  not  completed,  is  begun  and  will  infalhbly  continue. 
Here,  as  often  elsewhere,  earnest  prayer  is  followed  by  the  strongest  ex- 
pression of  confidence  and  hope. 

17.  The  desire  of  the  meek  (or  humble)  thou  hast  heard,  Jehovah!  Their 
desire  is  already  accompUshed.  And  this  not  merely  once  for  all.  Thou 
wilt  settle  (or  confirm)  their  heart,  i.  e.  dispel  their  fears  and  give  them 
courage,  by  new  assurances  of  favour  and  repeated  answers  to  their  prayers. 
Thou  wilt  incline  thine  ear,  or  make  it  attentive,  cause  it  to  listen,  to  their 
future  no  less  than  their  past  petitions.  The  figure  of  a  fixed  or  settled 
heart  recurs  more  than  once  below.  See  Ps.  U.  12  (10),  Iviii  8  (7),  cxii.  7. 
The  essential  idea  is  that  of  a  firm  resolution,  as  opposed  to  timid  doubt 
and  vacillation. 

18.  To  judge,  or  do  justice  to,  the  orphan  and  the  bruised,  or  oppressed. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  10  (9).  This  clause  seems  properly  to  form  a  part  of 
the  preceding  verse;  thou  wilt  incUne  thine  ear  to  judge,  &c.  The  remain- 
der of  the  verse  is  a  distinct  proposition.  He  shall  not  add  (or  continue) 
any  longer  to  resist,  or  defy,  i.  e.  to  set  God  at  defiance.  The  subject  of 
these  verbs  is  placed  last  for  the  sake  of  greater  emphasis.  Man,  frail  man, 
from  the  earth,  springing  from  it,  and  belonging  to  it;  see  Gen.  iii.  19.  For 
the  fall  sense  of  the  word  translated  man,  see  above,  on  Ps.  viii.  5  (4),  ix. 
20  (19),  and  compare  the  whole  prayer  in  the  latter  passage  with  the  one 
before  us.  The  sense  here  is,  that  weak  and  short- Uved  man  shall  not  con- 
tinue to  insult  and  defy  Almighty  God.  It  implies  a  wish  or  prayer,  but  is 
in  form  a  strong  expression  of  the  Psalmist's  confident  assurance  that  it  will 
be  so,  and  in  connection  with  the  similar  expressions  of  the  two  preceding 
verses,  forms  a  worthy  and  appropriate  close  of  the  entire  composition.  The 
original  of  this  verse  is  commonly  supposed  to  exhibit  an  example  of  the 
figure  called  paronomasia,  an  intentional  resemblance,  both  in  form  and 
sound,  between  two  words  of  very  different  meaning.  The  words  sup- 
posed to  be  so  related  here  are  those  translated  to  defy  (yij^)  and  earth 
(Y'^^^)•  This  peculiarity  of  form,  if  really  designed  and  significant,  is  one 
which  cannot  be  completely  reproduced  in  any  version.  There  is  reason 
to  suspect,  however,  that  in  this,  as  in  many  other  cases,  the  resemblance  is 
fortuitous,  like  that  which  frequently  occurs  in  a  translation,  without  any- 
thing to  match  it  in  the  original ;  e.g.  m.  the  Vulgate  version  of  Gen.  viii. 
22,  cEstus  and  cestas,  and  in  that  of  Gen.  xii.  16,  oves  et  loves. 


Psalm  11 

The  Psalmist  is  advised,  by  friends  or  foes,  to  escape  by  flight  from  the 
inextricable  difficulties  in  which  he  finds  himself  involved,  ver.  1-3.  This 
he  refuses  to  do,  as  inconsistent  with  his  faith  in  the  righteousness  and 
grace  of  God,  ver.  4-7.'  The  logical  relation  of  these  parts  makes  the 
form  of  the  whole  somewhat  dramatic,  although  this  peculiarity  is  much 
less  marked  than  in  the  second  psalm.  The  language  is  not  so  much  that 
of  an  historical  person  as  of  an  ideal  sufferer,  representing  the  whole  class 
of  persecuted  innocents.  There  is  no  specific  reference  to  any  incidents  in 
David's  life,  although  some  of  the  images  were  probably  suggested  by  his 


Psalm  11:1 -4  61 

recollections,  both  of  Saul's  persecution  and  of  Absalom's  rebellion.  The 
general  resemblance  of  this  psalm  to  that  before  it,  and  the  special  resem- 
blance of  ver.  2  to  Ps.  x.  8,  9,  may  account  for  its  position  in  the  Psalter. 
The  very  difficulties  of  this  psalm  are  proofs  of  its  antiquity  and  strong 
corroborations  of  the  title,  which  ascribes  it  to  David. 

1.  To  the  chief  musician,  belonging  to  him  as  the  performer,  and  to  David, 
as  the  author.  In  Jehovah  I  have  trusted,  and  do  still  trust.  How  will 
(or  can)  ye  say  to  my  soul.  Flee  (to)  your  mountain  (as)  a  bird  ?  The  pro- 
fession of  confidence  in  God  at  the  beginning  is  the  ground  of  the  following 
interrogation,  which  implies  wonder  and  disapprobation.  How  can  ye  say 
so  ?  really  means,  ye  should  not  say  so.  The  question  seems  to  be  addressed 
to  timid  or  desponding  friends,  rather  than  to  taunting  and  exulting  enemies, 
as  some  suppose. — To  my  soul  does  not  simply  mean  to  me,  but  so  as  to 
affect  my  feelings.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  3  (2).  In  the  genuine  text  the 
verb  flee  is  plural,  because  addressed  to  the  whole  class  represented  by  the 
ideal  sufferer  in  this  case.  Hence  the  frequent  change  of  number  throughout 
the  psalm.  See  above,  on  Ps.  x.  10.  The  exhortation  to  flee  must  be 
understood  as  implying  that  there  is  no  longer  any  hope  of  safety. — To 
your  mountain,  as  a  customary  place  of  refage,  not  for  birds,  but  for 
persecuted  men.  The  comparison  with  a  bird  has  no  particular  connection 
with  this  clause,  but  is  a  kind  of  after- thought,  suggesting  the  idea  of  a 
solitary  helpless  fugitive.  (Compare  1  Sam.  xxvi.  20,  and  Lam.  iii.  52). 
There  may  be  an  allusion  to  the  words  of  the  angel  in  Gen.  xix.  17,  as  there 
certainly  is  to  one  or  both  these  places  in  our  Lord's  exhortation  to  his 
followers.  Matt.  xxiv.  16. 

2.  For  lo,  the  wicked  will  tread  (i.e.  bend)  the  bow  ;  they  have  fixed  their 
arrow  on  the  string,  to  shoot  in  darkness  at  the  straightforward  (upright)  of 
heart.  These  are  still  the  words  of  the  advisers  introduced  in  the  preceding 
verse,  assigning  a  reason  for  the  advice  there  given. — Tread  the  bow ;  see 
above,  on  Ps.  vii.  13  (12).  Will  tread,  are  about  to  tread,  are  treading. 
The  preterite  which  follows  refers  to  a  later  point  of  time.  The  speakers 
are  supposed  to  describe  what  they  see  actually  passing.  "  They  are  bend- 
ing the  bow,  (and  now)  they  have  fixed  the  arrow  on  the  string."  The 
graphic  vividness  of  the  description  is  impaired,  if  not  destroyed,  by  giving 
boti  the  verbs  a  present  form. — Fixed,  i.  e.  in  its  proper  place.  The  same 
verb  occurs  above,  in  Ps.  vii.  13  (12).  Make  ready  is  too  vague  in  the 
case  before  us. — In  darkness,  in  the  dark,  in  secret,  treacherously.  See 
above,  Ps.  x.  8.  9. — I'he  straight  of  heart,  the  upright  and  sincere.  We 
do  not  use  the  adjective  in  this  sense  ;  but  we  have  the  cognate  substantive, 
rectitude,  which  properly  means  straightness. 

3.  For  the  pillars  (or  foundations)  will  be  (are  about  to  be)  destroyed: 
what  has  the  righteous  done,  i.  e.  accomplished  ?  The  pillars  or  founda- 
tions are  those  of  social  order  or  society  itself.  These  are  said  to  be 
destroyed,  when  truth  and  righteousness  prevail  no  longer,  but  the  inter- 
course of  men  is  governed  by  mere  selfishness.  The  question  in  the  last 
clause  implies  that  the  righteous  has  effected  nothing,  in  opposition  to 
the  prevalent  iniquity.  The  past  tense  represents  this  as  a  matter  of  actual 
experience,  but  as  one  which  still  continues.  The  substitution  of  any  other 
form  in  the  translation  is  gratuitous  and  ungrammatical.  The  true  relation 
of  the  tenses  is  correctly  given  in  the  Prayer  Book  Version.  For  the  foun- 
dations will  be  cast  down,  and  what  hath  the  righteous  done? 

4.  Jehovah  (is)  in  his  palace  (or  temple)  of  holiness  ;  Jehcvah  (or  as  to 
Jehovah),  in  the  heavens  (is)  his  throne.     His  eyes  behold,  his  eyelids  prove 


62  Psalm  11:5 -7 

the  sons  of  men.  He  is  so  exalted  that  he  can  see,  and  so  holy  that  he 
must  see  and  judge  the  conduct  of  his  creatures.  By  an  equally  gramma-, 
tical  but  less  natural  construction,  the  whole  verse  may  be  thrown  into  a 
single  proposition.  "  Jehovah  in  his  holy  temple,  Jehovah  whose  throne 
is  in  heaven,  his  eyes,"  &c. — For  the  meaning  of  the  word  translated  temple, 
see  above  on  Pd.  v.  8  (7). — Eyelids  are  mentioned  as  a  poetical  parallel 
to  eijes,  being  the  nearest  equivalent  afforded  by  the  language. — Try  or 
prove,  as  if  by  seeing  through  them.  With  the  whole  verse  compare  Ps. 
cii.  20  (19). 

5.  Jehovah  the  righteous  will  prove,  will  prove  the  righteous,  and  the 
wicked  and  the  lover  of  violence  his  soul  hates.  The  sentence  might  also  be 
divided  thus  :  Jehovah  will  prove  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  and  the  hver 
of  violence  his  soul  hates.  DiflFerent  from  both  is  the  masoretic  interpunction, 
which  seems,  however  to  be  rather  musical  than  grammatical  or  logical. — 
The  divine  proof  or  trial  of  the  righteous  implies  favour  and  approval  like 
the  knowledge  spoken  of  in  Ps.  i.  6  ;  but  in  neither  case  is  it  expressed. 
Violence,  including  the  ideas  of  injustice  and  cruelty.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
vii.  17  (16).  His  soul  has  liated  and  still  hates.  This  is  not  simply  equiva- 
lent to  he  hates,  but  denotes  a  cordial  hatred.  Odit  ex  animo.  He  hates 
with  all  his  heart. 

6.  He  will  rain  on  wicked  (nien)  snares,  fire  and  brimstone,  and  a  raging 
wind,  the  jwrtion  of  their  cup.  The  mixed  metaphors  shew  that  the  whole 
description  is  a  tropical  one,  in  which  the  strongest  figures  elsewhere  used, 
to  signify  destruction  as  an  effect  of  the  divine  wrath,  are  combined.  Bain 
is  a  natural  and  common  figure  for  any  copious  communication  fxom.  above, 
whether  of  good  or  evil.  Snares  are  a  favourite  metaphor  of  David  for 
inextricable  difficulties.  See  above,  vii.  16  (15),  ix.  16  (15),  x.  9. — Fire 
and  brimstone  are  familiar  types  of  sudden  and  complete  destruction,  with 
constant  reference  to  the  great  historical  example  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah. 
See  Gen.  xix.  24,  and  compare  Ezek.  xxxviii.  22,  Job  xviii.  15. — Raging 
wind,  literally  wind  (or  blast)  of  furies,  is  another  natural  but  independent 
emblem  of  sudden  irresistible  inflictions.  The  second  Hebrew  word  is 
elsewhere  used  for  strong  indignation  (Ps.  cxix,  53),  and  is  once  appUed  to. 
the  ragings  (or  ravages)  of  famine:  (Lam.  v.  10.) — The  portion  of  their 
cup,  or  their  cup-portion,  something  measured  out  for  them  to  drink, 
according  to  the  frequent  Scriptural  representation,  both  of  God's  wrath 
and  favour,  as  a  draught,  or  as  the  cup  containing  it.  Compare  Ps.  xvi.  6, 
xxiii.  5,  with  Mat.  xx.  22,  23,  xxvi.  39.  The  meaning  of  the  whole  verse  is 
that,  notwithstanding  the  present  security  of  the  ungodly,  they  shall,  sooner 
or  later,  be  abundantly  visited  with  every  variety  of  destructive  judgment. 

7.  For  righteous  (is)  Jehovah  ;  righteousness  he  loves ;  the  upright  (man) 
shall  his  face  behold.  The  for  suggests  the  intimate  connection  between 
God's  judgment  on  the  wicked  and  his  favour  to  the  righteous.  The  second 
clause  is  a  necessary  inference  from  the  first.  The  nature  of  God  determines 
his  judgments  and  his  acts.  He  who  is  righteous  in  himself  cannot  but 
approve  of  righteousness  in  others.  The  righteousness  of  others  is  in  fact 
nothing  more  than  conformity  to  his  will  and  nature.  Nor  does  he  merely 
approve  of  righteousness  in  the  abstract ;  he  rewards  it  in  the  person  of  the 
righteous  man.  This  idea  is  expressed  in  the  last  clause,  which  admits  of 
several  constructions.  It  may  mean  that  the  upright  shall  behold  his  face, 
i.  e.  enjoy  his  favourable  presence,  as  in  Ps.  xvii.  15.  But  the  collocation 
of  the  singular  noun  and  the  plural  verb,  with  the  analogy  of  ver.  4  above, 
is  in  favour  of  a  different  construction :  his  face  shall  behold  (or  does  heiiold) 


Psalm  12:1  63 

the  righteous,  i.  e.  view  them  with  favour  and  aflfection.  Because  the  origi- 
nal expression  is  not  properly  his  face,  but  their  face  or  faces,  Luther 
explains  this  as  a  reason  why  God  loves  the  righteous,  to  wit,  because  their 
faces  look  upon  (the)  right,  or  that  which  is  right.  Another  construction, 
founded  on  the  same  fact,  is,  the  righteous  shall  behold  (it  with)  their  faces. 
It  is  better,  however,  to  regard  this  as  an  instance  of  that  remarkable  idiom 
in  Hebrew,  which  applies  to  the  One  True  God,  verbs,  noims,  and  pro- 
nouns in  the  plural,  and  which  some  explain  as  a  pluralis  tnajestaticus,  like 
that  employed  by  kings  at  present,  and  others  as  a  form  of  speech  trans- 
ferred from  polytheism  to  the  true  religion.  Mo^t  probably,  however,  it 
was  intended  to  express  the  fulness  of  perfection  in  the  divine  nature,  not 
without  a  mystical  allusion  to  the  personal  distinction  in  the  Godhead.  The 
most  remarkable  examples  of  this  usage  may  be  foxmd  in  Gen.  i.  26,  iii.  22, 
xi.  7,  Job.  XXXV.  10,  Ps.  Iviii.  12,  Eccles.  xii.  1,  Isa.  vi.  8,  Uv.  5. — The 
face  is  here,  like  the  eyelids  in  ver.  4,  a  poetical  equivalent  to  eyes,  and  the 
same  parallelism  reappears  in  Ps.  xxxiv.  16,  17  (15,  16) :  "  the  eyes  of 
Jehovah  (are)  towards  the  righteous ;"  "  the  face  of  Jehovah  (is)  against 
evil-doers." 

Psalm  12 

This  psalm  consists  of  two  parts  easily  distinguished  :  a  complaint  with 
an  expression  of  desire,  and  a  promise  with  an  expression  of  confidence  and 
hope.  The  Psalmist  laments  the  waning  number  of  good  men,  ver.  2  (1), 
and  the  abounding  of  iniquity,  ver.  3  (2),  to  which  he  desires  and  expects 
that  God  will  put  an  end,  ver.  4,  5  (3,  4).  In'  answer"  to  this  prayer,  he 
receives  an  assurance  of  protection  and  deliverance  for  the  righteous,  ver. 
6  (5),  on  which  he  rests  as  infallibly  certain,  v6r.  7  (6),  and  consoles  him- 
self under  present  trials,  ver.  8  (7). 

There  seems  to  be  no  specific  reference  to  the  persecution  of  the  Jews 
by  the  Gentiles,  or  of  David  by  Absalom  or  Saul.  The  contrast  exhibited 
is  rather  that  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  as  a  class,  and  the 
psalm  seems  designed  to  be  a  permanent  vehicle  of  pious  sentiment  for  the 
church  or  chosen  people  under  persecution  by  malignant  enemies.  It  con- 
tains an  unusual  number  of  difficult  expressions  in  proportion  to  its  length  ; 
but  these  are  not  of  such  a  nature  as  to  make  its  general  import  doubtful 
or  obscure. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician,  on  the  eighth  (or  octave),  a  Psalm  of  David. 
This  title  is  identical  with  that  of  the  sixth  psalm,  except  that  Neginoth  is 
here  omitted. 

2  (1).  Save,  Jehovah,  for  the  merciful  (or  the  object  of  divine  mercy) 
ceaseth,for  the  faithful  fail  frovi  {among)  the  sons  of  men.  The  adjective 
n^DH,  whether  taken  in  an  active  or  a  passive  sense,  is  descriptive  of  the 

pious  or  godly  man ;  see  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  4  (3).  The  preterite  form  of 
the  verbs  (has  ceased,  have  failed)  represents  the  fearful  process  as  already 
begun.  The  word  rendered  faithful  in  the  last  clause  may  also  have  the 
abstract  sense  of  truth,  fidelity ;  see  below,  Ps.  xxxi.  24  (23),  and  compare 
Isa.  xxvi.  2.  In  either  case,  the  whole  verse  is  a  strong  hyperboUcal 
description  of  the  small  number  of  good  men  left  in  the  community,  and 
their  consequent  exposure  to  the  malice  of  the  wicked.  Such  expressions, 
as  Luther  well  suggests,  are  too  familiar  in  the  dialect  of  common  life  to  be 
mistaken  or  produce  perplexity. 


64  Psalm  12:2 -6 

8  (2).  Vanity,  i.e.  falsehood,  they  will  speak;  as  they  now  do,  so  will 
they  persist  in  doing ;  (each)  man  with  his  neighbour,  not  merely  with 
another  man,  but  with  his  friend,  his  brother,  towards  whom  he  was  parti- 
cularly bound  to  act  sincerely ;  compare  Eph.  iv.  25.  A  Up  of  smoothness, 
or  of  smooth  things,  i.  e.  flattering ;  see  above,  on  Ps.  v.  10  (9).  This  may 
be  connected  either  with  what  goes  before  or  with  what  follows :  "  They 
speak  falsehood,  each  to  his  neighbour,  with  a  flattering  lip ;"  or,  "  (with) 
a  flattering  Up  (and)  with  a  double  heart  will  they  speak."  A  heart  and  a 
heart,  i.  e.  a  double  heart,  as  a  stone  and  a  stone  means  "  divers  weights." 
Deut.  XXV.  13.  By  a  double  heart  we  are  probably  to  understand,  not 
mere  dissimulation  or  hypocrisy,  but  inconsistency  and  instabiUty  of  temper, 
which  leads  men  to  entertain  opposite  feelings  towards  the  same  object. 
Compare  the  description  of  the  *'  double-minded  man"  in  Japaes  i.  8. 

4  (3.)  May  Jehovah  destroy  all  lips  of  smoothness,  flattering  hps,  [and 
every)  tongue  speaking  great  things,  i.  e.  speaking  proudly,  boasting.  The 
form  of  the  Hebrew  verb  is  one  commonly  employed  to  express  an  optative 
meaning ;  but  as  this  form  is  often  poetically  used  for  the  future  proper,  it 
might  be  rendered  here,  Jehovah  will  destroy.  There  is  no  inconsistency 
between  the  flattering  Ups  and  the  boastful  tongue,  because  the  subject  of 
the  boasting,  as  appears  from  what  follows,  is  the  flattery  or  deceit  itself. 
As  if  he  had  said,  Jehovah  will  destroy  all  flattering  lips,  and  every  tongue 
that  boasts  of  their  possession  or  use.  For  an  example  of  such  boasting, 
see  Isa.  xxviii.  15. 

5  (4).  Who  have  said,  By  our  tongues  will  we  do  mightily ;  our  lips  {are^ 
with  us :  who  is  lord  to  us,  or  over  us  ?  This  is  an  amplified  specification 
of  the  phrase  speaking  great  things  in  the  preceding  verse.  By  our  tongues, 
literally,  as  to,  with  respect  to  our  tongues.  The  idea  of  agency  or  instru- 
mentality is  suggested  by  the  context.  Do  mightily,  exercise  power,  shew 
ourselves  to  be  strong.  Our  lips  are  with  us  may  either  mean  Ihey  are  our 
own,  at  our  disposal,  or,  they  are  on  our  side.  The  idea  of  the  whole  verse 
is,  by  our  own  lips  and  our  tongues  we  can  accomplish  what  we  will. 

6  (5).  From  the  desolation  of  the  wretched,  from  the  sighing  of  the  poor ^ 
now  will  I  arise,  shall  Jehovah  say,  I  will  place  in  safety  him  that  shall 
pant  for  it.  The  preposition  from  has  a  causal  meaning,  because  of,  on 
account  of.  The  wretched,  afflicted,  suff'erers  ;  see  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  13  (12). 
/  will  arise  ;  see  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  8  (7).  The  future,  shall  Jehovah  say, 
implies  that  the  promise  is  not  yet  uttered,  much  less  fulfilled.  An  analo- 
gous use  of  the  same  form  of  the  same  verb  runs  through  some  of  the  pro- 
phecies, and  especially  the  later  chapters  of  Isaiah. — The  last  clause  is 
obscure,  and  may  also  be  translated,  "  from  him  that  puffeth  at  him," — 
"  him  at  whom  they  puff"," — "  him  whom  they  would  blow  away,"  &c.  The 
most  probable  meaning  is  the  one  first  given,  according  to  which  the  verse 
contains  a  promise  of  deliverance  to  those  who  especially  desire  and  need  it. 

7  (6).  The  sayings  of  Jehovah  are  pure  sayings,  silver  purged  in  a  fur- 
nace of  earth,  refined  seven  times.  The  Psalmist  does  not  use  the  te^m 
commonly  translated  words,  but  one  derived  firom  the  verb  to  say,  with 
obvious  allusion  to  the  use  of  the  verb  itself  in  the  preceding  verse.  What 
Jehovah  there  says,  the  promises  there  given,-  are  here  declared  to  be  true, 
without  any  mixture  of  mistake  or  falsehood.  This  is  expressed  by  the 
favourite  figure  of  pure  metallic  ore.  The  idea  of  extreme  or  perfect  purity 
is  conveyed  by  the  idiomatic  phrase,  purified  seven  times,  i.  e.  repeatedly, 
or  sevenfold,  i.  e.  completely.  Compare  Dan.  iii.  19.  The  general  mean- 
ing of  the  verse  is  clear,  but  it  contains  one  phrase  which  is  among  the 


Psalm  12:7,  8  65 

most  doubtful  and  disputed  in  the  whole  book.  This  is  the  phrase  /v^H 
ynj<7.  To  the  common  version  above  given,  in  a  furnace  of  earth,  and  to 
another  somewhat  like  it,  purged  in  a  furnace  as  to  {i.e.  from)  the  earth,  or 
earthy  particles,  it  has  been  objected,  that  \^i^  never  means  earth  as  a 
material.  Some  avoid  this  difficulty  by  translating,  in  a  furnace  on  the 
earth  (or  ground),  or,  in  the  workshop  (laboratory)  rf  the  earth,  i.  e.  the 
mine ;  but  this  is  not  the  place  where  ores  are  purified.  It  is  further 
objected  to  all  these  translations,  that  they  attach  a  supposititious  meaning 
to  the  noun  7w)3-  It  is  therefore  explained  by  some  as  a  variation  of  tV^, 
lord  or  master,  and  the  whole  clause  made  to  mean,  purified  silver  of  a  lord 
of  the  earth,  i.e.  refined  not  for  ordinary  use,  but  for  that  of  some  great 
prince  or  noble.  The  obscurity  which  overhangs  the  meaning  of  this  clause 
is  less  to  be  regretted,  as  the  [main  idea  must,  on  any  supposition,  still  be 
that  of  unusual  and  perfect  purity. 

8  (7).  Thou,  Jehovah,  wilt  keep  them  ;  thou  wilt  guard  him  from  this 
generation  to  eternity,  i.  e.  for  ever.  In  the  first  clause,  though  not  in  the 
second,  the  pronoun  thou  is  expressed  in  Hebrew,  and  may  therefore  be 
regarded  as  emphatic ;  see  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  6,  iii.  4  (3).  Thou,  and  no 
other,  or,  thou  without  the  aid  of  others,  wilt  preserve  them.  The  plural 
pronoun  in  the  first  clause,  and  the  singular  in  the  second,  refer  to  the 
same  persons,  viz.,  the~  sufferers  mentioned  in  ver.  7  (6).  By  a  licence 
common  in  the  Psalms,  they  are  first  spoken  of  as  a  plurality,  and  then  as 
an  ideal  person ;  see  above,  on  Ps.  x.  10.  This  generation,  this  contem- 
porary race  of  wicked  men,  with  reference  perhaps  to  the  description,  in 
ver  2  (1),  of  the  disproportion  between  these  and  the  righteous.  For  ever, 
as  long  as  the  necessity  or  danger  lasts,  so  long  shall  the  injured  innocent 
experience  the  divine  protection. 

9  (8).  Round  about  will  the  wicked  ivalk.  This  may  either  mean  that 
they  shall  walk  at  Uberty  and  have  full  Hcence,  or  that  they  shall  encompass 
and  surround  the  righteous.  Compare  Ps.  iii.  7  (6).  The  other  clause  is 
one  of  the  most  doubtful  and  disputed  in  the  whole  book.  The  particle  3 
may  denote  either  time  or  resemblance,  and  the  noun.  Jl^Ptj  which  occurs  no- 
where else,  has  been  variously  explained  to  mean  a  storm,  an  earthquake, 
vileness  or  contempt,  &c.  Among  the  different  senses  put  upon  the  whole 
phrase  are  the  foUowi-ng  :  "  When  the  -vileness  (or  vilest)  of  men  is  exalted." 
"  Like  the  rising  of  a  storm  upon  the  sons  of  men."  "  When  they  rise  (or 
are  exalted)  there  is  shame  (or  disgrace)  to  the  sons  of  men."  "  When 
disgrace  arises  to  the  sons  of  men."  "  Like  exaltation  is  disgrace  to  the 
sons  of  man."  In  favour  of  this  last  it  has  been  urged,  that  it  gives  to  each 
word  its  most  natural  and  obvious  sense,  and  that  it  closes  with  a  prospect 
of  relief,  and  not  with  an  unmitigated  threatening,  which  would  be  at  vari- 
ance with  the  usage  of  the  Psalms.  The  meaning  of  the  verse  is  then,  that 
although' the  wicked  are  now  in  the  ascendant,  and  the  righteous  treated 
with  contempt,  this  disgrace  is  really  an  exaltation,  because  only  external 
and  in  man's  judgment,  not  in  God's,  who  will  abundantly  indemnify  his 
people  for  the  dishonour  which  is  put  upon  them.  The  unusual  and  almost 
unintelligible  form  in  which  this  idea  is  expressed,  is  supposed  to  agree 
well  with  David's  fondness  for  obscure  and  enigmatical  expressions;  see 
above,  on  Ps.  v.  1  and  vii.  1. 


66  Psalm  13:] -3 


Psalm  13 

This  psalm  consists  of  a  complaint,  ver.  2,  3  (1,  2),  a  prayer  for  deli- 
verance, vers.  4,  5  (3,  4),  and  an  expression  of  strong  confidence  that  God 
will  grant  it,  ver.  6  (5,  6). 

There  is  no  trace  of  a  specific  reference  to  any  particular  period  in  the 
life  of  David,  or  to  any  persecution  of  the  ancient  Israel  by  heathen  enemies. 
The  psalm  appears  to  be  intended  as  a  vehicle  of  pious  sentiment,  for  the 
church  at  large  and  individual  believers,  under  any  affliction  of  the  sort  here 
described,  namely,  that  arising  from  the  spiteful  hostility  of  wicked  men. 
The  tone,  as  in  several  of  the  foregoing  psahns,  varies  from  that  of  deep 
depression  to  that  of  an  assured  hope,  connected,  as  in  actual  experience, 
by  one  of  strong  desire  and  fervent  suppHcation. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician,  a  Psalm  of  David.  This  title  difiers  from 
that  of  the  fourth  psalm,  as  the  title  of  the  twelfth  does  from  that  of  the 
sixth,  to  wit,  by  the  omission  of  HU'^JJ^- 

2  (1).  Until  vihen,  how  long,  Jehovaii,  wilt  thou  forget  me  for  ever  ?  Until 
when  wilt  thou  hide  thy  face  from  me  ?  The  refusal  or  delay  of  the  divine 
help  is  here,  as  often  elsewhere,  represented  by  the  figures  of  forgetfulness 
and  an  averted  countenance.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  13,  19  (12,  18),  x.  11, 
12.  The  apparent  solecism  of  combining  how  long  with  for  ever  may  be 
avoided  by  supposing  two  interrogations,  how  long  ?  for  ever  ?  It  may  also 
be  avoided  by  giving  to  H^lJ  the  sense  of  continuously,  uninterruptedly. 

But  even  the  obvious  construction,  which  is  more  agreeable  to  usage  and 
the  masoretic  interpunction  of  the  sentence,  may  be  justified  as  a  strong 
but  natural  expression  of  the  conflict  between  sense  and  faith.  To  the  eye 
of  sense  and  reason,  the  abandonment  seemed  final ;  but  faith  still  prompted 
the  inquiry,  how  long,  which  implies  that  it  was  not  to  last  for  ever.  As  if 
he  had  said,  How  long  wilt  thou  persist  in  the  purpose  of  forgetting  me  for 
ever  ? 

3  (2).  Till  when,  how  long,  shall  I  place  (or  lay  up)  counsels,  plans,  in 
my  soul,  grief  in  my  heart  by  day  ?  Till  vjhen  shall  my  enemy  he  high  above 
•me  ?  The  idea  in  the  first  clause  seems  to  be  that  of  accumulating  methods 
or  expedients  of  escape,  as  in  a  storehouse,  without  finding  any  that  will 
answer  the  purpose.  The  same  figure  may  be  continued  in  the  second 
clause  :  (how  long  shall  I  lay  up)  sorrow  in  my  heart  ?  The  sense  is  then 
that  the  multiplication  of  devices  only  multipKes  his  sorrows.  Or  the  figure 
of  laying  up  may  be  confined'  to  the  first  clause,  and  the  noun  grief  governed 
by  a  verb  understood  :  (how  long  shall  I  feel)  sorrow  in  my  heart  ?  The 
<;ommon  version,  having  sorrow,  conveys  the  same  idea,  but  supplies  a  verb 
unknown  to  the  Hebrew  and  its  cognate  languages. — By  day  is  elsewhere 
put  in  opposition  to  by  night,  as  for  instance  in  Ps.  i.  2  above.  Here  it 
may  possibly  mean  all  day,  but  more  probably  means  every  day,  daily,  as 
in  Ezek.  xxx.  16. — Be  high  :  the  original  expression  is  a  verb  alone.  How 
long  shaU  my  enemy  soar  or  tower  above  me,  i.  e.  be  superior,  prevail  ? 
This  clause  determines  the  precise  form  of  suffering  complained  of,  namely, 
that  occasioned  by  the  malice  of  a  powerful  persecutor  or  oppressor.  In 
all  such  cases,  Saul  was  no  doubt  present  to  the  mind  of  David,  but  only 
as  a  specimen  or  type  of  the  whole  class  to  which  the  psalm  relates. 

4  (3).  Look,  hear  me,  Jehovah,  my  God,  lighten  my  eyes,  lest  I  sleep  the 
death.     The  complaint  is  now  followed  by  a  corresponding  prayer.     In 


Psalm  13:4, 5  67 

allusion  to  the  hiding  of  the  face  in  ver.  2  (1),  he  now  beseeches  God  to 
look  towards  him,  or  upon  him,  to  shew  by  his  acts  that  he  has  not  lost 
sight  of  him.  As*  he  before  complained  of  God's  forgetting  him,  so  here  he 
prays  that  he  wiU  hear  and  answer  him.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  5  (4).  The 
idea  of  Jehovah  as  a  God  in  covenant  with  his  people,  is  brought  out  still 
more  fully  by  the  phrase  my  God,  i.  e.  one  on  whom  I  have  a  right  to  call, 
with  a  ^ell-founded  hope  of  being  heard.  See  above  on  Ps.  iii.  8  (7). — 
Enlighten  my  eyes,  or  make  them  shine,  is  by  some  understood  to  mean, 
Dispel  my  doubts,  and  extricate  me  out  of  my  perplexities,  with  reference 
to  the  plans  or  counsels  mentioned  in  the  preceding  verse.  Others,  with 
more  probabihty,  suppose  an  allusi:bn  to  the  dimness  of  the  eyes  produced 
by  extreme  weakness  or  approaching  death,  and  understand'  the  prayer  as 
one  for  restoration  and  deliverance  from  imminent  destruction.  Compare 
1  Sam.  xiv.  27,  29,  where  the  rehef  of  Jonathan's  debiUty,  occasioned  by 
long  fasting,  is  described  by  saying  that  his  eyes  were  enlightened. — Lest  I 
sleep  {in)  death,  or  lest  I  sleep  the  {sleep  of)  death,  as  in  the  common  version. 
Compare  the  beautiful  description  of  death  as  a  sleep  of  perpetuity,  a  per- 
petual or  everlasting  sleep,  in  Jer.  h.  39,  57. 

6  (4).  Lest  my  enemy  say,  I  have  overpotvered  him  {and)  my  adversaries 
shout  when  I  am  shaken,  or  because  I  shall  he  shaken. — The  verb  "^roy 
strictly  means,  /  have  been  able.  The  unusual  construction  with  a  pronoun 
(Vrhy)  cannot  be  literally  rendered  into  English,  but  the  meaning  evidently 
is,  I  have  been  able  (to  subdue)  him,  or,  I  have  been  strong  (in  comparison 
with)  him.  As  to  the  combination  of  the  singular  and  plural  {enemy  and 
adversaries),  see  above,  on  Ps.  x.  11  (10). — Shout,  i.e.  for  joy,  or  in  a 
single  word,  triumph.    See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  11. — The  last  verb  (ZOiDhi)  has 

the  same  sense  as  in  Ps.  x.  6,  viz.,  that  of  being  moved  or  cast  down  from 
one's  firm  position. 

6  (5,  6).  And  I  in  thy  mercy  have  trusted  ;  let  my  heart  exult  in  thy  salva- 
tion ;  I  will  sing  to  Jehovah,  for  he  hath  done  me  good,  or  acted  kindly 
towards  me.  The  transition  indicated  by  the  phrase  and  I,  is  the  same  as 
in  Ps.  ii.  6  above.  Such  are  the  enemies  and  dangers  which  environ  me, 
and  {yet)  I  have  trusted  in  thy  mercy.  The  past  tense  of  the  verb  describes 
the  trust,  not  as  something  to  be  felt  hereafter,  or  as  just  beginning  to  be 
felt  at  present,  but  as  already  entertained  and  cherished,  and  therefore  likely 
to  be  still  continued.  I  have  trusted,  and  do  still  trust,  and  will  trust  here- 
after.— There  is  a  beautiful  gradation  in  the  clauses  of  this  verse.  First, 
a  fact  is  stated  :  '  I  have  trusted  in  thy  mercy ;'  then  a  desire  is  expressed : 
'  let  my  heart  rejoice  in  thy  salvation  ; '  then  a  fixed  purpose  is  announced : 
^  I  will  sing  unto  Jehovah.'  The  reason  annexed  to  this  determination  or 
engagement,  implies  an  assured  expectation  of  a  favourable  issue.  As  if  he 
had  said,  I  know  the  Lord  will  treat  me  kindly,  and  I  am  resolved  to  praise 
him  for  so  doing. — In  thy  salvation,  not  merely  on  account  of  it,  but  in  the 
contemplation,  the  possession,  the  enjoyment  of  it.  See  above,  Ps.  v.  12 
(11),  ix.   3  (2).      The  verb  ^Dil,  which  occurs  above  in  Ps.  vii.  5  (4), 

corresponds  most  nearly  to  the  English  treat,  in  the-seijse  of  dealing  with 
or  acting  towards  ;  but  when  absolutely  used,  as  here,  almost  invariably  has 
a  good  sense,  and  specifically  means  to  treat  well  or  deal  kindly  with  a  person. 
The  idea  of  requital  or  reward,  which  is  frequently  attached  to  it  in  the 
EngUsh  version,  is  suggested,  if  at  all,  not  by  the  word  itself,  but  by  the 
context. 


68  Psalm  14:1,2 

The  Septuagint  has  an  additional  clause,  which  is  retained  in  the  Prayer 
Book  version,  and  thus  rendered  :  Yea,  I  will  praise  the  name  of  the  Lord 
most  Highest.     The  words  are  not  found  in  any  Hebrew  manuscript. 


Psalm  14 

We  have  first  a  description  of  human  depravity  as  universal,  ver.  .1-3 ; 
then  a  confident  anticipation  of  destructive  judgments  on  the  incorrigibly 
wicked,  ver.  4-6;  and  an  earnest  wish  for  the  speedy  deliverance  of  God's 
elect  from  the  evils  of  then-  natural  condition  and  from  the  mahce  of  their 
unconverted  enemies,  ver.  7. 

There  seems  to  be  no  reference  to  any  particular  historical  occasion. 
The  psahn  was,  no  doubt,  originally  written  to  express  the  feelings  of  God's 
people,  in  all  times  and  places,  with  respect  to  the  original  depravity  of  all 
men,  and  the  obstinate  persistency  in  evil  of  the  greater  number.  The  points 
of  resemblance  and  of  difference  between  this  psalm  and  the  fifty- third  will 
be  considered  in  the  exposition  of  the  latter. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician,  by  David.  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart, 
There  is  no  God.  They  have  done  corruptly,  they  have  done  abominably  (in) 
deed  (or  act) ;  there  is  none  doing  good.  Sin  is  constantly  held  up  to  view 
in  Scripture  as  the  height  of  foUy,  and  the  sinner  as  the  fool  by  way  of 
eminence.  See  Gen.  xxxiv,  7,  Josh.  vii.  15,  Ps.  xxxix.  9  (8).  The  term  is 
here  collective  and  applied  to  the  whole  race,  as  appears  from  the  plurals 
which  follow,  and  the  negative  statement  in  the  last  clause.  The  preterites 
include  the  present,  but  suggest  the  additional  idea,  that  the  truth  here 
asserted  is  the  result  of  all  previous  experience  and  observations. — In  his 
heart,  to  himself,  if  not  to  others,  as  above,  in  Ps,  x.  11.  That  the 
error  is  one  of  the  affections,  and  not  merely  of  the  understanding,  is 
supposed  by  some  to  be  implied  in  the  use  of  the  word  heart,  which  is 
often  used,  however,  to  denote  the  mind  or  soul  in  general. — ]*•>}  is  properly 

a  noun,  and  means  nonentity  or  non-existence  :  "  nothing  of  God,"  or  "no 
such  thing  as  God."  It  cannot  be  explained  as  a  wish — "  No  God! "  i.  e. 
Oh  that  there  were  no  God ! — because  ]^J>i  in  usage  always  includes   the 

substantive  verb,  and  denies  the  existence,  or  at  least  the  presence,  of  the 
person  or  thing  to  which  it  is  prefixed.  This  is  also  clear  from  the  use  of 
the  same  word  in  the  last  clause,  where  its  sense  is  unambiguQus. — The 
addition  of  the  word  act  or  deed  shews  that  the  atheism  described  is  not 
merely  theoretical  but  practical. — There  is  obvious  allusion  in  this  verse 
to  the  description  of  the  general  antediluvian  corruption  in  Gen.  vi.  12. 
This  makes  it  the  more  certain  that  the  description  here  was  not  intended 
either  for  Jews  or  Gentiles,  as  such,  but  for  wicked  men  of  either  class,  and 
that  Paul's  appUcation  of  the  words,  in  Kom.  iii.  10,  12,  is  perfectly  legiti- 
mate, and  not  a  mere  accommodation  of  the  Psalmist's  language  to  another 
purpose. 

2.  Jehovah  from  heaven  has  looked  dovm  on  the  sons  of  man,  to  see  if 
there  were  (one)  acting  wisely,  seeking  God.  While  the  fool  denies  the  being 
of  a  God,  Jehovah's  eye  is  on  him  and  his  feUow-men.  Yet  even  that  om- 
niscient eye  can  discern  no  exception  to  the  general  depravity  and  foUy. 
The  earnestness  of  the  inspection  is  suggested  by  the  verb  in  the  first  clause, 
which  originally  means  to  lean  or  bend  over,  and  is  peculiarly  appropriate 
to  the  act  of  one  gazing  intently  down  upon  a  lower  object.     The  force  of 


Psalm  14:3, 4  69 

the  preterite  tense  is  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  verse.  The  inquiry  has 
heen  made  aheady,  and  proved  fruitless.  It  is  no  longer  a  doubtful  ques- 
tion, but  one  definitively  settled. — Acting  wisely,  in  contrast  to  the  athe- 
istical folly  mentioned  in  ver.  1.  The  test  of  wisdom  is  in  seeking  God, 
whether  in  the  general  reUgious  sense  of  seeking  his  favour  and  communion 
with  him,  or  in  the  special  sense  of  seeking  proofs  of  his  existence.  As  if 
he  had  said.  Even  those  who  think  there  is  no  God,  if  they  were  wise, 
would  seek  one  ;  but  these  fools  take  pleasure  in  the  hideous  negation.  The 
image  presented  in  this  verse  may  be  compared  with  that  in  Gen.  vi.  12, 
xi.  5,  xviii.  21.     See  also  Ps.  xxxiii.  13,  14. 

3.  The  whole  has  apostatised  ;  together  they  have  putrefied  ;  there  is  none 
doing  good  ;  there  is  not  even  one.  Total  and  universal  corruption  could 
not  be  more  clearly  expressed  than  by  this  accumulation  of  the  strongest 
terms,  in  which,  as  Luther  "well  observes,  the  Psalmist,  not  content  with 
saying  all,  adds  together,  and  then  negatively,  no  not  one.  It  is  plain  that 
he  had  no  Umitation  or  exception  in  his  mind,  but  intended  to  describe  the 
natural  condition  of  all  men,  in  the  widest  and  most  unrestricted  sense. 
The  whole,  not  merely  all  the  individuals  as  such,  but  the  entire  race  as  a 
totaUty  or  ideal  person. — The  whole  (race)  has  departed,  not  merely  from 
the  right  way,  but  from  God,  instead  of  seeking  him,  as  intimated  in  ver.  4. 
Together,  not  merely  altogether  or  without  exception,  but  in  union  and  by 
one  decisive  act  or  event.  The  etymological  import  of  the  verb  '^n?}^^  is 
to  turn  sour,  to  spoil.  It  is  applied  to  moral  depravation  not  only  here, 
but  in  Job  xv.  16.  The  Septuagint  version  of  these  words  is  quoted  by 
Paul  in  Rom.  iii.  12,  as  a  part  of  his  scriptural  description  of  human 
depravity,  the  rest  of  which  is  taken  from  Ps.  v.  10  (9),  x.  7,  xxxvi.  2  (1), 
cxl.  4,  Isa.  Ux.  7,  8.  Under  the  false  impression  that  he  meant  to  quote  a 
single  passage,  some  early  Christian  copyist  appears  to  have  introduced  the 
whole  into  the  Septuagint  version  of  this  psalm,  where  it  is  still  found  in 
the  Codex  Vaticanus,  as  well  as  in  the  Vulgate,  and  even  in  one  or  two 
Hebrew  manuscripts  of  later  date.  The  interpolation  is  also  retained  in  the 
Anghcan  Psalter.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  apostle's  argument  is 
strengthened  by  the  fact  of  his  proofs  being  drawn,  not  from  one,  but  several 
parts  of  the  Old  Testament. 

4.  Do  they  not  know,  all  (these)  workers  of  iniquity,  eating  my  people  (as) 
they  eat  bread,  (and)  on  Jehovah  call  not  ?  The  question  is  elliptical :  the 
object  of  the  verb  must  be  supplied  from  the  context.  Do  they  not  know 
that  they  are  thus  corrupt  and  estranged  from  God,  and  therefore  objects 
of  his  wrath  ?  Is  it  because  they  do  not  know  this  or  beUeve  it,  that  they 
thus  presume  to  oppress  and  persecute  his  people  ?  The  figure  of  devour- 
ing occurs  often  elsewhere,  e.g.  Prov.  xxx.  14,  Mic.  iii.  3,  Hab.  iii.  14. 
See  below,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  2  (1).  As  they  eat  bread  may  either  mean  for 
their  support — living  on  the  plunder  and  oppression  of  my  people ;  or  for 
pleasure — feeding  on  them  with  delight ;  or  with  indifference  and  as  little 
sense  of  guilt  as  when  they  take  their  ordinary  fond. —  Call  not  on  Jehovah, 
do  not  worship  him,  as  they  were  before  said  not  to  seek  him,  nor  even  to 
acknowledge  his  existence,  all  which  are  periphrastical  descriptions  of  the 
wicked  as  a  class.  The  general  description  of  their  wickedness  is  here 
exchanged  for  a  specific  charge,  that  of  persecuting  the  righteous.  The 
mention  of  two  classes  here  is  not  at  variance  with  the  tmiversal  terms  of 
the  preceding  context,  nor  does  it  render  any  limitation  of  those  terms 
necessary.  All  men  are  alike  "  children  of  wrath,"  but  some  are  elected 
to  be  "  vessels  of  mercy,"  and  thereby  become  objects  of  hatred  to  the  im- 


70  Psalm  14:5 -7 

converted  mass  who  still  represent  the  race  in  its  apostasy  from  God. — My 
people  does  not  make  it  necessary  to  regard  these  as  the  words  of  God 
himself,  who  is  nowhere  introduced  as  speaking  in  this  psalm,  and  is 
spoken  of  in  the  third  person  in  the  very  next  clause.  The  Psalmist,  as  a 
member  of  the  body,  calls  it  his,  and  the  same  form  of  expression  occurs 
elsewhere.  See  1  Sam.  v.  10,  Isa.  iii,  12,  Uii.  8,  Micah  iii.  3. — For  the 
meaning  of  the  phrase,  workers  of  iniquity,  see  above,  on  Ps.  v.  6  (5). 

5.  There  have  they  feared  a  fear,  for  God  {is)  in  the  righteous  generation. 
A  later  period  is  now  .present  to  his  view.  They  who  seemed  incapable  of 
fear  have  now  begun  to  be  afraid  at  last.  There,  without  any  change  of 
place  or  outward  situation.  Where  they  before  denied  the  being  of  a  God, 
even  there  they  have  begun  to  fear.  See  below,  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  13  (12). 
The  reason  is  given  in  the  next  clause.  God,  though  denied  by  them, 
exists  and  is  present,  and  will  manifest  his  presence  by  the  protection  and 
dehverance  of  his  people.  Feared  a  fear,  is  a  common  Hebrew  idiom  for 
greatly  feared,  were  sore  afraid.  Generation,  contemporary  race,  as  in  Ps. 
xii.  8  (7). 

6.  J'he  plcln  (or  counsel)  of  the  sufferer  (the  afflicted)  ye  will  shame,  because 
Jehovah  is  his  refuge.  The  workers  of  iniquity  are  here  addressed  directly. 
The  sufferer  is  the  persecuted  innocent.  Poor  is  too  restricted  a  transla- 
tion. See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  13,  19  (12,  18).  The  plan  or  counsel  is  de- 
scribed in  the  last  clause,  to  wit,  that  of  trusting  in  Jehovah.  This  very 
trust  is  an  object  of  contempt  to  the  wicked.  Until  they  are  made  to  fear 
by  the  manifestation  of  God's  presence  with  his  people,  they  will  continue 
to  despise  it.  The  Psalmist  here  seems  to  revert  to  the  interval  which 
should  precede  the  divine  interposition.  As  if  he  had  said.  You  will  one 
day  be  made  to  fear,  but  in  the  mean  time  you  will  shame  the  counsel  of 
the  poor.  Some,  however,  give  lli/^^ri  its  usual  sense  of  putting  to  shame, 
disappointing,  and  understand  the  clause  as  an  ironical  concession :  you 
may  shame  his  counsel  if  you  can. 

7.  Who  will  give  out  of  Zion  salvation  to  Israel,  in  Jehovah's  return- 
ing the  captivity  of  his  people  ?  Let  Jacob  exult,  let  Israel  joy !  The 
phrase  who  will  give  is  an  idiomatic  optative  in  Hebrew,  equivalent  to  Oh 
that  with  a  verb,  and  Oh  for  with  a  noun  in  English.  Oh  for  the  salvation 
of  Israel !  Or,  Oh  that  the  salvation  of  Israel  (might  come)  out  of  Zion,  as 
the  earthly  residence  of  God  and  seat  of  the  theocracy.  The  same  local 
designation  is  connected  with  the  prayer  or  promise  of  divine  help,  in  Ps. 
iii.  5  (4),  XX.  '3  (2),  cxxviii.  5,  cxxxiv.  3.  (Compare  Ps.  xxviii.  2).  This 
shews  that  the  psalm  does  not  belong  to  the  period  of  the  Babylonish  exile, 
and  that  the  captivity  referred  to  is  not  hteral,  but  a  metaphorical  descrip- 
tion of  distress,  as  in  the  case  of  Job  (xUi.  10).  The  same  idea  is  else- 
where expressed  by  the  figure  of  confinement  and  incarceration  (Ps.  cxhi. 
8,  Isa.  xhi.  7,  xlix.  9).  The  sense  remains  essentially  the  same  in  this  case, 
whether  the  verb  return  be  transitive  or  intransitive.  Most  interpreters 
prefer  the  former  sense,  and  understand  the  clause  to  mean,  "  in  Jehovah's 
bringing  back  the  captivity  of  his  people."  But  as  31tt^  in  every  other  com- 
bination means  to  come  back,  and,  hke  other  verbs  of  motion,  often  governs 
a  noun  of  place  directly  (Exod.  iv.  19,  20,  Num.  x.  36),  it  is  better  to  under- 
stand the  words  as  meaning  that  the  salvation  wished  for  would  consist  in 
God's  revisiting  his  captive  m-  afflicted  people.  The  sense  is  also  admis- 
sible, if  not  necessary,  in  such  places  as  Deut.  xxx.  8,  Ps.  Ixxxv.  6  (4), 
Isa.  Iii.  8,  Hos.  vi.  11,  Nah.  ii.  3  (2).  L^t  Jacob  shout  (for  joy)!  This 
is  both  an  exhortation  and  a  wish,  but  the  latter  is  the  prominent  idea,  as 


Psalm  15:1,2  71 

the  parallelism  of  the  clauses  shews.  Oh  that  the  salvation  of  Israel  were 
come!  corresponds  exactly  to,  May  Jacob  exult,  may  Israel  be  glad!  The 
common  version  is  forbidden  by  the  optative  form  Oy>)  of  the  Hebrew  verb, 

and  by  the  masoretic  interpunction,  which  connects  in  the  Lords  returning, 
dc,  not  with  what  follows  as  a  specification  of  time,  but  with  what  goes  be- 
fore as  an  explanatory  clause.  The  whole  may  be  paraphrased  as  follows  : 
"  Oh  that  Jehovah,  from  his  throne  in  Zion,  would  grant  salvation  to  his 
people,  by  revisiting  them  in  their  captive  and  forsaken  state,  and  that 
occasion  of  rejoicing  might  be  thus  afibrded  to  the  church  !  "  Or  more 
closely  thus  :  **  Oh  may  Israel's  salvation  (soon)  come  forth  from  Zion,  in 
Jehovah's  return  to  the  captivity  of  his  people  !  (In  such  a  restoration) 
may  Jacob  (soon  have  reason  to)  exult  and  Israel  (to)  triumph  !  " 

Psalm  15 

This  psalm  teaches  the  necessity  of  moral  purity  as  a  condition  of  the 
divine  protection.  It  first  propounds  the  question  who  shall  be  admitted 
to  God's  household,  and  the  privileges  of  its  inmates,  ver.  1.  This  is  an- 
swered positively,  ver.  2,  and  negatively,  ver.  3 ;  then  positively  again,  ver. 
4,  and  negatively,  ver.  5.  The  last  clause  of  the  last  verse  winds  up  by 
declaring,  that  the  character  just  described  shall  experience  the  protection, 
tacitly  referred  to  in  the  first  verse.  As  the  contrast  exhibited  in  this  psalm 
and  the  fourteenth  may  account  for  its  position  in  the  Psalter,  so  its  obvious 
resemblance  to  the  twenty-fourth  makes  it  not  improbable  that  their  his- 
torical occasion  was  identical. 

1.  A  Psalm  by  David.  Jehovah,  who  shall  sojourn  in  thy  tent?  who 
shall  dwell  in  thy  hill  of  holiness  ?  The  holy  hill  is  Zion,  as  in  Ps.  ii.  6  ; 
the  tent  is  the  tabernacle  which  David  pitched  there  for  the  ark,  when  he 
removed  it  from  Gibeon  (2  Sam.  vi.  17,  1  Chron.  xv.  1,  xvi.  1,  39, 
2  Chron.  i.  3-5).  Both  together  signify  the  earthly  residence  of  God  ;  see 
above  on  Ps.  iii.  5  (4).  The  idea  is  not  that  of  frequenting  Zion  as  a  place 
of  worship,  but  of  dwelling  there,  as  a  guest  or  as  an  inmate  of  God's 
family.  The  same  figure  for  intimate  communion  with  Jehovah,  and  par- 
ticipation of  his  favour,  reappears  in  Ps.  xxiii.  6,  xxvii.  4,  5,  xxiv.  3,  Ixi.  5, 
Ixv.  5  (4),  Ixxxiv.  5  (4).  So  too,  in  Eph.  ii.  19,  beUevers  are  described  as 
members  of  God's  family  (olxiToi  ro\J  ©soD). 

2.  Walking  perfect,  and  doing  right,  and  speaking  truth,  in  his  heart. 
The  Psahnist,  speaking  in  behalf  of  God,  here  answers  his  own  question. 
The  only  person  who  can  be  admitted  to  domestic  intercourse  with  God  is 
one  walking  perfect,  &c.  Walking  is  put  for  the  habitual  course  of  Ufe 
(see  above,  on  Ps.  i.  1).  Perfect,  complete,  as  to  all  essential  features  of 
the  character,  without  necessarily  implying  perfection  in  degree.  The  form 
of  expression  seems  to  be  borrowed  from  Gen.  xvii.  1.  A  remarkably  ana- 
logous expression  is  that  used  by  Horace  :  integer  vitae  scelerisque  purus. 
The  next  phrase,  doing  right,  practising  rectitude,  may  be  either  a  synony- 
mous parallel  to  the  first,  or  a  specification  under  it,  parallel  to  speaking 
truth.  The  general  idea  of  walking  perfect  is  then  resolved  into  the  two 
particular  ideas  of  doing  right  and  speaking  truth.  In  his  heart,  i.  e.  sin- 
cerely, as  opposed  to  outward  show  or  hypocritical  profession.  This  phrase 
seems  to  qualify  not  merely  what  precedes,  speaking  truth,  but  the  whole 
description,  as  of  one  who  sincerely  and  internally,  as  well  as  outwardly, 
leads  a  blameless  Ufe  by  doing  right  and  speaking  truth. 


72  Psalm  15:3 -5 

3.  {Who)  hath  not  slandered  with  his  tongue,  (who)  hath  not  done  his 
neighbour  harm,  and  a  scandal  hath  not  taken  up  against  his  neighbour. 
The  positive  description  of  the  foregoing  verse  is  now  followed  by  a  negative 
one.  (Compare  Ps.  i.  1,  2).  The  social  virtues  are  insisted  on,  and  their 
opposites  excluded,  because  they  are  apt  to  be  neglected  by  hypocrites, 
against  whom  this  psalm  is  directed.  The  past  tense  of  the  verbs  denotes 
a  character  already  marked  and  determined  by  the  previous  course  of  life. 
The  verb  7J*1  seems  strictly  to  denote  the  act  of  busy  or  officious  tale-bearing. 
There  seems  to  be  an  allusion  to  Lev.  xix.  16.  With  his  tongue,  hteraUy 
on  his  tongue,  as  we  say  to  live  on,  i.  e.  by  means  of  anything,  an  idiom 
which  occurs  in  Gen.  xxvii.  40.  (Compare  Isa.  xxxviii.  16.)  The  next 
clause  adds  deed  to  word,  as  in  the  foregoing  verse.  Scandal,  reproach, 
defamatory  accusation.  The  verb  i^Wi  is  by  some  explained  as  meaning 
to  take  up  upon  the  lips  (Ps.  xvi.  4),  and  then  to  utter  or  'pronounce. 
Others  give  it  the  same  sense  as  in  Gen.  xxxi.  17,  where  7)3  ^<^£^3  means  to 
lift  up  upon,  i.  e.  to  burden.  The  idea  then  is,  that  he  has  not  helped  to 
load  his  neighbom*  with  reproach.  Friend  and  neighbour  does  not  mean 
any  other  man,  but  one  sustaining  a  peculiarly  intimate  relation,  such  as 
that  of  the  members  of  the  chosen  people  to  each  other.  See  above,  On 
Ps.  xii.  3  (2). 

4.  Despised  in  his  eyes  (is)  a  reprobate,  and  the  fearers  of  Jehovah  he 
will  honour ;  he  hath  sworn  to  his  own  hurt,  and  will  not  change  The 
Chaldee  Paraphrase,  followed  by  the  Prayer  Book  version,  makes  the  first 
clause  descriptive  of  humility.  He  is  despised  in  his  own  eyes  (and)  rejected. 
But  the  parallelism  with  the  next  clause  shews  that  a  contrast  was  designed 
between  his  estimation  of  two  opposite  classes,  and  as  one  of  these  is  those 
who  fear  Jehovah,  the  other  must  be  represented  by  Di^Dj,  rejected,  i.  e.  by 
Jehovah,  reprobate.  The  future  form,  as  usual,  suggests  the  idea  of  a 
present  act  repeated  or  continued  in  the  future.  He  honours,  and  will  still 
persist  in  honouring,  the  fearers  of  Jehovah.  The  Septuagint  and  Vulgate 
explain  J^IH?  to  the  neighbour,  and  some  modem  versions  to  the  bad  {man). 
But  the  sense  is  determined  by  the  obvious  allusion  to  Lev.  v.  4 :  "if  a 
soul  swear  to  do  evil  iyi'^TD)  or  to  do  good,"  i.  e.  whether  to  his  own 
advantage  or  the  contrary.  So  here  the  phrase  must  inean  "  he  hath 
sworn  to  injure  (himself)"  not  designedly,  but  so  as  to  produce  that  eflfect. 
He  will  not  change,  literally,  exchange,  i.  e.  substitute  something  else  for 
what  he  has  promised. 

5.  His  silver  he  hath  not  given  for  usury,  and  a  bribe  against  a  guiltless 
{person)  hath  not  taken.  JJoing  these  {things),  he  shall  not  be  moved  for 
ever.  In  Hebrew  as  in  French,  silver  is  put  for  money  in  general.  There 
is  obvious  allusion  to  the  frequent  prohibition  in  the  Mosaic  law,  not  of 
lending  money  upon  interest  for  commercial  purposes,  a  practice  then 
unknown,  but  of  usurious  lending  to  the  poor,  and  especially  to  poor 
Israehtes.  See  Exod.  xxii,  24,  Lev.  xxv.  37,  Deut.  xxiii.  20,  and  compare 
Prov.  xxviii.  8,  Ezek.  xviii.  8.  The  taking  of  judicial  bribes  is  also  expressly 
forbidden  in  Exod.  xxiii.  8,  Deut.  xvi.  19,  xxvii.  25.  The  masoretic  inter- 
punction  of  this  sentence  seems  to  be  merely  rhythmical  or  musical,  as  in 
Ps.  xi.  5.  The  words  doing  these  cannot  be  separated  from  what  follows 
without  destroying  the  sense.  This  last  clause  is  an  answer  to  the  question 
in  ver.  1,  but  with  a  change  of  form,  implying  that  admission  to  God's 
household  was  itself  secm-ity  against  all  danger.  Compare  Ps.  Iv.  23  (22). 
For  the  sense  of  lOiQM,  see  above,  on  Ps.  x.  6,  xiii.  5. 


Psalm  16:1,2  73 

Psalm  16 

A  SUFFERER  in  imminent  danger  of  death,  expresses  his  strong  confidence 
in  God,  ver.  1,  as  the  sole  source  and  author  of  his  happiness,  ver.  2,  and 
at  the  same  time  his  attachment  to  God's  people,  ver.  3,  his  abhorrence  of 
all  other  gods,  ver.  4,  his  acquiescence  in  God's  deaHngs  with  him,  ver.  5,  6, 
and  his  assured  hope  of  future  safety  and  blessedness,  ver.  7-11. 

The  psalm  is  appropriate  to  the  whole  class  of  pious  sufierers,  of  which 
Christ  is  the  most  illustrious  representative.  It  is  only  in  him,  therefore, 
that  some  parts  of  it  can  be  said  to  have  received  their  highest  and  com- 
plete fulfilment.  This  will  be  shewn  more  fully  in  the  exposition  of  the 
ninth  and  tenth  verses. 

1.  Michtam  of  David.  Preserve  me,  0  God:  for  I  have  trusted  in  thee. 
Some  explain  Michtam  as  a  compound  term  ;  but  it  is  most  probably  a 
simple  derivative  of  a  verb  meaning  to  hide,  and  signifies  a  mystery  or 
secret.  The  similar  word  Michtab  in  the  title  of  Hezekiah's  psalm  (Isa. 
xxxviii.  9)  is  probably  an  imitation  of  the  form  here  used,  or  at  least 
involves  an  allusion  to  it.  It  seems  to  be  substituted  for  the  usual  terms 
song,  psalm,  &c.,  not  only  here  but  in  the  titles  of  Ps.  Iv.-lx.  It  probably 
indicates  the  depth  of  doctrinal  and  spiritual  import  in  these  sacred  com- 
positions. The  derivation  irom  a  noun  meaning  gold  is  much  less  probable. 
This  verse  may  be  said  to  contain  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  whole 
psalm,  and  is  merely  ampUfied  in  what  follows.  The  prayer,  Keep,  save,  or 
'preserve  me,  implies  actual  suffering  or  imminent  danger,  while  the  last 
clause,  I  have  trusted  in  thee,  states  the  ground  of  his  assured  hope  and 
confident  petition.  The  verb  used  is  one  that  seems  especially  appropriate 
to  the  act  of  seeking  shelter  under  some  overshadowing  object.  See  Judges 
ix.  15,  Isa.  XXX.  2,  Ps.  Ivii.  2  (1),  Ixi.  5  (4).  The  preterite  form  implies 
that  this  is  no  new  or  sudden  act,  but  one  performed  already.  He  not 
only  trusts  in  God  at  present,  but  has  trusted  him  before.  Compare  Ps. 
vii.  2  (1),  xi.  1. 

2.  Thou  hast  said  to  Jehovah,  The  Lord  (art)  thou  ;  my  good  (is)  not 
lesides  thee  (or  beyond  thee).  The  verb  in  the  first  clause  has  the  form  of 
a  second  person  feminine,  which  some  regard  as  an  abbreviation  of  the  first 
person,  i^lQ^^  for  T\'^Q^i  and  translate  accordingly,  /  have  said.     But  this 

neither  agrees  so  well  with  usage,  nor  affords  so  good  a  sense  as  the  old 
construction,  which  supphes  as  the  object  of  address  the  same  that  is  ex- 
pressed in  Ps.  xlii.  6  (5),  12  (11),  xliii.  5,  Jer.  iv.  19,  Lam.  iii.  24,  25.  A 
similar  ellipsis  is  assumed  by  some  in  1  Sam.  xxiv.  11,  and  2  Sam.  xiii.  39. 
By  this  peculiar  form  of  speech  the  Psalmist  calls  upon  himself  to  remem- 
ber his  own  solemn  acknowledgment  of  Jehovah  as  the  Lord  or  Supreme 
God, — The  obscure  clause  which  follows  has  been  very  variously  explained. 
Some  understand  by  good  moral  goodness,  merit,  and  explain  the  whole  to 
mean,  "  My  goodness  is  not  such  as  to  entitle  me  to  thy  regard."  Most 
interpreters,  however,  give  to  good  its  usual  sense  of  good  fortune,  happiness 
(see  Ps.  cvi.  5,  Job  ix.  25),  and  make  the  whole  clause  mean,  "  My  happi- 
ness is  not  obligatory  or  incumbent  on  thee,  thou  art  not  bound  to  provide 
for  it ;"  or  "  My  happiness  is  not  above  thee  ;  I  have  no  higher  happiness 
than  thee."  The  true  sense  is  probably  afforded  by  a  modification  of  this 
last :  "  My  happiness  is  not  beside  thee,  independent  of,  or  separable  fi*om 
thee,"  with  allusion  to  the  form  of  expression  in  the  Hebrew  of  the  first 
commandment  (Exod.  xx.  3).     The  verse,  then,  contains  a  twofold  acknow- 


74  Psalm  16:3, 4 

ledgment  of  God,  as  the  universal  sovereign,  and  as  the  only  source  of 
individual  enjoyment.  Compare  Ps.  Ixxiii.  25.  That  this  recognition  was 
not  a  mere  momentary  act,  but  a  habitual  affection  of  the  mind,  seems  to 
be  indicated  by  the  Psalmist's  appeal  to  his  own  soul  as  having  made  the 
acknowledgment  already,  hitherto  or  heretofore. 

3.  To  (or  with)  the  saints  who  {are)  in  the  land,  and  the  nohles  in  whom 
(is)  all  my  delight.  The  construction  of  the  first  clause,  and  its  connec- 
tion with  the  preceding  verse,  are  very  obscure.  Some  make  to  synony- 
mous with  as  to.  "As  to  the  saints  who  are  in  the  land,  and  the  nobles, 
ii  them  is  all  my  dehght."  Or,  "as  to  the  saints  who  are  in  the  land, 
they  are  the  nobles  in  whom  is  all  my  delight."  Others  understand  to  the 
saints  and  to  Jehovah  as  con-elative  expressions.  "  To  Jehovah  I  have 
said  thus;  to  the  saints  thus."  Or,  as  the  English  Bible  has  it,  "My 
goodness  extendeth  not  to  thee,  but  to  the  saints,"  &c.  The  least  violent 
construction  seems  to  be  that  which  takes  the  preposition  in  its  usual  sense, 
that  of  belonging  to,  as  in  the  phrases,  to  David,  to  the  chief  Musician,  and 
in  1  Kings  xv.  27.  The  meaning  then  is  that  the  Psalmist's  recognition  of 
Jehovah  as  The  Lord,  and  as  the  only  source  of  happiness,  is  not  peculiar 
to  himself,  but  common  to  the  whole  body  of  the  saints  or  holy  ones.  This 
epithet  denotes  personal  character,  not  as  its  primary  meaning,  but  as  the 
effect  of  a  pecuUar  relation  to  God,  as  the  objects  of  his  choice,  set  apart 
from  the  rest  of  men  for  this  very  purpose  ;  see  Exod.  xix.  6,  Deut.  vii.  6, 
Ps.  xxxiv.  10  (9),  Dan.  vii.  21,  viii.  24,  1  Pet.  ii.  9.  The  pre-eminence  of 
these  over  others,  as  the  fruit  of  the  divine  election,  is  expressed  by  the 
word  nohles,  which,  like  saints,  denotes  moral  character  only  in  an  indirect 
and  secondary  manner.  The  construction  in  this  part  of  the  verse  is 
strongly  idiomatic  ;  the  literal  translation  is,  the  nohles  of  all  my  delight  in 
them.  Under  the  old  dispensation,  the  nobles  or  elect  of  God  had  their 
local  habitation  in  the  land  of  promise.  Hence  they  are  here  described  as 
the  "saints  or  consecrated  ones  who  are  in  the  land,"  not  in  the  earth, 
which  would  be  too  indefinite  and  not  so  well  suited  to  the  context.  As 
thus  explained,  the  whole  verse  may  be  paraphrased  as  follows  :  "  This  pro- 
fession of  my  trust  in  God  I  make,  not  merely  as  an  individual  believer, 
but  as  one  belonging  to  the  great  body  of  the  saints  or  consecrated  ones, 
the  nobles  of  the  human  race,  not  such  by  any  original  or  natural  pre-emi- 
nence, but  by  the  sovereign  and  distinguishing  favour  of  Jehovah,  whom  they 
trust  as  I  do,  and  are  therefore  the  rightful  objects  of  my  warmest  love." 

4.  Many  {or  multiplied)  shall  be  their  sorrows — another  they  have  pur- 
chased— I  will  not  pour  their  drink-offering  of  blood,  and  will  not  take  their 
names  upon  my  lips.  With  the  happiness  of  those  who  like  himself  trust 
the  Lord,  he  contrasts  the  wretchedness  of  those  who  have  chosen  any  other 
object  of  supreme  affection.  The  relative  construction  in  the  Enghsh  ver- 
sion, "their  sorrows  shall  be  multipUed  that  hasten,"  &c.,  gives  the  sense 
correctly,  but  with  more  variation  from  the  Hebrew  idiom,  which  conveys  the 
same  idea  by  means  of  short  independent  propositions.  In  the  word  translated 
their  sorrows,  {Dry)2^)^),  there  seems  to  be  an  allusion  to  a  very  similar  form, 

which  would  mean  their  idols  (DH''^^^),  as  if  to  suggest  that  false  gods  are 

mere  troubles  and  vexations.  Another  means  another  god,  in  opposition  to 
the  one  true  God,  Jehovah,  as  in  Isa.  xlii.  8,  xlviii.  11.  The  contrast 
which  is  there  expressed  is  here  to  be  suppUed  fi-om  ver.  2  and  5,  and  from 
the  general  antithesis,  running  through  the  context,  between  God  and  gods, 


Psalml6:5  -7  75 

not  idols  merely,  but  any  created  object  of  supreme  affection.  The  verb 
IHQ  in  its  derived  form  means  to  hasten,  and  is  so  translated  here  by  the 

English  and  some  other  versions.  But  in  the  only  other  place  where  the 
primitive  verb  occurs  (Exod.  xxii.  15),  it  means  to  endow  a  wife,  or  secure 
her  by  the  payment  of  a  dowry,  according  to  the  ancient  oriental  custom. 
The  same  usage  of  the  verb  exists  in  several  of  the  cognate  dialects.  It 
seems  here  to  have  the  general  sense  of  purchasing,  by  costly  sacrifice  or 
self-denial,  but  with  particular  allusion  to  the  conjugal  relation  which  is 
constantly  described  in  Scripture  as  existing  between  worshippers  and  their 
gods ;  see  Hos.  iii.  2,  and  viii.  9,  Ezek.  xvi.  33,  34.  In  the  last  clause  he 
abjures  all  communion  with  such  idolaters.  He'  will  not  join  in  their 
impious  services,  nor  even  name  the  names  of  their  divinities.  Drink-offer- 
ings of  hlood,  hbations  no  less  loathsome  than  if  composed  of  human  blood 
perhaps  with  an  allusion  to  the  frequent  poetical  description  of  wine  as  the 
blood  of  the  grape ;  see  Gen.  xhx.  11,  Deut.  xxxii.  14,  Isa.  Ixiii.  3.  To 
take  the  name  upon  the  lips  is  to  stain  or  pollute  them  by  pronouncing  it. 
Both  here  and  in  Hos.  ii.  19,  there  is  an  obvious  allusion  to  the  solemn 
prohibition  of  the  law  (Exod.  xxiii.  13) :  ''  Make  no  mention  of  the  name  of 
other  gods,  neither  let  it  be  heard  out  of  thy  mouth."  The  pronoun  their^ 
in  this  whole  clause,  refers  not  to  the  worshippers  but  to  their  divinities,  as 
comprehended  under  the  collective  term  another. 

5.  Jehovah  {is)  my  allotted  portion  and  my  cup  ;  thou  wilt  enlarge  my  lot. 
The  other  side  of  the  contrast  is  again  exhibited.  The  idea  is,  that  iu  the 
Lord  the  Psalmist  has  all  that  he  can  wish  or  hope  for.  The  figures  are 
borrowed  from  the  regular  supply  of  food  and  drink.  Compare  Ps.  xi.  6, 
xxiii.  5.  There  may  also  be  allusions  to  the  language  of  the  Pentateuch 
in  reference  to  the  tribe  of  Levi,  Deut.  x.  9,  xviii.  1,  2.  The  common 
version  of  the  last  clause,  thou  upholdest  my  lot,  is  neither  so  grammatical 
nor  yields  so  good  a  sense  as  that  above  given,  where  enlarge  impUes  both 
honour  and  abundance,  and  the  future  form  expresses  confident  assurance 
that  the  favour  now  experienced  will  be  continued. 

6.  The  lines  are  fallen  to  me  in  fleasant  things  {or  pleasant  places) ;  yea^ 
my  heritage  is  goodly.  The  lines  here  spoken  of  are  those  used  in  measur- 
ing and  dividing  land.  Fallen,  i.  e.  assigned,  with  or  without  allusion  to 
the  lot,  as  the  means  of  distribution.  Compare  Num.  xxxiv.  2,  Judges 
xviii.  1.  The  idea  of  places  is  suggested  by  the  context,  or  the  plural  ad- 
jective may  have  the  abstract  sense  of  pleasure,  pleasures,  like  the  cognate 
form  in  Job  xxxvi.  11.     The  particle  (P|J<})  which  introduces  the  last  clause 

is  more  emphatic  than  the  simple  copulative  and.  It  properly  means  also, 
and  implies  that  this  clause  contains  something  more  than  that  before  it. 
The  original  construction  of  the  last  clause  is,  a  heritage  is  goodly  to  me  or 
upon  me,  with  allusion  to  the  natural  and  common  image  of  gifts  or  favours 
as  descending  from  above.  The  heritage  or  portion  thus  described  is  God 
himself,  but  considered  as  including  all  desirable  possessions. 

7.  /  will  bless  Jehovah,  ivho  hath  counselled  me;  also  by  night  have  my 
reins  prompted  me.  He  praises  God  for  having  counselled  or  persuaded 
him  to  choose  this  goodly  heritage  in  preference  to  every  other  portion. 
The  second  clause  begins  with  yea  or  also,  as  in  the  preceding  verse.  It 
here  implies  that,  under  the  divine  control  just  mentioned,  his  own  habitual 
dispositions  tended  to  the  same  point.  By  night,  literally  nights,  an  idiom 
not  unknown  in  vulgar  English.     The  plural  may  in  this  case  be  emphatic, 


76  Psalm  16:8 -10 

meaning  whole  nights,  all  night  long.  The  night  is  mentioned,  hoth  as  a 
time  naturally  favourable  to  reflection,  and  as  shewing  that  the  same  sub- 
ject occupied  his  thoughts  by  night  as  well  as  by  day;  see  above  on  Ps.  i.  2. 
The  reins  are  figuratively  put  hke  the  heart,  bowels,  &c.,  for  the  afiec- 
tions;  see  above  on  Ps.  vii,  10  (9).  My  reins  have  taught  me,  warned  me, 
prompted  me,  to  utter  the  praise  mentioned  in  the  first  clause,  or  to  make 
the  choice  described  in  ver.  1,  2,  5. 

8.  I  have  set  Jehovah  before  me  always :  because  (he  is)  at  my  right  hand, 

1  shall  not  be  moveiji.  I  have  set  him  before  me,  i.  e.  I  recognise  his  pre- 
sence and  confide  in  his  protection.  The  actual  expression  of  this  confidence 
is  given  iu  the  other  clause.  The  right  hand  is  here  mentioned,  not  as  a 
post  of  honour,  but  as  that  of  a  guard  or  defender.  See  below,  on  Ps.  cix. 
31,  ex.  5,  cxxi.  5. — I  shall  not  be  moved  from  my  secure  position.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  x.  6,  xv.  5.  The  whole  verse  is  a  varied  repetition  and 
ampHfication  of  the  last  clause  of  ver.  1,  I  have  trusted  (or  sheltered  myself) 
in  thee. — The  Septuagint  version  of  this  sentence  is  quoted  in  Acts  ii.  25, 
with  an  express  recognition  of  David  as  the  author  of  the  psahn. 

9.  Therefore  has  rejoiced  my  heart  and  exulted  my  glory  ;  yea,  my  flesh 
shall  dwell  in  security  {or  confidence). — Therefore,  because  God  is  my  ever 
present  helper.  Glory  seems  here  to  mean  his  nobler  part,  his  soul,  but 
not  as  wholly  separate  from  the  body,  as  appears  from  what  follows.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  vii.  6  (5). — Flesh  may  either  mean  the  body,  as  distiaguished 
from  the  soul,  or  the  whole  person  as  including  both.     Compare  Ps.  kiii. 

2  (1),  Ixxxiv.  3  (2). — The  idea  of  dwelling  in  security  or  confidence  of  safety 
is  borrowed  from  the  Pentateuch.  See  Deut.  xxxiii.  12,  28,  and  compare 
Judges  xviii.  7,  Jer.  xxiii.  6,  xxxiii.  16.  A  similar  allusion  has  been  found 
already  in  Ps.  iv.  9  (8).  The  Septuagint  version  of  the  sentence,  although 
it  substitutes  tongue  for  glory,  is  substantially  correct,  and  therefore  retained 
in  Acts  ii.  26. — The  second  clause  is  not  simply  parallel  and  equivalent 
to  the  first,  but  is  rather  an  actual  performance  of  the  duty  there  described. 
Having  there  said  that  his  heart  did  triumph  ia  the  certainty  of  God's 
protection,  he  here  proves  the  truth  of  his  assertion,  by  professing  his 
assured  hope  that  his  whole  person,  not  excepting  his  material  part,  shall 
dwell  in  safety  imder  that  protection.  This  is  applicable  both  to  pre- 
servation from  death  and  preservation  in  death,  and  may  therefore  without 
violence  be  understood,  in  a  lower  sense,  of  David,  who  did  die  and  see 
corruption,  but  whose  body  is  to  rise  again,  as  well  as  in  a  higher  sense 
of  Christ,  whose  body,  though  it  died,  was  raised  again  before  it  saw  cor- 
ruption. 

10.  JFor  thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  to  Hell ;  thou  wilt  not  give  thy  Holy 
One  to  see  corruption.  He  now  assigns  the  ground  or  reason  of  the  con- 
fidence expressed  in  the  preceding  verse.  "  I  am  sure  my  soul  and  body 
will  be  safe,  because  thou  canst  not,  without  ceasing  to  be  God  and  my 
God,  give  me  up  to  the  destroyer."  He  does  not  say  leave  in  but  to,  i.  e. 
abandon  to,  give  up  to  the  dominion  or  possession  of  another.  The  same 
Hebrew  phrase  occurs,  with  the  same  sense,  in  Lev.  xix.  10,  Job  xxxix.  14, 
and  in  Ps.  xhx.  11  (10)  below.^ — Hell  is  here  to  be  taken  in  its  wide  old 
English  sense,  as  corresponding  to  the  Hebrew  Sheol  and  the  Greek  Hades, 
the  in\isible  world  or  state  of  the  dead.  See  above  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5),  and 
ix.  18  (17). — Give,  i.  e.  permit,  or  more  emphatically,  give  up,  abandon, 
which  makes  the  parallelism  of  the  clauses  more  exact.  Thy  Holy  One,  or 
more  exactly,  thy  favourite,  the  object  of  thy  special  favour.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  iv.  4  (3).     The  textual  reading  is  a  plural  form  ("in''Dn),  the  singular 


Psalm  16:11  11 

(TT'DH)  being  a  marginal  correction  or  keri.  The  Jews  contend  for 
the  former,  and  most  Christians  for  the  latter,  which  is  favoured  by 
the  oldest  versions  and  retained  in  the  New  Testament.  The  essential 
difference  between  the  two  is  less  than  it  may  seem  at  first  sight,  since 
even  the  singular  is  really  collective,  and  includes  the  whole  class  of  God's 
chosen  and  favoured  ones,  of  whom  Christ  is  the  head  and  representative. 
— To  see,  i.  e.  to  experience  or  undergo  corruption.  Compare  the  phrase 
to  see  death,  Luke  ii.  26. — It  has  been  disputed  whether  HH^  is  derived 

from  TVi^y  and  means  a  pit,  or  from  JlHli^,  and  means  corruption.     Both 

allegations  are  probably  true,  the  antecedent  improbability  of  such  a  double 
sense  and  derivation  being  counterbalanced  by  the  clear  analogy  of  nnj, 

which  is  of  a  different  sense  and  gender,  as  derived  from  /in3  and  Xy\1-     The 

use  of  this  equivocal  expression  may  have  been  intentional,  in  order  to 
make  it  appUcable  both  to  David  and  to  Christ.  (See  above,  on  the  pre- 
ceding verse.)  To  both,  the  words  contain  a  promise  of  deliverance  from 
death,  but  in  the  case  of  Christ  with  a  specific  reference  to  his  actual  escape 
from  the  corruption  which  is  otherwise  inseparable  from  dissolution.  Be- 
lievers in  general  are  saved  from  the  perpetual  dominion  of  death,  but  Christ 
was  saved  even  from  the  first  approach  of  putrefaction.  In  this  peculiar 
and  most  pregnant  sense  the  words  are  applied  to  Christ  exclusively  by 
two  apostles,  and  in  that  sense  declared  to  be  inapplicable  to  David.  (Acts 
ii.  29-31,  xiii.  35-37.)  Their  reasoning  would  utterly  forbid  the  apphca- 
tion  to  any  lower  subject,  were  it  not  for  the  ambiguity  or  twofold  meaning 
of  the  Hebrew  word,  which  cannot  therefore  be  explained  away  without 
embarrassing  the  interpretation  of  this  signal  prophecy. 

11.  Thou  wilt  teach  me  the  way  of  life,  fulness  of  joy  with  thy  face  (or 
presence),  pleasures  in  thy  right  hand  for  ever.  He  trusts  God  not  only 
for  deUverance  from  death,  but  for  guidance  in  the  way  to  life,  or  blessed 
immortahty.  (Compare  Prov.  ii.  19.)  The  Hebrew  verb  is  causative,  and 
means  thou  icilt  make  me  know,  point  out,  or  shew  to  me.  Fulness,  satiety, 
or  rather  satisfaction,  in  its  strongest  sense,  including  the  ideas  of  content- 
ment and  abundance.  The  plural,  joys,  denotes  not  only  richness  but 
variety.  The  next  phrase  may  simply  mean  before  thy  face  or  in  thy  presence. 
But  it  will  also  bear  a  stronger  sense,  and  represent  God's  presence  or  the 
sight  of  him,  not  merely  as  the  place,  but  the  source  of  enjoyment.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  iv.  7  (6),  and  compare  Ps.  xvii.  15,  Ixxx.  4  (3).  So  in  the 
last  clause,  the  idea  is  not  merely  at  thy  right  hand  as  a  place  of  honour 
and  of  safety,  but  in  thy  right  hand  as  the  depository  of  eternal  joys,  or 
idth  thy  right  hand,  as  the  instrument  by  which  they  are  dispensed.  See 
below,  on  Ps.  xvii.  7. — This  last  clause  is  omitted  in  Peter's  citation  of  the 
passage,  Acts  ii.  27,  no  doubt  because  it  is  a  mere  poetical  reiteration  of 
the  one  before  it,  which  is  itself  only  added  to  complete  the  period,  and  not 
because  it  was  essential  to  the  apostle's  purpose.  That  purpose  was  accom- 
plished by  applying  the  two  preceding  verses  to  our  Saviour,  not  exclusively 
indeed,  but  by  way  of  eminence  and  in  a  peculiar  sense,  which  we  learn, 
however,  from  Acts  ii.  30,  31,  was  actuaUy  present  to  the  mind  of  the 
inspired  Psalmist.  The  same  argumentative  interpretation  of  the  prophecy 
is  given  by  Paul  in  Acts  xiii.  35-37. 


78  Psalm  17:1 -3 


Psalm  17 

A  SUFFERER,  in  imminent  danger,  professes  his  sincere  conformity  to  God's 
will,  and  invokes  his  favour  and  protection,  ver.  1-5.  This  petition  is  en- 
forced by  an  appeal  to  former  mercies,  ver.  6,  7,  and  a  description  of  the 
wickedness  of  his  enemies,  ver.  8-12,  whose  character  and  spirit  he  con- 
trasts with  his  own,  ver.  13-15. 

The  position  of  this  psalm  in  the  collection  seems  to  have  been  determined 
by  the  resemblance  of  its  subject,  tone,  and  diction,  to  those  of  the  six- 
teenth, with  which  it  may  be  said  to  form  a  pair  or  double  psalm,  like  the 
first  and  second,  third  and  fourth,  ninth  and  tenth,  &c. 

1.  A  Prayer.  By  David.  Hear,  0  Jehovah,  the  right,  hearken  to  my 
cry,  give  ear  to  my  prayer  not  ivith  lips  of  deceit.  This  psalm  is  called  a 
prayer  because  petition  is  its  burden,  its  characteristic  feature,  its  essential 
element.  By  David,  Uterally,  to  David,  i.  e.  belonging  to  him  as  its  author. 
— The  right,  righteousness  or  justice  in  the  abstract,  here  put  for  a  just 
cause,  or  perhaps  for  one  who  is  in  the  right,  who  has  justice  on  his  side. 
The  prayer  that  God  will  hear  the  right  implies  that  no  appeal  is  made  to 
partiahty  or  privilege,  but  merely  to  the  merits  of  the  case.  The  righteous- 
ness claimed  is  not  merely  that  of  the  cause  but  that  of  the  person,  not 
inherent  but  derived  from  the  imputed  righteousness  of  faith  according  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  Old  as  well  as  the  New  Testament.  The  quality  alleged 
is  not  that  of  sinless  perfection  but  that  of  sincere  confonnity  to  the  divine 
will.  The  last  clause,  not  ivllh  lips  of  deceit,  apphes  to  all  that  goes  before, 
and  represents  sincerity  as  necessary  to  a^.ceptance.  The  original  expres- 
sion is  still  stronger,  and  conveys  much  more  than  a  negative.  It  does  not 
merely  say,  not  with  deceitful  lips,  but  more  positively  with  lips  not  deceitful. 

2.  From  before  thee  my  Judgment  shall  come  forth  ;  thine  eyes  shall  he- 
hold  equities.  This  sentence  really  involves  a  prayer,  but  in  form  it  is  the 
expression  of  a  confident  hope.  From  hefore  thee,  from  thy  presence,  thy 
tribunal.  My  judgment,  my  acquittal,  vindication ;  or  my  justice,  i.  e.  my 
just  cause,  my  cause  considered  as  a  just  one.  Shall  come  forth,  to  the 
■view  of  others,  shall  be  seen  and  recognised  in  its  true  character,  as  being 
what  it  is.  The  reason  is,  because  God's  judgments  are  infaUible.  His 
eyes  cannot  fail  to  see  innocence  or  righteousness  where  it  exists.  The 
plural,  rectitudes  or  equities,  is  an  emphatic  abstract.  See  above,  on  the 
parallel  passage,  Ps.  xi.  7. 

3.  Thou  hast  tried  my  heart,  hast  visited  (?ne)  hy  night,  hast  assayed 
me;  thou  wilt  not  find ;  my  mouth  shall  not  exceed  my  thought.  He 
still  appeals  to  God  as  the  judge  and  witness  of  his  own  sincerity.  The 
preterites  represent  the  process  as  no  new  one,  although  still  continued  in 
the  present.  Visited  for  the  purpose  of  examination  or  inspection,  in  which 
specific  sense  the  EngHsh  verb  is  often  used.  By  night,  as  the  time  when 
men's  thoughts  are  least  under  restraint,  and  when  the  CAal,  if  there  be  any, 
is  most  certain  of  detection.  Purged  me,  as  the  purity  of  metals  is  tested 
by  fire,  to  which  process  the  Hebrew  word  is  specially  appHed.  Thou  shalt 
not  find  any  thing  at  variance  with  the  sincerity  of  this  profession. — The 
future  form  implies  that  the  investigation  is  to  be  continued,  but  without 
any  change  in  the  result. — The  last  clause  is  doubtful  and  obscure.  The 
common  version,  I  am  purposed  (that)  my  mouth  shall  not  trangress,  agrees 
well  enough  vnth  the  form  of  the  words,  but  is  forbidden  by  the  accents. 
The  reversed  construction,  my  thoughts  shall  not  exceed  my  mouth  (or  speech), 


Psalm  17:4 -8  79 

is  ungrammatical ;  nor  does  either  of  theseconstructions  suit  the  coatext 
so  well  as  the  first,  which  makes  the  clause  a  renewed  profession  of  sin- 
cerity. 

4.  (^As)  to  the  works  of  man,  by  the  word  of  thy  lips  I  have  kept  the  paths 
of  the  violent  (trangressor.)  The  works  of  man  are  the  sinful  courses  to 
which  man  is  naturally  prone.     The  generic  tetm  man  (D^^<)  is  often  used 

in  reference  to  the  sinful  infirmities  of  human  nature.  See  1  Sam.  xxiv. 
10  (9),  Hos.  vi.  7,  Job  xxxi.  33.  The  word  of  God's  lips  is  the  word 
uttered  by  him,  with  particular  reference  to  his  precepts  or  commands,  but 
including  his  entire  revelation.  By  this  word,  by  means  of  it  as  an  instru- 
ment, and  in  reliance  on  it  as  an  authority. — The  verb  (lOli^)  translated 

kept  properly  means  watched,  and  is  elsewhere  applied  to  the  observance  of 
a  rule,  but  in  this  place  seems  to  mean  watched  for  the  purpose  of  avoid- 
ing, as  we  say  in  English  to  keep  away  from  or  keep  out  of  danger. — From 
the  verb  (\n3)  to  break  forth,  elsewhere  applied  to  gross  iniquities  (Hos. 

'    -    T 

iv.  2.)  comes  the  adjective  (V^IB)  violent,    outrageous,   here  used  as  an 

epithet  of  the  flagrant  sinner. 

5.  My  steps  have  laid  hold  of  thy  paths,  my  feet  have  not  swerved.  His 
profession  of  integrity  is  still  continued.  The  first  verb  is  in  the  infini- 
tive form,  but  determined  by  the  preterites  before  and  after.  The  Eng- 
lish language  does  not  furnish  equivalents  to  the  parallel  terms  in  Hebrew, 
both  which  denote  footsteps.  The  common  version  violates  the  context  by 
ccmverting  the  first  clause  into  a  prayer,  which  would  here  be  out  of  place. 

6.  I  have  invoked  thee  because  thou  wilt  answer  me,  0  God  !  Incline  thine 
ear  to  me,  hear  my  speech.  The  alternation  of  the  tenses  is  significant.  '  I 
have  invoked  thee  heretofore,  and  do  so  still,  because  I  know  that  thou  vdlt 
hear  me."  It  is  needless  to  observe  how  much  the  sentence  is  enfeebled  by 
the  change  of  either  to  the  present. — Thou  loilt  hear  me,  in  the  pregnant 
sense  of  hearing  graciously  or  answering  a  prayer.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii. 
5  (4). — 0  (mighty)  God!  The  divine  name  here  used  is  the  one  denoting 
God's  omnipotence.  See  above,  Ps.  v.  5  (4),  vii.  12  (11),  x.  11,  12.  xvi.  1. 
— My  speech,  what  I  say,  ^'^0^^  from  IDhi  to  say. 

7.  Distinguish  thy  mercies,  (0  thou)  saving  those  trusting,  from  those 
rising  up,  with  thy  right  hand.  The  first  verb  is  the  same  that  occurs  in 
Ps.  iv.  4  (3.)  Here,  as  there,  it  means  to  set  apart,  or  single  out,  but 
with  particular  reference  to  extraordinary  favours,  implying  an  unusual  neces- 
sity. Such  mercy  is  described  as  perfectly  in  keeping  with  the  divine 
mode  of  action  in  such  cases. — Trusting,  seeking  refuge,  i.e.  in  God.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  1.  The  same  ellipsis  may  be  assumed  after  rising  up, 
or  we  may  supply  against  them. — With  thy  right  hand,  as  the  instrument 
of  deliverance.  Compare  Ps.  xvi.  11.  These  words  must  be  connected  in 
construction  with  saving. 

8.  Keep  me  as  the  apple  of  the  eye,  in  the  shadow  of  thy  wings  thou  wilt 
hide  me.  The  first  verb  means  to  watch  over,  guard,  preserve  with  care. 
See  above,  on  ver.  4,  where  it  occurs  in  a  figurative  application.  The  pupil 
or  apple  of  the  eye  is  a  proverbial  type  of  that  which  is  most  precious  and 
most  easily  injured,  and  which  therefore  has  a  double  claim  to  sedulous 
protection.  The  original  phrase  is  strongly  idiomatic,  exhibiting  what  seems 
to  be  a  singular  confusion  of  the  genders.  Its  literal  meaning  is,  supplying 
the  articles  omitted  by  poetic  hcence,  the  man  (or  the  little  man,  or  the  man- 
like part)  the  daughter  of  the  eye.     The  first  word  has  reference  to  the  image 


80  Psalm  17:9 -12 

reflected  in  the  pupil,  which  is  then  described  as  belonging  to  the  eye,  by 
an  oriental  idiom  which  uses  personal  relations,  son,  daughter,  &c.,  to 
denote  the  mutual  relations  even  of  inanimate  objects.  The  comparison 
is  borrowed  from  Deut.  xxxii.  10,  where  it  is  followed  by  another  with  the 
eagle's  treatment  of  her  young,  to  which  there  seems  to  be  allusion  in  the 
last  clause  of  the  verse  before  us.  The  imperative  form  of  the  first  verb  is 
no  reason  for  departing  from  the  future  form  of  the  other,  which  is  much 
more  expressive.  What  he  asks  in  one  clause  he  expresses  his  assured  hope 
of  obtaining  in  the  other. 

9.  From  the  face  of  the  wieJced  who  have  wasted  me;  mine  enemies  to  the 
soul  will  surround  me.  The  preceding  sentence  is  continued,  with  a  more 
particular  description  of  the  objects  of  his  dread.  "  Thou  wilt  hide  me 
from  the  face,  sight,  or  presence  of  the  wicked."  Wasted,  desolated,  de- 
stroyed, with  allusion  perhaps  to  the  siege  of  a  town  or  the  invasion  of  a 
country.  The  same  term  is  applied  to  a  dead  man  in  Judges  v.  27.  The 
enemies  of  the  last  clause  are  identical  with  the  wicked  of  the  first.  Une- 
mies  in  soul  may  mean  cordial  haters,  or  enemies  who  seek  the  soul  or  life, 
called  deadly  enemies  in  the  English  version.     Or  l£^3!li  may  be  construed 

with  the  verb  :  surround  me  eagerly  (with  craving  appetite) ;  or  surround  me 
against  my  soul  or  Ufe,  i.e.  with  a  view  to  take  it. — The  future  form  sug- 
gests that  the  danger  which  the  first  clause  had  described  as  past,  was  still 
present,  and  likely  to  continue.  As  if  he  had  said,  "  from  my  wicked  foes 
who  have  already  wasted  me,  and  will  no  doubt  still  continue  to  surround 
me."  In  this  description  presentdanger  is  included,  whereas  if  we  substitute 
the  present  form,  we  lose  the  obvious  allusion  to  the  future  and  the  past. 

10.  Their  fat  they  have  closed ;  {with)  their  mouth  they  have  spoken  in 
pride.  The  first  clause,  though  not  exactly  rendered,  is  correctly  para- 
phrased in  the  English  Bible;  they  are  enclosed  in  their  own  fat.  This  is 
no  uncommon  metaphor  in  Scripture  for  moral  and  spiritual  insensibiUty ; 
see  Deut.  xxxii.  15,  Job  xv.  27,  Ps.  Ixxiii.  7,  cxix.  70.  The  Hteral  sense 
of  the  expressions  derives  some  illustration  from  Judg.  iii.  22.  Some  give 
to/ai  the  specific  sense  of  heart,  which  is  said  to  have  in  Arabic,  "their  heart 
they  have  closed."  But  the  other  explanation  yields  the  same  sense  ia  a 
more  emphatic  form,  and  with  closer  conformity  to  Hebrew  usage. 

11.  In  our  footsteps  now  have  they  surrounded  us;  their  eyes  they  will  set, 
to  go  astray  in  the  land.  The  meaniug  of  the  first  words,  in  our  footsteps, 
seems  to  be,  wherever  we  go.  Compare  Ps.  cxxxix.  3,  5.  For  the  masore- 
tic  reading  us,  the  text  has  me,  which,  although  harsher,  amounts  to  the 
same  thing,  as  the  suflerer  is  an  ideal  person  respecting  many  real  ones. 
The  parallel  clauses  exhibit  the  usual  combination  of  the  preterite  and 
future  forms,  implying  that  what  had  been  done  was  likely  to  be  still  con- 
tinued. They  fix  their  eyes,  upon  this  as  the  end  at  which  they  aim.  To 
go  astray  or  turn  aside,  i.  e.  from  the  way  of  God's  commandments,  to  which 
the  Psalmist,  in  ver.  5,  had  declared  his  own  adherence.  The  translations 
bowing  dovm  and  casting  down  are  less  in  accordance  with  the  context  and 
with  the  usage  of  the  Hebrew  verb,  which  is  constantly  employed  to  express 
departure  from  God  and  aberration  from  the  path  of  duty;  see  1  Kings  xi. 
9,  Job  xxxi.  7,  Ps.  xliv.  19  (18),  cxix.  51,  157.  To  the  earth,  or  in  the  earth, 
although  grammatical,  afibrds  a  less  appropriate  sense  than  in  the  land,  i.  e. 
the  holy  land  or  land  of  promise,  the  local  habitation  of  God's  people  under 
the  old  economy ;  see  above  on  Ps.  xvi.  3,  and  compare  Isaiah  xxvi.  10. 

12.  Hi^s  likeness  {is)  as  a  lion ;  he  is  craving  to  tear ;  and  as  a  young 


Psalm  17:13 -15  81 

lion  silting  in  secret  places.  The  singular  suffix  refers  to  the  enemy  as  an 
ideal  person.  The  future  (^IDD^)  means  that  he  is  just  about  to  feel  or 
gratify  the  appetite  for  blood.  To  tear  in  pieces,  as  a  wild  beast  does  his 
prey  before  devouring  it. — Sitting,  lurking,  lying  in  wait,  with  special  refer- 
ence to  the  patient  promptness  of  the  wild  beast  in  such  cases. — The  com- 
parison is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  x.  8-10. 

13.  Arise,  Jehovah,  go  before  his  face,  male  him  how,  save  my  soul  from 
the  wicked  [with)  thy  sword.  On  the  meaning  of  the  prayer  that  God  would 
arise,  see  above  on  Ps.  iii.  8  (7). — Go  before  his  face  :  the  same  Hebrew 
phrase  occurs  below  (Ps.  xcv.  2),  in  the  sense  of  coming  into  one's 
presence.  Here  the  context  gives  it  the  more  emphatic  sense  of  meeting, 
encountering,  withstanding.  Make  him  bend  or  bow,  as  the  conquered  bows 
beneath  the  conqueror. — The  construction  of  thy  sword  seems  to  be  the 
same  with  that  of  their  mouth  in  ver.  10.  The  Septuagint  puts  thy  sword 
in  apposition  with  my  soul,  the  Vulgate  with  the  word  immediately  preced- 
ing, men  {who  are)  thy  sword,  as  the  Assyrian  is  said  to  be  the  rod  in  God's 
hand  (Isa.  x.  5).  But  such  a  representation  of  the  enemy  as  God's  chosen 
instruments,  instead  of  enforcing,  would  enfeeble  the  petition.  The  verb 
translated  save  is  a  causative  strictly  meaning  malce  to  escape. 

14.  From  men  {with)  thy  hand,  from  the  world;  their  portion  is  in  {this) 
life,  and  with  thy  hoard  thou  wilt  Jill  their  belly ;  they  shall  have  enough  of 
sons,  and  leave  their  residue  to  their  babes.  All  the  parts  of  this  obscure 
verse  have  been  variously  explained.  As  in  the  preceding  verse,  some  here 
read  men  {which  are)  thy  hand,  i.  e.  the  instrument  of  thy  wrath.  The  diffi- 
cult expression  ibniD  is  by  some  understood  as  a  description  of  their  cha- 
racter and  spirit — men  of  the  world — men  who  belong  to  it,  and  whose  hearts 
are  set  upon  it.  Others  give  ibn  its  primary  meaning  of  duration,  and 
make  the  phrase  descriptive  of  prosperity — men  of  duration  or  perpetuity — 
who  not  only  prosper  now,  but  have  long  done  so,  and  seem  likely  to  con- 
tinue. The  simplest  construction  is  that  given  in  the  prayer-book  version, 
which  takes  the  proposition  in  the  same  sense  before  both  nouns— "/rum 
the  men,  I  say,  and  from  the  evil  world."  "  World  is  then  simply  a  col- 
lective equivalent  to  the  plural  men.  This  translation  of  the  former  word 
is  justified  by  the  analogy  of  Ps.  xUx.  2  {1).—Life  is  by  some  understood 
to  mean  a  Ufe  of  ease  or  pleasure ;  but  this  is  far  less  natural  than  the  obvi- 
ous sense  of  this  life,  this  present  state  as  distinguished  from  futurity.  The 
rest  of  the  verse  shews  that  their  desires  have  not  been  disappointed.  To 
the  eye  of  sense  God  sometimes  seems  to  have  reserved  his  choichest  gifts 
for  the  ungodly.  Thy  hidden  {treasure),  i.  e.  hoarded,  carefully  secreted. 
Fill  their  belly,  satisfy  their  appetite.  The  future  form  implies  that  the 
state  of  things  described  is  likely  to  continue.— The  next  clause  may  be  also 
rendered  :  {their)  sons  shall  be  satisfied,  and  leave  their  residue  to  their  babes. 
This  would  be  a  strong  description  of  prosperity  continued  from  generation 
to  generation.  According  to  the  version  before  given,  the  men  of  the  world 
are  represented  as  having  their  largest  wishes  gratified,  not  only  in  the  num- 
ber but  the  prosperous  condition  of  their  children  ;  see  Ps.  cxxvii.  3,  cxxvui. 
3,  4,  Job  xxi.  11.  The  whole  is  only  a  description  of  things  as  they  seem 
to  man,  before  God's  judgments  interpose  to  change  them. 

15.  I  in  righteousness  shall  see  thy  face  ;  I  shall  be  satisfied  in  awaking 
with  thy  appearance.  The  pronoun  expressed  at  the  beginning  of  the  sen- 
tence is  emphatic.     I,  in  opposition  to  the  men  described  in  the  preceding 


82  Psalm  17:15 

verse.  "  They  may  rejoice  in  richer  providential  gifts,  and  be  satisfied  with 
what  they  thus  possess.  But  I  enjoy  what  they  do  not,  the  sense  of  accept- 
ance in  thy  sight,  righteousness,  justification,  recognition  as  a  righteous 
person."  The  ambiguity  of  construction  in  the  last  clause  is  the  same  both 
in  Hebrew  and  in  EngUsh.  The  preposition  iviih  may  connect  what  follows 
either  with  aivaking  or  with  satisfied.  Thus  the  prayer-book  version  reads, 
"  And  when  I  awake  up  after  thy  Ukeness,  I  shall  be  satisfied  with  it ; "  but 
the  authorised  version:  "  I  shall  be  satisfied,  when  I  awake,  with  thy  like- 
ness." The  latter  construction  is  the  one  required  by  the  accents,  and  pre- 
ferred by  most  interpreters,  the  rather  as  the  last  word  does  not  mean  re- 
semblance in  the  abstract,  but  form,  shape,  or  visible  appearance,  Exod.  xx.  4, 
Num.  xii.  8,  Deut.  iv.  16,  23,  25,  Job  iv.  16.  The  idea  here  suggested  is 
the  sight  of  thee,  exactly  corresponding  to  behold  thy  face,  in  the  parallel 
clause. — In  aivaking,  or  when  I  shall  awake,  is  understood  by  some  to 
mean,  when  I  awake  to-morrow,  and  from  this  expression  they  infer  that  the 
psalm  was  originally  composed,  and  intended  to  be  used,  as  an  evening- song 
or  prayer.  See  above  on  Ps.  iii.  6  (5),  iv.  9  (8),  v.  4  (3),  Others  give 
the  phrase  the  same  sense  but  a  wider  application ;  in  awaking,  i.  e.  when- 
ever I  awake.  As  if  he  had  said,  while  the  men  of  the  world  think  day  and 
night  of  their  possessions  and  their  pleasures,  I  rejoice,  whenever  I  awake, 
in  the  sight  of  God's  reconciled  countenance  and  the  consciousness  of  Mend- 
ship  with  him.  A  third  interpretation  puts  a  still  higher  sense  upon  the 
phrase  as  referring  to  the  act  of  awaking  fi'om  the  sleep  of  death.  But 
this  excludes  too  much  from  view  the  enjoyment  of  God's  favour  and  pro- 
tection even  here,  which  is  the  burden  of  the  whole  prayer.  If  the  hope  of 
future  blessedness  had  been  enough,  the  previous  petitions  would  have  been 
superfluous.  The  utmost  that  can  be  conceded  to  this  view  of  the  passage 
is  that,  by  a  natural  association,  what  is  here  said  of  awaking  out  of  sleep 
in  this  life  may  be  extended  to  that  great  awaking  which  awaits  us  all  here- 
after. The  same  state  of  mind  and  heart  which  enables  a  man  now  to  be 
contented  with  the  partial  views  which  he  enjoys  of  God  will  prepare  him 
to  be  satisfied  hereafter  with  the  beatific  vision  through  eternity. 

Psalm  18 

This  psalm  consists  of  five  unequal  parts.  In  the  first,  David  announces 
his  desire  to  praise  God  for  his  wonderful  deliverances,  ver.  2-4  (1-3). 
In  the  second,  these  are  described,  not  in  historical  form,  but  by  the  use  of 
the  strongest  poetical  figures,  ver.  5-20  (4-19).  In  the  third,  he  declares 
them  to  have  been  acts  of  righteousness  as  well  as  mercy,  and  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  general  laws  of  the  divine  administration,  ver.  21-28 
(20-27).  In  the  fourth,  he  goes  again  into  particulars,  but  less  in  the  way 
of  recollection  than  of  anticipation,  founded  both  on  what  he  has  experienced 
and  on  what  God  has  promised,  ver.  29-46  (28-45).  In  the  fifth,  this 
change  of  form  is  accounted  for  by  summing  up  the  promises  referred 
to,  and  applying  them  not  merely  to  Da\id  as  an  individual,  but  to  his 
posterity  for  ever,  thus  including  Christ,  and  shewing  the  whole  composition 
to  be  one  of  those  Messianic  psalms,  in  which  he  is  the  principal  subject  of 
the  prophecy,  though  not  the  only  one,  nor  even  the  one  nearest  to  the  eye 
of  the  observer,  ver.  46-51  (45-50). 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  By  a  Servant  of  Jehovah.  By  David,  who 
spake  unto  Jehovah  the  words  of  this  song,  in  the  day  Jehovah  freed  him 


Psalm  18:1,2  83 

from  the  hand  of  all  his  foes  and  from  the  hand  of  Saul.  The  first  clause 
of  the  title  shews,  in  this  as  in  other  cases,  that  the  composition  was 
designed  from  the  beginning  to  be  used  in  the  public  worship  of  the  ancient 
church,  and  has  reference  therefore  to  the  experience  of  the  writer,  not  as  a 
private  person,  but  as  an  eminent  servant  cf  the  Lord,  i.e.  one  entrusted 
with  the  execution  of  his  pui-poses,  as  an  instrument  or  agent.  The  expres- 
sions, spake  unto  Jehovah,  &c.,  are  borrowed  from  Exod.  xv.  1,  and  Deut. 
xxxi.  30.  This  is  the  more  observable,  because  the  psalm  contains  obvious 
allusions  to  the  song  of  Moses  in  Deut.  ch.  xxxii.  An  analogous  case  is 
found  in  2  Sam.  xxiii.  1,  where  the  form  of  expression  is  evidently  borrowed 
from  Num.  xxiv.  3. — The  repetition  of  hand  is  not  found  in  the  original, 
where  the  first  word  (C)3)  properly  denotes  the  palm  or  inside  of  the  hand, 

but  is  poetically  used  as  an  equivalent  to  T,     The  hand  is  a  common  figure 

for  power  and  possession.  This  whole  clause  bears  a  strong  analogy  to 
Exod.  xviii.  10,  where  "  out  of  the  hand  of  the  Egyptians  and  out  of  the 
hand  of  Pharaoh"  corresponds  exactly  to  "  out  of  the  hand  of  all  his  foes 
and  out  of  the  hand  of  Saul,"  i.  e.  and  especially  of  Saul.  Compare  "  Judah 
and  Jerusalem,"  Isa.  i.  1;  "the  land  and  Jericho,"  Josh.  ii.  1.  This 
form  of  expression  does  not  imply  that  Saul  was  the  last  of  his  enemies, 
but  rather  that  he  was  the  first,  both  in  time  and  in  importance,  so  that  he 
might  be  considered  equal  to  all  the  others  put  together.  And  accordingly 
we  find  their  idea  carried  out  in  the  stmcture  of  this  psalm,  one  half  of 
which  seems  to  relate  especially  to  Saul,  and  the  remainder  to  his  other 
enemies.  The  general  expressions  of  this  title  shew  that  the  psalm  was 
not  occasioned  by  any  particular  event,  but  by  a  retrospect  of  all  the  deliver- 
ances from  persecution  which  the  wi'iter  had  experienced. 

2  (1).  And  said,  I  will  love  thee,  Jehovah,  my  strength  !  The  sentence  is 
continued  from  the  foregoing  verse,  who  sang  unto  the  Lord  .  .  .  and 
said.  The  future  form,  /  will  love,  represents  it  as  a  permanent  afibction, 
and  expresses  a  fixed  purpose.  I  not  only  love  thee  now,  but  am  resolved 
to  do  so  for  ever.  The  verb  itself  occm-s  nowhere  else  in  its  primitive 
form,  but  often  in  one  of  its  derived  forms,  to  express  the  compassionate 
regard  of  a  superior  to  an  inferior.  The  simple  form  is  here  used  to  denote 
the  reciprocal  afi"ection  of  the  inferior  party.  From  its  etymology  the  verb 
seems  to  express  the  strongest  and  most  intimate  attachment,  being  properly 
expressive  of  sro^yri,  or  parental  love.  The  noun  translated  strevgth  is  also 
pecuHar  to  this  passage,  though  its  root  and  cognate  forms  are  very  common. 
Combined  with  one  of  the  divine  names,  it  constitutes  the  name  Hezekiah, 
which  may  have  been  suggested  by  the  verse  before  us.  My  strength,  i.  e. 
the  giver  of  my  strength  or  the  supplier  of  its  deficiencies,  the  substitute 
for  my  strength,  m}'  protector  and  deliverer. 

3  (2).  Jehovah  [is)  my  rock,  and  my  fortress,  and  my  deliverer  ;  my  o 
(is)  my  rock,  I  will  trust  in  him  ;  my  shield  and  my  horn  of  salvation,  my 
height  (or  high  place).  By  this  accumulation  of  descriptive  epithets,  the 
Psalmist  represents  God  as  the  object  of  his  trust  and  his  protector.  The 
first  two  figures,  my  rock  and  my  fortress,  contain  an  allusion  to  the  physical 
structure  of  the  Holy  Land,  as  well  as  to  David's  personal  experience.  The 
caves  and  fissures  of  the  rocks,  with  which  the  land  abounded,  had  often 
afibrded  him  shelter  and  concealment  when  pursued  by  Saul.  See  Judges 
vi.  2,  1  Sam.  xxiv.  3,  2  Sam.  v.  7.  The  Hteral  expression,  my  deliverer, 
seems  to  be  added  as  an  explanation  of  the  figures  which  precede.  My 
God  may  also  be  explained  as  one  of  the  descriptive  terms ;  but  it  seems 


84  Psalm  18:3  -  5 

more  natural  to  make  it  the  subject  of  a  new  proposition,  equivalent  and 
parallel  to  that  in  the  first  clause.  Here  again  we  are  obliged  to  use  the 
same  English  word  as  a  translation  of  two  different  words  in  Hebrew.  As 
the  rock  (^^D)  of  the  first  clause  suggests  the  idea  of  concealment  and 

security,  so  the  roch  (1)^)  of  the  second  clause  suggests  that  of  strength 
and  immobiUty.  The  figure  is  borrowed  from  Deut.  xxxii.  4,  and  reappears 
in  Ps.  xcii.  16  (15).  Compare  Isaiah's  phrase,  a  rock  of  ages  (Isa.  xxvi.  4), 
and  Jacob's  phrase,  the  stone  of  Israel  (Gen.  xhx.  24),  where  stone,  hke 
rock  in  the  clause  before  us,  denotes  not  the  place  but  the  material,  not  a 
stone,  but  stone,  as  one  of  the  hardest  and  least  mutable  substances  with 
which  we  are  acquainted,  and  therefore  an  appropriate  figure  for  combined 
immutabiHty  and  strength.  For  the  figurative  use  of  shield  in  such  con- 
nections, see  above  on  Ps.  iii.  4  (3).  The  next  phrase  has  allusion  to  the 
defensive  habits  of  homed  animals.  The  figure  seems  to  be  borrowed  from 
Deut  xxxiii.  17.  (Compare  1  Sam.  ii.  10,  Job.  xvi.  15.)  My  horn  of 
salvation  may  be  understood  to  mean,  my  horn,  to  wit,  my  salvation,  so 
that  the  second  noun  is  explanatory  of  the  first.  More  probably,  however, 
the  expression  means  the  horn  that  saves  me,  by  repelling  or  destroying  all 
my  enemies.  In  Luke  i.  69,  the  same  phrase  is  applied  to  Christ  by 
Zacharias.  The  last  term  in  the  description  belongs  to  the  same  class  with 
the  first,  and  was  probably  suggested  by  the  Psalmist's  early  wanderings 
among  the  rocks  and  caverns  of  Judea.  The  Hebrew  word  properly  denotes 
a  place  so  high  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  danger.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
ix.  10  (9),  where  the  same  word  is  twice  used  in  the  same  sense  and 
figurative  apphcation. 

4  (3).  To  be  praised  I  will  call  Jehovah,  and  from  my  enemies  I  shall  he 
saved.  "  I  will  invoke  God  as  a  being  worthy  of  all  praise."  The  first 
Hebrew  word,  which  has  the  force  of  a  future  passive  participle,  is  a  stand- 
ing epithet  of  Jehovah  in  the  lyrical  style  of  the  Old  Testament.  See  Ps. 
xlviii.  2  (1),  xcvi.  4,  cxiii.  3,  cxlv.  3,  1  Chron.  xvi.  25.  The  connection  of 
the  clauses  is,  that  the  beUeving  invocation  of  Jehovah  in  his  true  character, 
and  with  a  just  appreciation  of  his  excellence,  must  needs  be  followed  by 
the  experience  of  his  favour.  They  who  cry  and  are  not  heard,  as  we  read 
in  ver.  42  (41)  below,  cry  indeed  to  Jehovah,  but  they  do  not  invoke  him 
as  tlje  one  to  be  praised,  they  do  not  see  him  as  he  is,  and  cannot  pray  to 
him  as  they  ought.  They  ask  and  receive  not,  because  they  ask  amiss 
(James  iv.  3). 

5  (4).  The  hands  of  death  have  enclosed  me,  and  the  streams  of  worthless- 
ness  (or  Belial)  will  (still)  of  right  me  From  the  general  acknowledgment 
contained  in  ver.  1-4,  he  proceeds  to  a  more  particular  description  of  his 
danger.  By  hands  we  are  probably  to  understand  the  cordage  of  a  net, 
such  as  fowlers  spread  for  birds.  This  is  a  favourite  metaphor  with  David 
to  denote  dangers,  and  particularly  those  of  an  insidious  and  compHcated 
kind.  See  below,  Ps.  cxvi.  3.  The  word  Belial  properly  means  worthless, 
good  for  nothing.  The  reference  is  here  to  wicked  men,  whose  munber  and 
violence  are  indicated  by  the  figure  of  torrents,  overflowing  streams.  The 
use  of  the  future  in  the  last  clause  shews  that  the  writer,  as  in  many  other 
cases,  takes  his  position  in  the  midst  of  the  event,  and  views  it  as  partly 
past  and  partly  future.  This  bold  assumption  of  an  ideal  situation  greatly 
adds  to  the  hfe  and  vividness  of  the  description. 

6  (5).  The  hands  of  hell  surrounded  me,  the  snares  of  death  encountered 
me.     This  verse  merely  repeats  and  ampUfies  the  first  clause  of  the  fifth, 


Psalm  18:6-9  85 

Hell,  in  the  wide  old  English  sense,  is  a  poetical  equivalent  to  death.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5).  The  explicit  mention  of  snares  in  the  last  clause 
confirms  the  explanation  before  given  of  bands.  Encountered,  met  me, 
crossed  my  path.  The  sense  prevented  or  anticipated  does  not  suit  the  con- 
text, and  that  of  surprised  is  not  sufficiently  justified  by  usage.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xvii.  13. 

7  (6).  In  my  distress  I  tuill  invoice  Jehovah,  and  to  my  God  will  cry  ;  he 
will  hear  from  his  palace  my  voice,  and  my  prayer  before  him  will  come, 
into  his  ears.  The  verbs  are-  in  the  future,  because  they  express  the  feelings 
not  of  one  looking  back  upon  the  danger  as  already  past,  but  of  one  actually 
implicated  in  it.  See  above,  on  ver.  5  (4).  The  literal  meaning  of  the 
words  is,  in  distress  to  me.  Compare  the  phrase,  at  times  in  distress,  Ps. 
ix.  10  (9),  X.  1.  My  God  implies  a  covenant  relation  and  a  hope  of 
audience  founded  on  it.  The  verb  translated  cry  is  specially  appropriated 
to  a  cry  for  help.  His  palace  here  means  heaven,  as  God's  royal  residence. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xi.  4.  Into  his  ears  is  a  kind  of  after-thought,  designed 
to  strengthen  the  preceding  expression.  It  shall  not  only  reach  his  pre- 
sence, but,  as  it  were,  shall  penetrate  his  ears.  The  whole  expresses  an 
assured  hope  of  being  heard,  and  is  really  tantamount  to  an  assertion  that 
he  was  heard. 

8  (7).  Then  did  the  earth  shake  and  quake,  and  the  foundations  of  the 
mountains  trembled  and  were  shaken  because  he  was  angry.  The  idea  of 
succession  expressed  by  the  English  then  is  conveyed  in  Hebrew  by  the 
form  of  the  verb.  The  resemblance,  in  form  and  sound,  of  shake  and  quake, 
corresponds  to  that  of  the  original  verbs  (^yiriT  li^yjpll).     A  reflexive  or 

emphatic  passive  form  of  the  fii'st  verb  appears  in  the  second  clause.  The 
closing  words  of  this  clause  strictly  mean  because  it  was  inflamed  (or  en- 
kindled) to  him  with  an  ellipsis  of  the  noun  (^hi)  anger.  The  full  construc- 
tion may  be  found  in  Deut.  vi.  15,  and  Ps.  cxxiv.  3.  The  phrase  founda- 
tions of  the  mountains  is  copied  from  Deut.  xxxii.  22. 

9  (8).  There  went  up  smoke  in  his  wrath,  and  flre  from  his  mouth  devours  : 
coals  are  kindled  from  it.  Smoke  and  fire  are  mentioned  as  natm-al  con- 
comitants and  parallel  figures,  both  denoting  anger,  and  suggested  by  the 
phrase  it  wa'i  inflamed  to  him  in  the  preceding  verse.  Compare  Deut. 
xxxii.  22,  xxix.  19  (20),  Ps.  xxiv.  1.  The  translation  nostrils  rests  on  a 
confusion  of  two  collateral  derivatives  from  the  verb  to  breathe.  (See  my 
note  on  Isa.  xlviii.  9.)  Nor  is  this  sense  required  by  the  paralleUsm,  unless 
mouth  and  nose  must  always  go  together.  There  seems  to  be  some  allusion 
to  the  fire  and  smoke  at  Sinai,  Exod.  xix.  18.  From  *'<  may  have  reference 
to  fire  ;  but  the  nearest  antecedent  is  his  mouth.  Compare  Job  xli.  11-13 
(19-21).  There  is  no  need  of  supplying  any  object  with  devours;  the  idea 
is  that  of  a  devouring  fire,  i.  e.  one  capable  of  consuming  whatever  combus- 
tible material  it  may  meet  with. 

10  (9).  So  he  bowed  the  heavens  and  came  down,  and  gloom  [was)  under 
his  feet.  The  scene  seems  here  to  be  transferred  from  heaven  to  earth, 
where  the  psalmist  sees  not  only  the  divine  operation  but  the  personal  pre- 
sence of  Jehovah.  The  word  so,  familiarly  employed  in  English  to  continue 
a  narrative,  here  represents  the  vau  conversive  of  the  Hebrew.  The  word 
translated  gloom  is  not  the  usual  term  for  darkness,  but  a  poetical  expres- 
sion specially  applied  to  dense  clouds  and  vapours.  The  expression  seems 
to  be  derived  from  Deut.  v.  22.  Compare  with  this  clause,  Exod.  xix.  16, 
and  with  the  first,  Isa.  Ixiii.  19  (Ixiv.  1). 


86  Psalm  18:10  - 15 

11  (10).  And  he  rode  on  a  cherub  and  flew,  and  soared  on  the  wings  of  a 
wind.  The  cherubim  of  the  Mosaic  system  were  visible  representations  of 
the  whole  class  of  creatures  superior  to  man.  The  singular  form  cherub 
seems  to  be  used  here  to  convey  the  indefinite  idea  of  a  superhuman  but 
created  being.  The  whole  verse  is  a  poetical  description  of  God's  interven- 
tion, as  a  scene  presented  to  the  senses.  As  earthly  kings  are  carried  by 
inferior  animals,  so  the  heavenly  king  is  here  described  as  borne  through 
the  air  in  his  descent  by  beings  intermediate  between  himself  and  man. 
The  word  soared,  in  the  second  clause,  is  used  to  represent  a  poetical  term 
in  the  original  bon-owed  from  Deut.  xxviii.  49.  With  the  whole  verse  com- 
pare Ps,  Ixviii.  18  (17),  and  civ.  3. 

12  (11).  (And)  set  darkness  {as)  his  covert  ahoxd  him,  his  shelter,  dark- 
ness of  waters,  clouds  of  the  skies,  This  concealment  suggests  the  idea  of  a 
brightness  insupportable  by  mortal  sight.  Compare  Deut.  iv.  11,  Job 
xxxvi.  29,  Ps.  xcvii.  2.  Darkness  of  waters  does  not  mean  dark  waters,  but 
watery  darkness,  a  beautiful  description  of  clouds  charged  with  rain.  The 
two  nouns  in  the  last  clause  both  mean  clouds,  but  the  second  is  used  only 
in  the  plural,  and  seems  properly  to  designate  the  whole  body  of  vapom-s 
constituting  the  visible  heavens  or  sky.  A  somewhat  similar  combination 
occurs  in  Exod.  xix.  9. 

13  (12).  From  the  blaze  before  him  his  clouds  passed — hail  und  coals  of 
fire.  The  dark  clouds  which  enveloped  him  are  now  described  as  pene- 
trated by  the  light  within.  Passed,  i.  e.  passed  away,  were  dispelled.  The 
last  clause  may  be  construed  as  an  exclamation  such  as  an  eye-witness 
might  have  uttered.  The  combination  is  borrowed  from  Exod.  ix.  24. 
(Compare  Ps.  Ixxviii.  47,  48.)  Hail,  as  an  instrument  of  the  divine  ven- 
geance, is  also  mentioned  in  Josh.  x.  11. 

14  (13).  Then  thundered  in  the  heavens  Jehovah,  and  the  Highest  gave 
his  voice — hail  and  coals  of  fire.  The  second  clause  is  a  poetical  repeti- 
tion of  the  first.  "  The  Most  High  gave  his  voice,"  means  in  this  connec- 
tion neither  more  nor  less  than  that  he  "  thundered  in  the  heavens." 
Though  visibly  present  upon  earth  he  is  described  as  still  in  heaven.  Com- 
pare Gen.  xi.  5,  7  ;  xviii.  21  ;  John  iii.  13.  The  last  clause  may  be  con- 
strued as  in  ver.  13,  or  made  dependent  on  the  verb  gave,  as  in  Exod.  ix. 
23  :  "  Jehovah  gave  thunder  and  hail."  This  clause  is  repeated  because 
the  hail  and  lightning  were  not  merely  terrific  circumstances,  but  appointed 
instruments  of  vengeance  and  weapons  of  destruction. 

15  (14).  Ihen  sent  he  his  arrotvs  and  scattered  them,  and  shot  forth 
lightnings  and  confounded  them.  The  Hghtnings  of  the  last  clause  may  be 
understood  as  explaining  the  arrows  of  the  first.  Instead  of  shot  forth  light- 
nings some  translate  and  lightnings  much,  i.  e.  many,  in  which  sense  the 
Hebrew  word  (!"))  occurs  sometimes  elsewhere  (Exod.  xix.  21, 1  Sam.  xiv.  6, 

Num.  xxvi.  54).  In  several  other  places  it  seems  to  mean  enough  or  too 
much  (Gen.  xlv.  28,  Exod.  ix.  28,  Num.  xvi.  3,  7,  Deut.  i.  6).  If  either  of 
these  constructions  is  adopted,  the  verb  sent  must  be  repeated  from  the  other 
clause.  The  version  first  given,  shot,  is  justified  by  the  analogy  of  Gen. 
xlix.  23.  The  last  verb  in  the  sentence  is  a  military  tenn  denoting  the  con- 
fusion of  an  army  produced  by  a  surprise  or  sudden  panic ;  see  Exod.  xiv.  24, 
xxiii.  27,  Josh.  x.  10,  and  with  the  whole  verse  compare  Ps.  cxHv.  6. 

16  (15).  Then  were  seen  the  channels  of  water  and  uncovered  the  founda- 
tions of  the  luorld,  at  thy  rebuke,  Jehovah,  at  the  blast  of  the  breath  of  thy 
wrath.     The  idea  meant  to  be  conveyed  by  this  poetical  description  is  that 


Psalm  18:16- 19  87 

of  sudden  and  complete  subversion,  the  turning  of  the  whole  earth  upside 
down.  The  language  is  not  designed  to  be  exactly  expressive  of  any  real 
physical  change  whatever.  From,  or  at  thy  rebuke,  i.  e.  after  it  and  in  con- 
sequence of  it.  The  breath  of  thy  ivrath,  thy  angry  breath,  might  also  be 
rendered,  the  wind  of  thy  wrath,  thy  angry  or  tempestuous  wind.  That  the 
Hebrew  words  do  not  mean  thy  nose  or  nostrils,  see  above,  on  ver.  9  (8). 
Some  suppose  an  allusion,  in  the  figures  of  this  verse,  to  the  floods  oftvorth- 
lessness  in  ver  5  (4),  and  the  bands  of  hell  in  ver.  6  (5). 

17  (16).  He  will  send  from  above,  he  will  talce  me,  he  will  draw  me  out 
of  many  waters.  Here  again  the  wTiter  seems  to  take  his  stand  between  the 
inception  and  the  consummation  of  the  great  deliverance,  and  to  speak  just 
as  he  might  have  spoken  while  it  was  in  progress.  "  All  this  he  has  done 
in  preparation,  and  now  he  is  about  to  send,"  &c.  This  seems  to  be  a  more 
satisfactory  explanation  of  the  future  forms  than  to  make  them  simple 
presents,  and  still  more  than  to  make  them  preterites,  which  is  wholly 
arbitrary  and  ungrammatical,  although  the  acts  described  by  these  futures 
were  in  fact  past  ai  the  time  of  composition.  To  send  from  above  in  our 
idiom  means  to  send  a  messenger;  but  in  Hebrew  this  verb  is  the  one  used 
with  hand,  where  we  say  stretch  out,  e.  g.  in  the  parallel  passage  Ps.  exUv.  7. 
(See  also  Gen.  viii.  9,  xlviii.  14).  The  noun,  however,  is  sometimes  omitted, 
and  the  verb  used  absolutely  to  express  the  sense  of  the  whole  phrase,  as  in 
2  Sam.  vi.  6,  Ps.  Ivii.  4  (3).  From  above,  from  on  high,  from  the  height 
or  high  place,  i.  e.  heaven,  the  place  of  God's  manifested  presence.  There 
is  peculiar  beauty  in  the  word  translated  draw,  which  is  the  root  of  the  name 
Moses,  and  occurs,  besides  the  place  before  us,  only  in  the  explanation  of 
that  name  recorded  by  himself,  Exod.  ii.  10.  The  choice  of  this  unusual 
expression  here  involves  an  obvious  allusion  both  to  the  historical  fact  and 
the  typical  meaning  of  the  deliverance  of  Moses,  and  a  kind  of  claim  upon 
the  part  of  David  to  be  regarded  as  another  Moses. 

18  (17).  Heivillfree  me  from  my  enemy  (because  he  is)  strong,  and  from 
my  haters^  because  they  are  mightier  than  I.  The  futures  are  to  be  explained 
as  in  the  verse  preceding.  The  enemy  here  mentioned  is  an  ideal  person, 
representing  a  whole  class,  of  whom  Saul  was  the  chief  representative. 
The  idiomatic  phrase,  my  enemy  strong ,  maybe  understood  as  simply  mean- 
ing 7ny  strong  enemy ;  but  the  true  construction  seems  to  be  indicated  by 
the  parallehsm.  His  own  weakness  and  the  power  of  his  enemies  is  given 
as  a  reason  for  the  divine  interposition. 

19  (18).  They  will  encounter  me  in  the  day  of  my  calamity  ;  and  Jehovah 
has  been  for  a  stay  to  me.  The  first  clause  seems  to  express  a  behef  that 
his  trials  from  this  quarter  are  not  ended,  while  the  other  apppeals  to  past 
dehverances  as  a  ground  of  confidence  that  God  will  still  sustain  him.  Most 
interpreters,  however,  make  the  future  and  preterite  forms  of  this  verse 
perfectly  equivalent.  "  They  encountered  me  in  the  day  of  my  calamity, 
and  the  Lord  was  for  a  stay  to  me."  As  to  the  meaning  of  the  first 
verb,  see  above,  on  ver.  6  (5).  It  is  not  improbable  that  David  here 
alludes  to  his  sufierings  in  early  hfe  when  fleeing  before  Saul;  see  above 
on  ver.  3  (2). 

o20  (19).  Andbrought  me  out  into  the  tvide place;  he  will  save  me  because 
he.  delights  in  me.  The  construction  is  continued  from  the  foregoing  sen- 
tence. As  confinement  or  pressure  is  a  common  figure  for  distress,  so  reUef 
from  it  is  often  represented  as  enlargement,  or  as  coming  forth  into  an  open 
space.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  2  (1).  Here,  as  in  the  preceding  verse,  most 
interpreters  make  no  distinction  between  preterite  and  future.     The  mean- 


88  Psalm  18:20  -  24 

ing  may,  however,  be  that  he  expects  the  same  deliverance  hereafter  which 
he  has  experienced  aheady. 

21  (20).  Jehovah  will  treat  me  according  to  my  righteousness ;  according 
to  the  cleanness  of  my  hands  ivill  he  repay  me.  The  future  verbs  have 
reference  to  the  condition  of  the  Psalmist  under  his  afflictions,  and  the 
hopes  which  even  then  he  was  enabled  to  cherish.  At  the  same  time  they 
make  this  the  announcement  of  a  general  and  perpetual  truth,  a  law  by 
which  God's  dispensations  are  to  be  controlled  for  ever.  The  hands  are 
mentioned  as  organs  or  instruments  of  action.  Compare  Isa.  i.  15,  Job 
ix.  30,  xxii.  30.  The  righteousness  here  claimed  is  not  an  absolute  perfec- 
tion or  entire  exemption  from  all  sinful  infirmity,  but  what  Paul  calls  sub- 
mission to  the  righteousness  of  God  (Rom.  x.  3),  including  faith  in  his 
mercy  and  a  sincere  governing  desire  to  do  his  will.  This  is  a  higher  and 
more  comprehensive  sense  than  innocence  of  some  particular  charge,  or  in- 
nocence in  reference  to  man,  though  not  in  reference  to  God. 

22  (21).  For  I  have  kept  the  ivays  of  Jehovah,  and  have  not  apostatised 
from  my  God.  The  Lord's  ways  are  the  ways  which  he  marks  out  for  us 
to  walk  in,  the  ways  of  duty  and  of  safety.  To  keep  them  is  to  keep  one's 
self  in  them,  to  observe  them  so  as  to  adhere  to  them  and  follow  them.  The 
last  clause  strictly  means,  I  have  not  been  wicked  (or  guilty)  from  my  God; 
a  combination  of  the  verb  and  proposition  which  shews  clearly  that  the 
essential  idea  in  the  writer's  mind  was  that  of  apostasy  or  total  abjuration 
of  God's  service.  Itsis  of  this  mortal  sin,  and  not  of  all  particular  trans- 
gressions, that  the  Psalmist  here  professes  himself  innocent. 

23  (22).  For  all  his  judgments  {are)  before  me,  and  his  statutes  I  will  not 
put  from  me.  Judicial  decisions  and  permanent  enactments  are  here  used 
as  equivalent  expressions  for  all  God's  requisitions.  To  have  these  before 
one  is  to  observe  them,  and  the  opposite  of  putting  them  away  or  out  of 
siffht.  The  terms  of  this  profession  have  been  evidently  chosen  in  allusion 
to  such  dicta  of  the  law  itself  as  Deut.  v.  29,  xvii.  11.  From  the  past  tense 
of  the  foregoing  verse  he  here  insensibly  slides  into  the  present  and  the  future, 
so  as  to  make  his  profession  of  sincerity  include  his  former  Hfe,  his  actual 
dispositions,  and  his  settled  purpose  for  all  time  to  come. 

24  (23).  And  I  have  been  perfect  with  him,  and  have  kept  myself  from 
my  iniquity.  He  not  only  will  be  faithful,  but  he  has  been  so  aheady,  in 
the  sense  before  explained.  There  is  evident  reference  in  the  first  clause 
to  the  requisition  of  the  Law,  "  thou  shalt  be  perfect  with  the  Lord  thy 
God,"  Deut.  xviii.  13.  (Compare  Gen.  xvii.  1.)  With  means  not  merely 
in  his  presence,  or  his  sight,  as  distinguished  from  men's  estimate  of  moral 
objects,  but  "in  my  intercourse  and  dealing  with  him."  Compare  1  Kings  xi.  4, 
and  the  description  of  David  in  1  Kings  xiv.  8,  xv.  5.  In  the  last  clause  some 
see  an  allusion  to  David's  adventure  in  the  cave,  when  his  conscience  smote 
him  for  meditating  violence  against  Saul.  See  1  Sam.  xxiv.  6,  and  compare 
1  Sam.  xxvi.  23,  24.  But  whether  this  be  so  or  not,  the  clause  undoubtedly 
contains  a  confession  of  corruption.  3Iy  iniquity  can  only  mean  that  to 
which  I  am  naturally  prone  and  subject.  We  have  here,  then,  a  further 
proof  that  the  perfection  claimed  in  the  first  clause  is  not  an  absolute 
immunity  from  sin,  but  an  upright  purpose  and  desire  to  serve  God. 

25  (24).  And  Jehovah  has  requited  me  according  to  my  righteousness, 
according  to  the  cleanness  of  my  hands  before  his  eyes.  This  verse  shews 
clearly  that  the  futures  in  ver.  21  (20)  must  be  strictly  understood.  What 
he  there  represents  himself  as  confidently  hoping,  he  here  professes  to 
have  really  experienced.     In  the  intervening  verses  he  shews  how  he  had 


Psalm  18:25 -28  89 

done  his  part,  and  now  acknowledges  that  God  had  faithfully  performed 
his  own. 

26,  27  (25,  26).  With  the  gracious  thou  wilt  shew  thyself  gracious  ;  with 
the  perfect  man  thou  wilt  shew  thyself  perfect ;  with  the  purified  thou  wilt  shew 
thyself  pure  ;  and  with  the  crooked  thou  wilt  shew  thyself  perverse.  What  he 
had  previously  mentioned  as  the  method  of  God's  dealings  towards  him- 
self, he  now  describes  as  a  general  law  of  the  divine  administration.  The 
essential  idea  is  that  God  is,  in  a  certain  sense,  to  men  precisely  what  they 
are  to  him.  The  particular  qualities  specified  are  only  given  as  examples, 
and  might  have  been  exchanged  for  others  without  altering  the  general  sense. 
The  form  of  expression  is  extremely  strong  and  bold,  but  scarcely  Uable  to 
misapprehension,  even  in  ver.  27  (26).  No  one  is  in  danger  of  imagining 
that  God  can  act  perversely  even  to  the  most  perverse.  But  the  same 
course  of  proceeding  which  would  be  perverse  in  itself  or  towards  a  righteous 
person,  when  pursued  towards  a  sinner  becomes  a  mere  act  of  vindicatory 
justice.  In  the  first  clause  of  ver.  26  (25),  the  ambiguous  word  gracious 
has  been  chosen  to  represent  the  similar  term  *T*DrT,  for  the  comprehensive 

use  of  which  we  see  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  4  (3),  xii.  2  (1).  Perfect  has  the 
same  sense  as  in  ver.  23  (22),  namely,  that  of  freedom  from  hypocrisy  and 
maUce.  The  verbs  are  all  of  the  reflexive  form  and  might  be  rendered, 
thou  wilt  make  thyself  gracious,  thou  wilt  act  the  gracious,  or  simply  thou  wilt 
be  gracious,  &c.,  but  the  common  version  approaches  nearest  to  the  force  of 
the  original  expression.  The  first  verb  of  ver.  27  (26)  occurs  once  else- 
where (Dan.  lii.  10),  the  rest  only  here.  The  forms  may  have  been  coined 
for  the  occasion,  to  express  the  bold  conception  of  the  writer.  The  resem- 
blance of  the  last  clause  of  ver.  27  (26)  to  Lev.  xxvi.  23,  24,  makes  it  highly 
probable  that  the  whole  form  of  this  singular  dictum  was  suggested  by  that 
passage,  the  rather  as  this  Psalm  abounds  in  allusions  to  the  Pentateuch 
and  imitations  of  it. 

28  (27).  For  thou  wilt  save  the  afflicted  people,  and  lofty  eyes  thou  wilt 
hnng  doicn.  Another  general  description  of  God's  dealings  with  mankind, 
repeated  more  than  once  in  the  New  Testament.  See  Mat.  xxiii.  12,  Luke 
xiv.  11,  xviii.  14.  High  looks  or  lofty  eyes  is  a  common  Old  Testament 
expression  for  pride  and  haughtiness.  See  below,  on  Ps.  ci.  5,  cxxxi.  1, 
and  compare  Prov.  xxi.  4,  xxx,  13,  Isa.  x.  12,  xxxvii.  23.  The  afflicted 
pebple  means  the  people  of  God  when  in  affliction,  or  considered  as  sufferers. 
Thou  is  emphatic :  "  however  men  may  despise  and  maltreat  thy  afflicted 
people,  I  know  that  thou  wilt  save  them." 

29  (28).  For  thou  wilt  light  my  lamp  ;  Jehovah,  my  God,  will  illuminate 
my  darkness.  Having  ascended  from  particulars  to  generals,  he  now  reverses 
the  process.  On  his  own  experience,  as  described  in  ver.  4—25  (3-24),  he 
had  founded  a  general  declaration  of  God's  mode  of  dealing  with  men, 
which  statement  he  proceeds  now  to  illustrate  by  recurring  to  his  own 
experience.  Li  this  second  part  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  he  has 
reference  to  the  other  cases  of  deliverance  in  his  history,  besides  those  from 
Saul's  persecutions  which  had  furnished  the  theme  of  his  thanksgiving  in  the 
first  part  of  the  psalm.  Li  accordance  with  this  difference  of  subject,  it 
has  been  observed  that  in  this  second  part  he  appears  more  active,  and 
not  merely  as  an  object  but  an  instrument  of  God's  delivering  mercy.  As 
to  the  form  of  expression  in  this  part,  it  has  been  detennined  by  the  writer's 
assuming  his  position  at  the  close  of  the  Sauline  persecution,  and  describing 
his  subsequent  deUverances  as  still  prospective.     This  was  the  more  con- 


90  Psalm  18:29  -  32 

venient,  as  he  "wished  to  express  a  confident  assurance  of  God's  goodness, 
not  only  to  himself  individually  but  to  his  posterity.  A  lamp  or  candle  in 
the  house  is  a  common  Hebrew  figure  for  prosperity,  and  its  extinction  for 
distress.  See  Job  xviii.  5,  6,  xxi.  17,  Prov.  xxiv.  20.  The  first  clause 
may  also  be  translated,  thou  wilt  make  my  light  shine.  The  verb  in  the 
parallel  clause  is  fi-om  another  root,  and  there  is  consequently  no  such 
assonance  as  in  the  English  version  {light,  enlighten).  The  pronoun  in  the 
first  clause  is  again  emphatic.  "  Whatever  I  may  sufier  at  the  hands  of 
others,  thou  at  least  wilt  hght  my  candle."  The  emphasis  is  sustained  in 
the  last  clause  by  a  sudden  change  of  person  and  introduction  of  the  divine 
name. 

80  (29).  For  in  thee  I  shall  run  (through  or  over)  a  troop,  and  in  my 
God  I  shall  leap  a  wall.  From  his  ideal  post  of  observation  he  foresees 
the  mihtary  triumphs  which  awaited  him,  and  which  were  actually  past  at 
the  time  of  composition.  The /or,  as  in  the  two  preceding  verses,  connects 
the  illustration  with  the  general  proposition  in  ver.  27-29  (26-28).  "  This 
is  certainly  God's  mode  of  dealing,/or  I  know  that  he  will  deal  thus  with  me." 
In  thee,  and  in  my  God,  i.  e.  in  intimate  union  with  him  and  possession  of 
him,  a  much  stronger  sense  than  that  of  mere  assistance  {hy  thee),  which 
however,  is  included.  See  below,  on  Ps.  xUv.  6  (5). — The  ellipsis  of  the 
prepositioji,  with  which  the  verbs  are  usually  construed,  belongs  to  the 
licence  of  poetical  style.  Even  in  prose,  however,  we  can  say,  to  walk  the 
streets,  to  leap  a  wall.  To  run  a  troop  may  either  mean  to  run  against  or 
through  it ;  the  phrase  may  therefore  be  completed  so  as  to  have  either  an 
offensive  or  defensive  sense.  In  like  manner,  leaping  a  wall  may  either 
mean  escaping  from  an  enemy  or  storming  his  defences.  Most  interpreters 
prefer  the  stronger  meaning  of  attack,  which  is  certainly  entitled  to  the 
preference,  unless  the  writer  be  supposed  to  have  selected  his  expressions 
with  a  view  to  the  suggestion  of  both  these  ideas,  which  together  compre- 
hend all  possible  varieties  of  success  in  war.  As  if  he  had  said,  *'  Weak 
though  I  be  in  myself,  I  am  sure  that  in  conjunction  with  thee,  neither 
armies  nor  fortifications  shall  be  able  to  subdue  or  even  to  resist  me."  With 
David's  tone  of  triumphant  confidence  in  this  verse,  compare  Paul's  in 
2  Cor.  ii.  14,  and  Philip,  iv.  13. 

31  (30).  The  Almighty — perfect  is  his  way — the  word  of  Jehovah  is  tried 
— a  shield  (is)  he  to  all  those  trusting  in  him.  The  first  clause  seems  to  be 
an  amphfication  of  my  God  in  the  preceding  verse.  In  my  God,  the  Mighty 
(God),  whose  way  is  perfect,  i.  e.  his  mode  of  dealing,  as  before  described,  is 
free  from  all  taint  of  injustice.  This  explanation  suggests  a  further  descrip- 
tion of  Jehovah  as  a  sure  protector.  His  word  here  means  especially  his 
promise,  perhaps  with  specific  allusion  to  the  seventh  chapter  of  2  Samuel. 
Tried,  as  metals  are  tried  by  fire,  and  thus  proved  to  be  genuine  ;  see 
above,  on  Ps.  xii.  7  (6).  A  shield ;  see  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  4  (3).  Trusting 
in  him;  see  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  12. 

82  (31).  For  xoho  is  God  save  Jehovah?  And  who  is  a  rock  besides  our 
God?  The /or  shews  that  this  verse  gives  the  ground  of  the  strong  assur- 
ances contained  in  that  before  it.  "I  affirm  all  this  because  I  recognise 
Jehovah  as  the  only  true  God."  Bock  has  the  same  sense  as  in  ver.  3  (2). 
The  whole  verse  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  2  Sam.  vii.  22. 

33  (82).  The  Almighty  girding  me  with  strength,  and  (tvho)  has  given 
(or  rendered)  my  way  perfect.  The  connection  of  the  verses  is  the  same  as 
that  between  ver.  31  (80)  and  82  (81).  The  our  God  of  the  preceding 
verse  is  here  described  as  the  Almighty  girding  me,  &c.     For  the  true 


Psalm  18:33  -  37  91 

sense  of  the  divine  name  here  and  in  ver.  32  (31),  see  above,  on  Ps.  v. 
5  (4).  vii.  12,  (11),  X.  11,  12,  xvi.  1,  xvii,  6.  The  imparting  of  a  quality 
or  bestowing  of  a  gift  is  in  various  languages  described  as  clothing.  Thus 
the  English  words  endue  and  invest  have  almost  lost  their  original  mean- 
ing. The  figure  of  girding  is  peculiarly  significant,  because  in  the  oriental 
dress  the  girdle  is  essential  to  all  free  and  active  motion.  Compare  Ps. 
Ixv.  13  (12),  as  translated  in  the  margin  of  the  English  Bible,  and  Isa.  xi.  5. 
The  last  clause  may  either  mean,  "  who  is  faultless  in  the  way  by 
which  he  leads  me,"  i.  e.  whose  dispensations  towards  me  are  free  from  all 
injustice  ;  or,  "  who  gives  my  conduct  the  perfection  which  belongs  to  it." 
The  first  construction  gives  the  words  the  same  sense  as  in  ver.  31  (30), 
but  the  other  is  by  far  the  simplest  and  most  natural,  and  as  such 
entitled  to  the  preference. 

34  (33).  31aking  my  feet  like  hinds,  and  on  my  heights  he  makes  me  stand. 
The  first  word  properly  means  equalling,  assimilating,  the  idea  of  resem- 
blance being  expressed  in  Hebrew  both  by  the  verb  and  by  the  particle  of 
comparison.  The  female  animal  is  supposed  by  some  to  be  mentioned 
because  it  was  regarded  as  more  fleet,  and  accordingly  we  find  it  used  in 
the  Egyptian  hieroglyphics  as  a  symbol  of  swiftness.  The  name,  however, 
may  be  used  generally,  as  in  English  we  apply  either  the  masculine  or 
feminine  pronoun  to  some  whole  species.  3Iy  heights,  those  which  are  to 
be  mine  by  right  of  conquest  and  by  divine  gift.  The  heights  may  be 
either  the  natural  highlands  of  the  country  or  the  artificial  heights  of  its 
fortified  places.  It  has  been  disputed  whether  the  swiftness  mentioned  in 
the  first  clause  has  reference  to  attack  or  flight.  Most  probably  both  were 
meant  to  be  included,  as  in  ver.  30  (29)  above.  For  both  reasons  swift- 
ness of  foot  w«,s  prized  in  the  heroic  age,  as  appears  from  Homer's  standing 
description  of  Achilles.     See  2  Sam.  ii.  18,  1  Chron.  xii.  8. 

35  (34).  Teaching  my  hands  to  war,  and  my  arms  have  bent  a  bow  of 
brass.  The  construction  is  continued  from  the  preceding  verse,  all  the 
participles  having  reference  to  the  name  of  God  in  ver.  33  (32).  The  last 
clause  is  a  strong  expression  for  extraordinary  strength,  which  is  mentioned 
merely  as  a  heroic  quality.  The  translation  broken  rests  on  what  is  now 
regarded  as  a  false  etymology.  Brass  was  used  before  iron  in  Egypt  and 
other  ancient  countries  as  a  material  for  arms. 

36  (35).  And  hast  given  me  a  shield,  thy  salvation;  and  thy  right  hand 
is  to  hold  me  up,  and  thy  condescension  is  to  make  me  great.  In  the  first 
clause  we  may  also  read  the  shield  of  thy  salvation,  or  thy  shield  of  salva- 
tion, i.  e.  thy  saving  shield,  without  material  variation  of  the  sense.  The 
futures  have  reference  to  the  point  from  which  he  is  surveying  things  past 
as  still  future.  The  noun  in  the  last  clause  means  humility,  as  an  attribute 
of  human  character  (Prov.  xv.  33),  but  when  applied  to  God,  benignant 
self-abasement,  condescending  kindness  to  inferiors.  Compare  Ps.  viii.  5 
(4),  Isai.  Ixvi.  1,  2. 

37  (36).  Thou  wilt  enlarge  my  steps  under  me,  and  my  ankles  shall  not 
swerve.  To  enlarge  the  steps  is  to  afford  ample  room  for  walking  freely 
without  hindrance.  The  opposite  figure  is  that  of  confined  steps.  See 
Prov.  iv.  12,  Job  xviii.  7.  The  meaning  of  the  whole  verse  is,  thou  wilt 
guide  me  safely. 

38  (37).  /  am  to  pursue  my  enemies  and  overtake  them,  and  not  to  turn 
back  until  I  destroy  them.  This  is  not  a  threat  of  vengeance,  but  a  confi- 
dent anticipation  of  perpetual  triumphs,  either  in  his  own  person  or  in  that 
of  his  descendants.     The  form  of  expression  in  the  first  clause  is  borrowed 


92  Psalm  18:38  -  45 

from  the  Song  of  Moses,  Exod.  xv.  9.  See  above  on  Ps.  vii.  6  (5),  where 
the  same  two  verbs  are  combined.  The  reference  of  all  these  future  forms 
to  past  time  would  be  not  only  gratuitous  but  ungrammatical. 

39  (38).  /  shall  smite  them  and  they  cannot  rise,  they  shall  fall  beneath 
my  feet.  This  simply  carries  out  the  idea  of  successful  pursuit  in  the  pre- 
ceding verse. 

40  (39).  And  thou  hast  girded  me  with  strength  for  the  war  (or  battle), 
thou  wilt  bow  down  my  assailants  tinder  me.  He  returns  to  God  as  the 
author  of  his  triumphs  and  successes.  The  first  clause  blends  the  ideas 
expressed  in  the  corresponding  clauses  of  ver.  33,  36  (32,  35). — My 
assailants,  literally,  my  insurgents,  those  rising  up  against  me.  See  ver. 
49  below,  and  compare  Ps.  xliv.  6  (5),  lix.  2  (1),  Job  xxvii.  7.  Here 
again  the  spirit  of  the  Psalmist  is  not  that  of  an  ambitious  conqueror,  but 
of  a  willing  instrument  in  God's  hand,  to  be  used  for  the  promotion  of  his 
sovereign  purpose. 

41  (40).  And  my  enemies — thou  hast  given  to  me  the  back — and  my 
haters — /  will  destroy  them.  Each  clause  begins  with  an  absolute  nomina- 
tive which  might  be  rendered,  as  to  my  enemies,  as  to  my  haters.  The 
remainder  of  the  first  clause  is  highly  idiomatic  in  its  form,  and  scarcely 
admits  of  an  exact  translation.  The  word  translated  back  properly  means 
the  back  of  the  neck,  but  is  frequently  used  in  such  connections.  The 
meaning  of  the  whole  phrase  is,  thou  hast  given  me  their  back,  i.  e.  made 
them  to  turn  it  towards  me  by  putting  them  to  flight.  This  is  also  a 
Mosaic  form  of  speech.  See  Exod.  xxiii.  27,  and  compare  Josh.  vii.  8, 
2  Chron.  xxix.  6.  Ps.  xxi.  13  (12). 

42  (41),  They  shall  call  for  help,  and  there  is  no  deliverer — upon  Jehovah, 
and  he  hears  them  not.  Because  they  have  no  covenant  relation  to  him,  as 
the  Psalmist  had.  Their  calling  on  J6hovah  does  not  exclude  all  reference 
to  heathen  foes,  as  appears  from  Jonah  i.  14. — Bear,  in  the  pregnant  sense 
of  hearing  favourably,  granting,  answering  a  prayer.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
iii.  5  (4). 

43  (42).  And  I  shall  beat  them  small  as  dust  before  the  wind,  as  dirt  in 
the  streets  I  will  pour  them  out.  The  comparisons  in  this  verse  are  intended 
to  express  the  Psalmist's  superiority  to  his  enemies,  his  consequent  con- 
tempt for  them,  and  the  facility  with  which  he  will  destroy  them.  Similar 
images  are  not  unfrequent  in  the  Old  Testament.  See  for  example  Isa.  x.  6, 
Zeph.  i.  17.  Zech.  x.  5. 

44  (43).  Thou  wilt  save  me  from  the  strifes  of  the  people  ;  thou  wilt  place 
me  at  the  head  {or  for  a  chief)  of  nations  ;  a  people  I  have  not  knovm  shall 
serve  me.  He  was  not  only  to  be  freed  from  the  internal  strifes  of  his  own 
people,  but  by  that  deliverance  enabled  to  subdue  other  nations.  The 
closing  words  of  the  psalm,  and  its  obvious  connection  with  the  promises  in 
2  Sam.  vii.,  shew  that  this  anticipation  was  not  limited  to  David's  personal 
triumphs,  either  at  home  or  abroad,  but  meant  to  comprehend  the  victories 
of  his  successors,  and  especially  of  him  in  whom  the  royal  line  was  at  once 
to  end  and  be  perpetuated.  It  may,  therefore,  be  affirmed  with  truth  that 
this  prediction  had  its  complete  fulfilment  only  in  Christ. 

45,  46  (44,  45).  At  the  hearing  of  the  ear  they  will  obey  me,  the  sons  of 
ouiland  unll  lie  to  me;  the  sons  of  outland  will  decay,  and  tremble  out  of 
their  enclosures.  The  meaning  of  the  first  words  of  this  verse  is  clear  from 
Job  xlii.  5,  where  the  hearing  of  the  ear  is  put  in  opposition  to  the  sight  of 
the  eye,  report  or  hearsay  to  personal  and  ocular  insp'ection.  The  verb 
translated  mil  obey,  whenever  it  occurs  elsewhere,  is  a  simple  passive  of  the 


Psalm  18:46  93 

verb  to  hear,  and  accordingly  some  render  it  here,  they  who  have  only  been 
heard  of  by  the  hearing  of  the  ear,  i.  e.  those  whom  I  have  only  heard  of, 
but  have  never  seen,  will  feign  obedience.  But  as  the  corresponding  form 
of  the  verb  to  lie  {Mi}ny)  is  used  by  Moses  actively  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  29,  to 

which  place  there  is  an  obvious  allusion  here,  the  first  translation  above 
given  is  entitled  to  the  preference,  and  the  sense  is,  that  as  soon  as  foreign 
nations  hear  of  him  they  will  lie  to  him,  i.  e.  yield  a  feigned  obedience 
through  the  influence  of  fear,  in  which  sense  another  form  of  the  same  verb 
is  used,  not  only  in  the  passage  of  the  Pentateuch  just  cited,  but  in  Ps. 
kvi.  3,  Ixxxi.  16  (15). — The  old  word  outland,  which  may  still  be  traced  in 
its  derivative  adjective  outlandish,  has  been  here  employed  to  represent  a 
Hebrew  word  for  which  we  have  no  equivalent  in  modem  EngHsh,  and 
which  means  foreign  parts  indefinitely  or  collectively.  The  marginal  version 
in  the  English  Bible  {sons  of  the  stranger)  is  only  an  inexact  approximation 
to  the  form  of  the  original.  The  verb  decay,  which  properly  denotes  the 
withering  of  plants  (see  above,  Ps.  i.  3),  is  appHed  to  the  wasting  of  the 
human  subject,  and  indeed  of  whole  communities,  in  Exod.  xviii.  18.  To 
tremble  from,  or  out  of,  is  a  pregnant  phrase,  involving  the  idea  of  a  verb  of 
motion,  and  meaning  to  come  forth  with  fear.  The  same  form  of  expres- 
sion may  be  found  in  Micah  vii.  17,  and  analogous  ones  in  1  Sam.  xvi.  4, 
Hosea  xi.  11. — Their  enclosures,  their  retreats  or  refuges,  perhaps  with 
special  reference  to  military  enclosures,  such  as  fortresses  and  camps. 

47  (46).  Jehovah  lives,  and  blessed  be  my  rock,  and  high  shall  be  the  God 
of  my  salvation.     The  first  phrase,  {DSTV  ^n)  which  is  elsewhere  always 

used  as  a  formula  of  swearing  {as  the  Lord  liveth,  i.  e.  as  certainly  as  God 
exists),  is  by  some  interpreters  confounded  with  a  kindred  phrase  {T}'' 
TiVdH)  vive  le  roi,  {long)  live  the  king,  and  regarded  as  a  kind  of  acclama- 
tion, similar  to  those  which  were  uttered  at  the  coronation  of  the  Jewish  kings 
(1  Sam.  X.  24,  1  Kings  i.  25,  39,  2  Kings  xi.  12).  But  besides  the  difl'er- 
enee  of  form  in  Hebrew,  such  a  wish  is  inappropriate  to  any  but  a  mortal. 
There  may,  however,  be  an  intentional  allusion  to  the  custom  in  question, 
as  well  as  to  the  practice  of  swearing  by  the  Ufe  of  Jehovah,  both  of  which 
would  naturally  be  suggested  to  a  Hebrew  reader.  Jehovah  is  described  as 
the  living  God,  in  contrast  to  dead  idols,  or  imaginary  deities,  which,  as 
Paul  says  (1  Cor.  viii.  4),  are  nothing  in  the  world.  Blessed  be  my  rock, 
the  foundation  of  my  hope,  my  refuge  and  protector  ;  see  above,  on  ver.  3 
(2).  The  word  translated  blessed  does  not  mean  happy,  but  praised,  and 
may  here  have  the  peculiar  sense  of  worthy  to  be  praised,  like  pvllD  in  ver. 
4  (3)  above.  It  may  be  rendered  as  an  affirmation  :  My  rock  (is)  worthy 
to  be  praised.  Or  it  may  be  taken  as  a  wish  :  Praised  (be)  my  rock,  to 
which  there  is  the  less  objection,  as  the  preceding  proposition  is,  in  fact 
though  not  in  form,  a  doxology,  i.  e.  a  declaration  of  what  God  is  in  him- 
self, and  of  that  to  which  he  is  in  consequence  entitled.  The  third  phrase, 
he  shall  be  high,  may  be  imderstood  to  mean,  not  only  he  shall  still  be 
glorious,  but  he  shall  be  magnified  as  such,  exalted  by  the  praises  of  his 
creatures.  The  God  of  my  salvation,  or,  my  God  of  salvation,  does  not 
merely  mean  the  God  who  saves  me,  but  my  God  who  is  a  Saviour,  of  whom 
this  is  one  essential  character.  Compare  Luke  i.  47.  This  epithet  is 
common  in  the  Psalms,  and  occurs  once  or  twice  in  the  Prophets.  Isa. 
xvii.  10,  Mic.  vii.  7,  Hab.  iii.  18. 


94  Psalm  18:47  -  50 

48  (47).  The  Mighty  [God)  who  gives  revenges  to  me  and  has  subdued 
nations  under  me.  The  construction  is  the  same  as  in  ver.  31,  33  (30,  32) 
above.  This  verse  contains  a  further  description  of  the  God  of  his  salva- 
tion, and  at  the  same  time  justifies  the  affirmations  of  the  preceding  verse. 
What  the  Psahnist  here  rejoices  in  is  not  vengeance  wreaked  upon  his  per- 
sonal enemies,  but  punishment  inflicted  on  the  enemies  of  God  through 
himself  as  a  mere  instrument.  Not  to  rejoice  in  this  would  have  proved 
him  unworthy  of  his  high  vocation.  With  the  last  clause  compare  Ps.  xlvii. 
4  (3),  cxliv.  2. 

49  (48).  Saving  me  from  my  enemies ;  yea,  from  my  assailants  (or  insur- 
gents) thou  uilt  raise  me  high;  from  the  man  of  violence  thou  wilt  deliver  me. 
Here  again  the  construction  changes  from  the  participle  to  the  finite  verb, 
but  with  a  further  change  to  the  second  person,  which  adds  greatly  to  the 
life  and  energy  of  the  expression.  The  yea  may  be  taken  as  a  simple  c6pu- 
lative,  and  assailants  as  a  mere  equivalent  to  enemies.  Some  prefer,  how- 
ever, to  assume  a  chmax,  and  to  understand  the  verse  as  meaning  that  he 
had  not  only  been  deKvered  from  external  foes,  but  from  the  more  danger- 
ous assaults  of* domestic  treason  or  rebellion.  There  would  then  seem  to 
be  an  aUusion  to  Absalom's  conspiracy.  Thou  uilt  raise  me,  set  me  up  on 
high,  beyond  the  reach  of  all  my  enemies.  For  a  similar  expression  see 
below,  Ps.  Ux.  2  (1),  as  translated  in  the  margin  of  the  English  Bible. 
The  man  of  violence  has,  no  doubt,  reference  to  Saul,  but  only  as  the  type  of 
a  whole  class.     Compare  Ps.  cxl.  2,  5  (1,  4). 

50  (49).  Therefore  I  uill  thank  thee  among  the  nations,  O  Jehovah,  and 
to  thy  name  will  sing.  The  first  word  has  reference  not  merely  to  the  fact 
of  his  deliverance  and  promotion,  but  to  the  character  in  which  he  had  ex- 
perienced these  blessings,  and  the  extent  of  the  divine  purpose  in  bestowing 
them.  "  Therefore — because  it  is  God  who  has  done  and  is  to  do  all  this 
for  me,  and  because  it  is  in  execution  of  a  purpose  comprehending  the  whole 
race — I  wiU  not  confine  my  praises  and  thanksgiving  to  my  OAvn  people, 
but  extend  them  to  all  nations."  The  performance  of  this  vow  has  been 
going  on  for  ages,  and  is  still  in  progress  wherever  this  and  other  psalms  of 
David  are  now  sung  or  read.  The  verse  before  us  is  legitimately  used  by 
Paul,  together  with  Deut.  xxxii.  43,  Isa.  xi.  1,  10,  and  Ps.  cxvii.  1,  to 
prove  that,  even  under  the  restrictive  institutions  of  the  old  economy,  God 
was  not  the  God  of  the  Jews  only,  but  of  the  Gentiles  also.  (Rom.  iii.  29, 
XV.  9-12). — The  verb  in  the  first  clause  strictly  means  I  will  confess  or 
acknowledge,  but  is  specially  applied  to  the  acknowledgment  of  gifts  received 
or  benefits  experienced,  and  then  corresponds  almost  exactly  to  our  thank. 
The  corresponding  verb  in  the  last  clause  means  to  praise  by  music.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  vii.  18  (17),  ix.  3,  12  (2,  11). 

51  (50).  Making  great  the  salvations  of  his  King,  and  doing  kindness  to  his 
Anointed,  to  David,  and  to  his  seed  imto  eternity.  We  have  here  ^^nother 
instance  of  the  favourite  construction  which  connects  a  sentence  with  the 
foregoing  context  by  means  of  a  participle  agreeing  with  the  subject  of  a 
previous  sentence;  see  above,  ver.  31  (30),  32  (31),  33  (32),  34  (33),  49 
(48).  Making  great  salvations,  saving  often  and  signally.  The  plural  form 
conveys  the  idea  of  fulness  and  completeness.  As  the  phrase  His  Anointed 
might  have  seemed  to  designate  David  exclusively,  he  shews  its  comprehen- 
sive import  by  expressly  adding  David  and  his  seed,  from  which  it  clearly 
follows  that  the  Messiah  or  Anointed  One  here  mentioned  is  a  complex  or 
ideal  person,  and  that  Jesus  Christ,  far  from  being  excluded,  is,  in  fact,  the 
principal  person  comprehended,  as  the  last  and  greatest  of  the  royal  line  of 


Psalm  19:1  95 

David,  to  whom  the  promises  were  especially  given,  in  whom  alone  they  are 
completely  verified,  and  of  whom  alone  the  last  words  of  this  psalm  could 
be  uttered,  in  their  true  and  strongest  sense,  without  a  falsehood  or  with- 
out absurdity.  In  this  conclusion,  as  in  other  portions  of  the  psalm,  there 
is  a  clear  though  tacit  reference  to  the  promise  in  2  Sam.  vii.  12-16,  25, 
26,  where  several  of  the  very  same  expressions  are  employed.  Compare 
also  Ps.  xx^iii.  8,  Ixxxiv.  10  (9),  and  Ps.  Ixxxix,  passim. 

Another  copy  of  this  psalm  is  found  recorded  near  the  close  of  David's 
history  (2  Sam.  ch.  xxii.),  which  confirms  the  intimation  in  the  title, 
that  it  was  not  composed  in  reference  to  any  particular  occasion,  but  in 
a  general  retrospection  of  the  miseries  of  his  whole  Ufe.  The  two  texts 
often  differ,  both  in  form  and  substance,  which  has  led  some  to  suppose, 
that  one  is  an  erroneous  transcript  of  the  other.  But  this  conclusion  is  for- 
bidden by  the  uniform  consistency  of  each  considered  in  itself,  as  well  as 
by  the  obvious  indications  of  design  in  the  particular  variations,  which  may 
be  best  explained  by  supposing,  that  David  himself,  for  reasons  not  recorded, 
prepared  a  twofold  form  of  this  sublime  composition,  which  is  the  less  im- 
probable, as  there  are  other  unambiguous  traces  of  the  same  process  in  the 
Old  Testament,  and  in  the  writings  of  David  himself.  See  below,  the  expo- 
sition of  Ps.  liii.,  and  compare  that  of  Isaiah,  ch.  xxxvi.-xxxix.  If  this  be  a 
correct  hypothesis,  the  tv/o  forms  of  the  eighteenth  psalm  may  be  treated  as 
distinct  and  independent  compositions  ;  and  it  has  therefore  been  thought 
most  advisable,  both  for  the  purpose  of  saving  room  and  of  avoiding  the  con- 
fusion which  a  parallel  interpretation  might  have  caused,  to  confine  the 
exposition  in  this  volume  to  that  form  of  the  psalm,  which  was  preserved  in  the 
Psalter  for  permanent  use  in  public  worship,  and  which  exhibits  strong 
internal  proofs  of  being  the  original  or  first  conception,  although  both  are 
equally  authentic  and  inspu-ed. 


Psalm  19 

This  psalm  consists  of  three  parts.  The  subject  of  the  first  is  God's 
revelation  of  himself  in  his  material  works,  ver.  2-7  (1-6).  That  of  the 
second  is  the  stUl  more  glorious  revelation  of  himself  in  his  law,  ver.  8—11 
(7-10).  The  third  shews  the  bearing  of  these  truths' upon  the  personal 
character  and  interest  of  the  writer,  and  of  all  who  are  partakers  of  his  faith, 
ver.  12-15  (11-14). 

The  object  of  the  psalm  is  not  to  contrast  the  moral  and  material  revela- 
tions, but  rather  to  identify  their  author  and  their  subject.  The  doctiinal 
Slim  of  the  whole  composition  is,  that  the  same  God  who  reared  the  frame 
of  nature  is  the  giver  of  a  law,  and  that  this  law  is  in  all  respects  worthy  of 
its  author. 

1.  To  the  Chifif  Musician,  a  Psalm  hy  Bavid.  The  form  of  this  inscrip- 
tion is  the  same  as  that  of  Ps.  xiii.  Its  historical  correctness  is  attested  by 
its  position  in  the  Psalter,  its  resemblance  to  Ps.  viii.,  and  its  pecuHar 
style  and  spirit. 

2  (1).  The  heavens  {are)telling  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  worJcqf  his  hands 
(is)  the  firmament  declaring.  The  participles  are  expressive  of  continued 
action.  The  glory  of  God  is  the  sum  of  his  revealed  perfections  (compare 
Ps.  xxiv.  7-10,  xxix.  3,  Rom.  i.  20.  The  expanse  or  firmament  is  used  as 
an  equivalent  to  heaven,  even  in  the  history  of  the  creation,  Gen.  i.  8.     To 


96  Psalm  19:2 -5 

declare  the  work  of  his  hands  is  to  shew  what  he  can  do  and  has  actually 
done.  The  common  version  handy  work  means  nothing  more  than  hand- 
work ;  to  take  handy  as  an  epithet  of  praise  is  a  vulgar  error. 

8  (2).  Day  to  day  shall  pour  out  speech,  and  night  to  night  shall  utter 
knowledge.  Both  verbs  are  peculiar  to  the  poetical  dialect  and  books  of  the 
Old  Testament.  Four  out,  in  a  copious  ever- gushing  stream.  As  the  par- 
ticiples of  ver.  2  (1)  express  constant  action,  so  the  futures  here  imply  con- 
tinuance in  all  time  to  come.  Speech  means  the  declaration  of  God's  glory, 
and  knowledge  the  knowledge  of  the  same  great  object.  The  idea  of  perpe- 
tual testimony  is  conveyed  by  the  figure  of  one  day  and  night  following 
another  as  witnesses  in  unbroken  sucoession. 

4  (3).  There  is  no  speech,  and  there  are  no  words  ;  not  at  all  is  their  voice 
heard.  As  the  first  clause  might  have  seemed  to  contradict  the  first  clause 
of  ver.  3  (2),  the  Psalmist  adds  no  words,  to  shew  that  he  here  uses  speech 
in  the  strict  sense  of  articulate  language. — The  first  word  of  the  last  clause 
is  properly  a  noun,  meaning  cessation  or  defect,  non-entity,  and  here  used  as 
a  more  emphatic  negative,  expressed  in  the  translation  by  the  phrase  not  at 
all. — Their  voice  might  either  be  referred  exclusively  to  the  heaven  and 
firmament  of  ver.  2  (1),  or  extended  to  the  day  and  night  of  ver.  3  (2).  But 
the  first  is  the  true  construction,  as  appears  from  the  next  verse.  The  absence 
of  articulate  language,  far  from  weakening  the  testimony,  makes  it  stronger. 
Even  without  speech  or  words,  the  heavens  testify  of  God  to  all  men.  This 
construction  of  the  sentence  is  much  simpler,  as  well  as  more  exact,  than 
the  ancient  one,  retained  in  the  common  version,  "  there  is  no  speech  nor 
language  where  their  voice  is  not  heard,"  or  that  preferred  by  others,  "  it 
is  not  a  speech  or  language  whose  voice  is  not  heard."  The  true  sense  is 
given  in  the  margin  of  the  English  Bible. 

5  (4.)  In  all  the  earth  has  gone  out  their  line,  and  in  the  end  of  the  tvorld 
{are)  their  words.  For  the  sun  he  has  pitched  a  tent  in  them.  The  word  ren- 
dered line  always  means  a  measuring  line,  and  in  Jer.  xxxi.  39  is  combined 
in  that  sense  with  the  same  verb  as  here.  The  idea  is,  that  their  province 
or  domain  is  co-extensive  with  the  earth,  and  that  they  speak  with  autho- 
rity even  in  its  remotest  parts. — Words  may  also  be  construed  with  the  verb 
of  the  first  clause,  but  it  will  then  be  necessary  to  translate  the  preposition 
to.  The  explanation  of  line  as  meaning  the  string  of  a  musical  instrument, 
and  then  the  sound  which  it  produces,  although  favoured  by  the  ancient 
versions,  is  entirely  at  variance  with  Hebrew  usage.  The  subject  of  the 
verb  in  the  last  clause  is  the  name  of  God  expressed  in  ver.  2  (1)  above. — 
Fitched  a  tent,  pro\'ided  a  dwelling,  or  without  a  figure,  assigned  a  place. 
In  them  must  refer  to  the  heavens  mentioned  in  ver.  2(1),  which  makes  it 
probable  that  all  the  plural  pronouns  in  the  intervening  clauses  have  the 
same  antecedent.  The  sun  is  introduced  in  this  sentence  probably  because 
his  apparent  course  is  a  measure  of  the  wide  domain  described  in  the  first 
clause.  It  must  be  co-extensive  with  the  earth,  because  the  sun  which 
visits  the  whole  earth  has  his  habitation  in  the  sky.  The  boundless  exten- 
sion of  the  heavens  and  their  testimony  is  used  by  Paul  (Rom.  x.  18)  to 
signify  the  general  difiusion  of  the  gospel,  and  the  same  thing  might  have 
taught  the  earlier  Jews  that  their  exclusive  privileges  were  granted  only  for 
a  time,  and  as  a  means  to  a  more  glorious  end. 

6  (5).  And  he  (is)  as  a  bridegroom  coming  out  of  his  chamber;  he  rejoices 
as  a  mighty  man  to  run  a  race.  The  second  simile  has  reference  to  the  sun's 
daily  course,  the  first  to  his  vigorous  and  cheerful  reappearance  after  the 
darkness  of  the  night.     By  a  fine  transition,  the  general  idea  of  a  tent  or 


Psalm  19:6 -8  97 

dwelling  is  here  exchanged  for  the  specific  one  of  a  nuptial  couch  or  cham- 
ber.    Rejoices,  literally  will  rejoice,  for  ever  as  he  now  does. 

7  (6).  From  the  end  of  the  heavens  {is)  his  outgoing,  and  his  circuit  even 
to  the  ends  of  them,  and  there  is  none  (or  nothing)  hidden  from  his  heat. 
What  is  said  in  ver.  5  (4)  of  the  heavens  is  here  said  of  the  sun,  to  wit, 
that  his  domain  is  coextensive  with  the  earth  or  habitable  world.  The 
last  clause  is  added  to  shew  that  it  is  not  an  ineflective  presence,  but  one 
to  be  felt  as  well  as  seen.  The  sun's  heat  is  mentioned,  not  in  contrast 
with  his  light,  but  as  its  inseparable  adjunct. — The  plural  ends  seems  to 
be  added  to  the  singular  in  order  to  exhaust  the  meaning,  or  at  least  to 
strengthen  the  expression.  The  word  translated  circuit  includes  the.  idea 
of  return  to  a  starting-point.  The  Hebrew  preposition  properly  means  up 
to  (or  do^on  to)  their  very  extremity. 

8  (7).  The  law  of  Jehovah  is  perfect,  restoring  the  soul ;  the  testimony  of 
Jehovah  is  sure,  making  wise  the  simple.  The  God,  whose  glory  is  thus 
shewn  forth  by  the  material  creation,  is  the  author  of  a  spiritual  law,  which 
the  Psalmist  now  describes  in  the  next  three  verses,  by  six  characteristic 
names,  six  qualifying  epithets,  and  six  moral  effects  produced  by  it.  In 
the  verse  before  us,  besides  the  usual  term  law,  it  is  called  God's  testimony, 
i.  e.  the  testimony  which  he  bears  for  truth  and  against  iniquity.  It  is 
described  as  perfect,  i.  e.  free  from  all  defect  or  blemish,  and  as  sure,  i.  e. 
definite,  decided,  and  infallible.  Its  two  effects,  mentioned  in  this  verse, 
are,  first,  that  of  restoring  the  soul,  i.  e.  the  life  and  spirits  exhausted  by 
calamity.  See  below,  on  Ps.  xxiii.  3,  and  compare  Kuth.  iv.  15,  Lam.  i. 
11,  16.  The  effect  of  converting  the  soul  would  not  have  been  attributed 
to  the  law  in  this  connection,  where  the  wTiter  is  describing  the  affections 
cherished  towards  the  law  by  men  already  converted,  which  removes  all 
apparent  inconsistency  with  Paul's  representation  of  the  law  as  working 
death,  and  at  the  same  time  the  necessity  of  making  the  law  mean  the 
gospel,  or  in  any  other  way  departing  from  the  obvious  and  usual  import 
of  the  Hebrew  word.  The  other  effect  ascribed  to  the  law  is  that  of  mak- 
ing wise  the  simple,  not  the  foolish,  in  the  strong  sense  in  which  that  term 
is  appUed  to  the  ungodly — see  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  1 — but  those  imperfectly 
enlightened  and  still  needing  spiritual  guidance,  a  description  applicable, 
more  or  less,  to  all  believers.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  while  this  usage  of 
the  Hebrew  word  is  peculiar  to  David,  Solomon  constantly  applies  it  to  the 
culpable  simplicity  of  unconverted  men.  (See  Ps.  cxvi.  6,  cxix.  130,  Prov. 
i.  22,  vii.  7,  ix.  4,  xiv.  15,  &c.) — In  like  manner  Paul  describes  the 
"  sacred  scriptures  "  as  able  to  make  wise  unto  salvation,  2  Tim.  iii.  15. 

9  (8).  The  statutes  of  Jehovah  {are)  right,  rejoicing  the  heart;  the  com- 
mandment of  Jehovah  is  pure,  enlightening  the  eyes.  The  words  translated 
statute  and  commandment  differ  very  slightly  from  each  other,  the  one  ex- 
pressing more  distinctly  the  idea  of  a  charge  or  commission,  the  other  that 
of  a  prescription  or  direction.  There  is  also  no  great  difference  between 
the  epithets  applied  in  this  verse  to  the  law  of  God,  which  is  right,  as  being 
an  exact  expression  of  his  rectitude,  and  pure,  as  being  free  from  all  taint 
of  injustice  or  iniquity.  The  first  effect  described  is  that  of  rejoicing  the 
heart,  to  wit,  the  heart  loving  righteousness,  and  consequently  desirous  of 
knowing  what  is  right  by  knowing  what  is  acceptable  to  God,  and  what 
required  by  him.  Tne  other  effect,  enlightening  the  eyes,  is  understood  by 
some  of  intellectual  illumination  with  respect  to  spiritual  things.  But  it 
is  more  agreeable  to  Hebrew  usage  to  suppose  an  allusion  to  the  dimness  of 
the  eyes  produced  by  extreme  weakness  and  approaching  death,  recovery 


98  Psalm  19:9 -11 

from  which  is  figuratively  represented  as  an  enlightening  of  the  eyes.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xiii.  4  (3),  and  compare  Ps.  xxxiv.  6  (5).  The  figure, 
thus  explained,  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  restoring  the  soul  in  the 
preceding  verse,  the  one  referring  rather  to  the  sense,  and  the  other  to 
the  life  itself. 

10  (9).  The  fear  of  Jehovah  is  clean,  standing  for  ever  ;  the  judgments  of 
Jehovah  are  truth,  they  are  righteous  altogether.  As  the  fear  of  Jehovah,  in 
its  proper  sense,  would  here  be  out  of  place,  and  as  the  law  was  designed  to 
teach  men  how  to  fear  the  Lord  (Deut.  xvii.  19),  the  phrase  may  here 
be  understood  as  a  description  of  the  law  viewed  in  reference  to  this  peculiar 
purpose,  the  fear  of  the  Lord  being  put  for  that  which  leads  or  teaches 
men  to  fear  him,  a  sense  which  the  expression  is  supposed  to  have  in  several 
other  places.     See  Ps.  xxxiv.  12  (11),  Prov.  i.  29,  ii.  5,  xv.  33. — Standing 

for  ever,  of  perpetual  obligation.  Even  Christ  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to 
fulfil.  See  Mat.  v.  17,  18.  With  the  form  of  expression  here  compare 
Ps.  xxxiii.  11,  cxii.  3. — Judgments  are  properly  judicial  decisions,  but 
are  here  put,  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  23  (22),  for  all  God's  requisitions.  They  are 
truth  (itself)  may  be  a  strong  expression,  meaning  they  are  perfectly  and 
absolutely  true ;  but  as  this  would  make  the  last  clause  little  more  tban  a 
tautology,  the  first  phrase  may  be  understood  to  mean  that  they  are  really 
that  which  they  purport  and  claim  to  be,  and  therefore  must  be  righteous 
altogether,  i.e.  all,  without  exception,  righteous,  which  is  tantamount,  in 
fact,  though  not  in  form,  to   wholly  or  completely  righteous. 

11  (10).  [Judgments)  to  be  desired,  more  than  gold,  and  much  fine  gold; 
and  sweeter  than  honey  and  the  dropping  of  the  combs.  The  description  of 
the  law  of  God  is  wound  up  by  comparing  it  to  the  costliest  and  sweetest 
substance  in  common  use.  The  sense  of  the  passive  participle  is  like  that 
in  Ps.  xviii.  4  (3).  Its  plural  form,  and  the  article  prefixed  to  it  in  Hebrew, 
shew  that  it  is  to  be  construed  with  judgments,  and  that  the  sentence 
is  continued  from  the  foregoing  verse,  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  31  (30),  33  (32),  34 
(33),  35  (34),  48  (47),  51  (50).— The  Hebrew  answering  to  fine  gold  is  a 
single  word  (ID),  not  used  in  prose,  and  by  spme  supposed  to  mean  solid 

or  massive  gold,  but  according  to  a  more  probable  etymology  denoting 
purified  or  fine  gold.  The  combination  here  used  is  found  also  in  Ps.  cxix. 
127.  See  also  Prov.  viii,  19,  and  compare  Ps.  xxi.  4  (3),  below.  To 
make  the  resemblance  of  the  clauses  perfect,  the  usual  word  for  honey  is 
followed  by  a  beautiful  periphrasis,  denoting  that  kind  which  was  most 
highly  valued.  The  ideas  expressed  by  both  comparisons  are  those  of 
value  and  delightfulness. — As  the  preceding  verses  describe  what  the  law 
is  in  itself  and  in  its  general  effects,  so  this  seems  to  express  what  it  is  to 
the  Psalmist's  apprehensions  and  afiections,  thus  afibrding  a  transition 
from  the  comprehensive  doctrines  of  the  foregoing  context  to  the  practical 
and  personal  approbation  of  those  doctrines,  which  now  follows  and  con- 
cludes the  psalm. 

12  (11).  Moreover,  thy  servant  is  enlightened  by  them;  in  keeping  them 
there  is  much  reward.  The  verb  in  the  first  clause  is  used  with  special 
reference  to  admonition  and  warning  against  danger.  See  Eccles.  iv.  13, 
Exod.  xxxiii.  4,  5,  6,  Eccles.  xii.  12.  The  plural  suflixes  have  reference  to 
judgments  in  ver.  10  (9)  above. — Reward  is  here  used  not  to  signify  a 
recompence  earned  in  strict  justice,  but  a  gratuity  bestowed.  The  spirit  of 
the  passage  is  the  same  as  in  1  Cor.  xv.  19,   1  Tim.  iv.  8.     The  phrase 


Psalm  19:12  -  14  99 

thy  servant  brings  the  general  doctrines  of  the  foregoing  context  into 
personal  application  to  the  writer. 

13  (12).  Errors  who  shall  understand?  Clear  thou  me  frovi  hidden 
ones !  The  word  translated  errors  is  akin  to  one  sometimes  used  in  the 
Law  to  denote  sins  of  inadvertence,  error,  or  infirmity,  as  distinguished 
from  deliberate,  wilful,  and  high-handed  sins,  such  as  are  deprecated  in 
^e  next  verse.  See  Lev.  iv.  2-27,  Num.  xv.  27.  Against  such  sins  no 
wisdom  or  vigilance  can  wholly  guard. — The  word  translated  clear  is  also  bor- 
rowed from  the  Law,  and  means  not  so  much  to  cleanse  by  renovation 
of  the  heart,  as  to  acquit  by  a  judicial  sentence.  SeeExod.  xxxiv.  7,  Num. 
xiv.  18.  Such  an  acquittal,  in  the  case  of  sinners  against  God,  involves  the 
idea  of  a  free  forgiveness. 

14  (13).  Also  from  presumptuous  (ones)  withhold  thy  servant ;  then  shall 
I  he  perfect  and  be  clear  from,  much  transgression.  As  he  prays  'for  the 
forgiveness  of  his  inadvertent  sins,  so  he  prays  for  the  prevention  of  deli- 
berate ones.     The  Hebrew  word  (DnTj  properly  denotes  proud  men,  but 

seems  to  be  here  applied  to  sins  by  a  strong  personification.  The  use  of 
the  verbal  root  and  its  derivatives  in  the  Old  Testament  may  be  seen  by  com- 
paring Exod.  xxi.  14,  Deut.  xvii.  12,  xviii.  22,  1  Sam.  xvii.28. — To  be  per- 
fect has  the  same  sense  as  inPs.  x\'iii.  24-26  (23-25).  That  it  does  not 
there  mean  sinless  perfection  is  confirmed  by  the  language  of  the  verse 
before  us. — TJie  great  transgression,  as  if  refemng  to  some  one  particular 
offence,  is  not  the  true  sense  of  the  Hebrew  phrase,  which  is  indefinite  and 
perfectly  analogous  to  that  rendered  much  (or  great)  reward  in  ver.  12  (11) 
above. 

15  (14).  (Then)  shall  he  for  acceptance  (or  acceptable)  the  sayings  of  my 
mouth,  and  the  thought  of  my  heart  before  thee,  Jehovah,  my  rock  and  my 
redeemer.  The  simplest  and  most  obvious  construction  of  the  Hebrew 
sentence  makes  it  a  direct  continuation  of  the  last  clause  of  ver.  14  (13), 
and  like  it  an  anticipation  of  the  happy  effects  to  be  expected  from  an 
answer  to  the  foregoing  prayers.  If  his  sins  of  ignorance  could  be  for- 
given, and  the  deliberate  sins,  to  which  his  natural  corruption  prompts  him, 
hindered  by  divine  grace,  he  might  hope  not  only  to  avoid  much  guilt  but 
to  be  the  object  of  God's  favour.  As  this  confident  anticipation  really 
involves  a  wish  that  it  may  be  fulfilled,  there  is  little  real  difference  be- 
tween the  construction  above  given  and  the  common  version  :  let  the  words 
of  my  mouth  and  the  meditation  of  my  heart  he  acceptable,  d'C.  It  is  much 
more  natural,  however,  to  connect  the  words  before  thee  with  my  meditation, 
which  immediately  precedes,  than  with  the  first  words  of  the  verse  as  in 
the  English  Bible.  What  I  think  in  thy  presence  is  then  joined  with  the 
words  of  my  mouth,  to  express  all  prayer,  whether  clothed  in  words  or  not. 
See  above,  on  Ps,  v.  2  (1).  The  prayer  or  expectation  of  acceptance  in  this 
clause  derives  pecuHar  beauty  from  the  obvious  allusion  to  the  frequent  use 
of  the  same  Hebrew  phrase  (p^in'?)  in  the  law  of  Moses,  to  denote  the  accept- 
ance of  the  sacrificial  offerings,  or  rather  the  acceptance  of  the  offerer  on 
account  of  them.  See  Exod.  xxviii.  38,  Lev.  xix.  5,  7,  xxii.  19,  20,  29, 
xxiii.  11,  Isa.  Ivi.  7,  Ix.  7,  Rom.  xii.  1.  This  allusion  also  serves  to  sug- 
gest the  idea,  not  conveyed  by  a  translation,  of  atonement,  expiation,  as 
the  ground  of  the  acceptance  which  the  Psalmist  hopes  or  prays  for. 


100  Psalm  20:1 -3 


Psalm  20 

A  PRAYER  for  the  use  of  the  ancient  church  in  time  of  war.  Addressing 
her  visible  head,  she  wishes  him  divine  assistance  and  success,  ver.  2-^ 
(1-5),  and  expresses  a  strong  confidence  that  God  will  answer  her  petition, 
ver.  7-9  (6-8),  which  she  then  repeats  and  sums  up  in  conclusion,  ver.  10  (9). 

There  is  no  trace  of  this  psalm  having  been  composed  with  reference  to 
any  particular  occasion,  its  contents  being  perfectly  appropriate  to  every 
case  in  which  the  chosen  people  under  their  theocratic  head,  engaged  in 
war  against  the  enemies  of  God  and  Israel. 

To  the  Chief  Musician.  Written  for  his  use  and  entrusted  to  him  for 
execution.  As  in  all  other  cases,  this  inscription  shews  the  psalm  to  have 
been  written,  not  for  the  expression  of  mere  personal  feelings,  but  to  be  a 
vehicle  of  pious  sentiment  to  the  collective  body  of  God's  people. — A 
Psalm  ^1/  David.  The  correctness  of  this  statement  is  not  only  free  from 
any  positive  objection,  but  confirmed  by  the  whole  tone  and  style  of  the  per- 
formance, as  well  as  by  its  intimate  connection  with  the  next  psalm.  See 
below,  on  Ps.  xxi.  1. 

2  (1).  Jehovah  hear  thee  in  the  day  of  trouble!  The  name  of  Jacob's  God 
exalt  thee!  The  name  of  God,  the  revelation  of  his  nature  in  his  acts. 
*'  May  those  divine  attributes,  which  have  been  so  often  manifested  in  the 
experience  of  the  chosen  people,  be  exercised  for  thy  protection.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  V.  12  (11). — The  God  of  Jacob,  of  the  patriarch  so  called,  and  of 
his  seed.  See  Mat.  xxii.  32. — Exalt  thee,  raise  thee  beyond  the  reach  of 
danger.     See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  10  (9),  xviii.  3,  49  (2,  48). 

3  (2).  {May  Jehovah)  send  thee  help  from  [his)  sanctuary,  and  from  Zinn 
sustain  thee.  The  mention  of  Zion  and  the  sanctuary  shews  that  Jehovah 
is  appealed  to  as  the  king  of  his  people,  and  as  such  not  only  able  but  bound 
by  covenant  to  afibrd  them  aid.  See  below,  on  ver.  10  (9.)  Sustain  thee, 
hold  thee  up,  the  same  verb  that  is  used  in  Ps.  xviii.  36  (35).  Both  verbs 
may  also  be  translated  as  simple  futures,  will  send,  uill  sustain ;  but  see 
below. 

4  (3).  [May  Jehovah)  remember  all  thy  gifts  and  accept  thy  offering.  Selah. 
The  word  remember  in  the  fiirst  clause  seems  to  involve  an  allusion  to  the 
memorial  (^"^^T^i),  a  name  given  in  the  sacrificial  ritual  to  that  part  of  the 

T  T  ;  — 

vegetable  ofiiering  which  was  burnt  upon  the  altar.  See  Lev.  ii.  2,  vi.  8 
(15). — The  word  translated  gifts,  although  properly  generic,  is  specially 
used  to  denote  the  vegetable  offerings  of  the  law,  while  the  word  translated 
offering  is  the  technical  name  of  the  principal  animal  sacrifice.  They  are 
put  together  to  describe  these  two  species  of  obhgation.  Compare  Ps. 
xl.  7  (6),  Jer.  xvii.  26,  Dan.  ix.  27. — The  verb  translated  accept  means 
elsewhere  to  make  fat  (Ps.  xxiii.  5),  or  to  remove  the  ashes  of  the  altar. 
(Exod.  xxvii.  3,  Num.  iv.  13).  Some  give  it  here  the  sense  of  turning  into 
ashes  or  consuming,  others  that  of  pronouncing  fat,  and  therefore  fit  for 
sacrifice.  In  either  case  acceptance  is  implied.  The  optative  form  of  the 
verb  in  the  original  seems  to  confirm  the  sense  already  put  upon  the  fore- 
going futures.  From  this  verse  it  has  been  inferred,  with  some  probabihty, 
that  the  whole  psalm  was  specially  intended  to  be  used  at  the  sacrifice 
offered  by  the  Israelites  before  a  campaign  or  a  battle.  (See  1  Sam.  xiii. 
9,  10).     To  this  some  add  the  supposition,  that  the  selah,  in  the  verse  be- 


Psalm  20:4  -  6  101 

fore  us,  marks  the  pause  in  the  performance  of  the  psahn,  during  which  the 
sacrifice  was  actually  offered.     See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  8  (2), 

5  (4).  [May  he)  give  thee  according  to  thy  heart,  and  all  thy  counsel  (or 
design)  fulfil.  This  is  not  a  vague  wish  for  success  in  general,  but  a  prayer 
for  success  on  the  particular  occasion  when  the  psalm  was  to  be  used. — 
Thy  heart,  thy  desire.  Thy  counsel,  the  plan  which  thou  hast  formed  and 
undertaken  to  execute  in  God's  name,  and  for  the  protection  or  dehverance 
of  his  people. 

6  (5).  May  we  rejoice  in  thy  deliverance,  and  in  the  name  of  our  God 
diiplay  a  banner !  May  Jehovah  fulfil  all  thy  petitions !  The  phrase  thy 
deliverance  may  mean  that  wrought  or  that  experienced  by  thee.  In  all 
probabiUty  both  ideas  are  included.     In  the  name  of  our  God,  and  therefore 

not  as  a  mere  secular  triumph.  The  second  verb  (73li)  seems  to  be  con- 
nected with  a  noun  (7^"!)  used  by  Moses  to  denote  the  banners  under  which 

the  four  great  divisions  of  the  host  marched  through  the  wilderness  (Num. 
i.  52,  ii.  2,  3,  10,  18,  25,  x.  14).  Hence  the  conjectural  translation, 
"  may  we  set  up  (or  display)  a  banner."  But  as  the  participle  of  the  same 
verb  seems,  in  the  only  other  place  where  it  occurs  (Song  of  Sol.  v.  10), 
to  signify  distinguished  or  exalted,  others  follow  the  Septuagint  and  Vulgate 
in  translating,  may  we  be  lifted  up  or  magnified. — The  last  clause  is  a  com- 
prehensive prayer,  equivalent  in  meaning  to  ver.  5  (4)  above,  and  including 
not  merely  what  had  been  expressly  specified,  but  all  that  the  theocratic 
sovereign  might  desire  or  attempt  in  conformity  with  God's  will,  whether 
known  to  the  whole  body  of  his  followers  or  not.  This  clause  concludes 
the  first  division  of  the  psalm  by  recurring  to  the  theme  with  which  it 
opens,  and  with  which  again  the  whole  psalm  closes.  See  below,  on 
ver.  10  (9). 

7  (6).  Now  1  know  that  Jehovah  has  saved  his  Anointed — he  will  hear  him 
from  his  holy  heavens — with  the  saving  strength  of  his  right  hand.     What 

was  asked  in  the  foregoing  context  is  here  said  to  be  already  granted. 
Hence  some  imagine  that  a  battle  or  other  decisive  event  must  be  supposed 
to  intervene.  But  this,  besides  being  highly  improbable  and  forced  in  so 
brief  a  composition,  is  forbidden  by  the  immediate  recurrence  to  the  future 
form,  he  will  hear.  A  far  more  natural  solution  is,  that  this  verse  expresses 
a  sudden  conviction  or  assurance  that  the  preceding  prayers  are  to  be  an- 
swered. As  if  he  had  said :  * '  Such  are  my  requests,  and  I  know  that  Jehovah 
has  already  granted  them,  so  that  in  his  purpose  and  to  the  eye  of  faith, 
his  Anointed  is  already  safe,  and  has  already  triumphed."  The  change 
to  the  first  person  singular  does  not  indicate  a  different  speaker,  but  merely 
puts  what  follows  into  the  mouth  of  each  individual  beUever,  or  of  the  whole 
body  viewed  as  an  ideal  person. 

The  second  member  of  the  sentence  may  be  best  explained  as  a  paren- 
thesis, leaving  the  third  to  be  construed  directly  with  the  first,  as  in  the 
version  above  given.  In  this  verse  we  have  two  examples  of  a  common 
Hebrew  idiom,  one  of  them  a  very  strong  one.  The  phrase  translated/row 
his  holy  heavens  might  seerq  to  mean  the  heavens  of  his  holiness;  but  the 
true  construction  is  his  heavens  of  holiness,  i.  e.  the  heavens  where  the  Holy 
One  resides,  and  from  which  his  assistance  must  proceed.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  ii.  6,  xi.  4.  The  attribute  of  holiness  is  mentioned  to  exalt  still  further 
the  divine  and  sacred  nature  of  the  warfare  and  the  victory  to  which  the 
psahn  relates.  Another  example  of  the  Hebrew  idiom  before  referred  to  is 
the  saving  strength  of  his  right  hand,  which  Hteraly  rendered  is  the  strengths 


102  Psalm  20:7 -9 

of  the  salvation  of  Jiis  right  hand.  The  plural  strengths  may  either  be  inten- 
sive, or  refer  to  the  various  exertions  of  the  power  here  described.  The 
right  hand  has  the  same  sense  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  36  (35).  Here,  as  in  Ps. 
xviii.  51  (50),  His  Messiah  or  Anointed  One  includes  the  whole  succession 
of  genuine  theocratic  kings,  not  excepting  him  whose  representatives  they 
were,  and  in  whom  the  royal  line  was  at  the  same  time  closed  and  made 
perpetual. 

8  (7).  These  in  chariots  and  these  in  horses,  andtve  in  the  name  of  Jehovah 
our  God,  will  glory.  All  the  objects  are  connected  by  the  same  pre- 
position with  the  same  verb,  namely,  that  at  the  end  of  the  sentence.  In 
order  to  retain  the  preposition,  which  must  otherwise  be  varied,  and  thereby 
obscure  the  structure  of  the  sentence,  the  verb  glory,  which  is  construed 
with  the  preposition  in,  has  been  substituted  for  the  strict  sense  of  the 
verb,  we  ivill  cause  to  he  remembered,  i.  e.  mention  or  commemorate.  See 
Exod.  xxiii.  13,  Amos  vi.  10,  Isa.  xlviii,  1,  Ixiii.  7.  The  insertion  of  the 
verb  trust,  in  the  English  versions  of  the  first  clause,  is  entirely  gratuitous. 
Tiiese  and  these  is  the  Hebrew  idiom  for  some  and  others.  Compare  this  to 
this,  in  Exod.  xiv.  20,  Isa.  vi.  3. — The  verb,  in  the  case  before  us,  may 
have  been  selected  in  allusion  to  the  cognate  form  in  ver.  4  (3)  above. 
*'  As  God  has  remembered  thy  ofierings,  so  we  will  cause  his  name  to  be 
remembered." — Our  God  is  again  emphatic  and  significant,  as  shewing  that 
the  whole  psalm  has  reference  to  the  covenant  relation  between  God  and 
his  people  represented  by  their  theocratic  sovereign.  With  the  contrast 
in  this  verse  compare  1  Sam.  xvii.  45,  Isa.  xxxi.  3,  Ps.  xxxiii.  16,  17. 

9  (8).  They  have  bowed  and  fallen,  and  we  have  risen  and  stood  upright. 
Here,  as  in  ver.  7  (6),  the  past  tense  expresses  the  certainty  of  the  event, 
or  rather  the  confidence  with  which  it  is  expected.  The  emphatic  they  at 
the  beginning  means  the  enemies  and  oppressors  of  God's  people.  We  have 
arisen  seems  to  imply  a  previous  prostration  and  subjection. — The  last  verb 
occurs  only  here  in  this  form,  which  is  properly  reflexive,  and  may  be  ex- 
plained to  mean,  we  have  straightened  owrselves  up. 

10  (9).  Jehovah,  save!  Let  the  King  hear  lis  in  the  day  we  call,  or  still 
more  closely,  in  the  day  of  our  calling.  The  Septuagint  and  Yulgate  make 
the  king  a  part  of  the  first  clause:  "Jehovah,  save  the  king"  {Domine 
salvvcmfac  regem).  But  this  not  only  violates  the  masoretic  accents,  which, 
though  not  ultimately  binding,  are  entitled  to  respect  as  a  traditional 
authority,  but  separates  the  verb  in  the  last  clause  from  its  subject,  so  that 
both  the  ancient  versions  just  referred  to  have  been  under  the  necessity  of 
changing  the  third  into  the  second  person  (hear  us).  The  first  clause  is 
besides  more  expressive  and  emphatic  without  the  king  than  with  it.  No- 
thing could  be  more  pregnant  or  sonorous  than  the  laconic  prayer,  Jehovah, 
save!  The  object  is,  of  course,  to  be  supplied  from  ver  7  (6),  and  from  the 
tenor  of  the  whole  psalm.  The  other  construction,  it  is  true,  enables  us  to 
make  the  King  of  this  verse  the  same  person  with  the  Anointed  of  ver.  7  (6). 
But  far  from  any  disadvantage,  there  is  great  force  and  beauty,  in  referring  the 
expected  blessing  to  the  true  King  of  Israel,  whom  David  and  his  followers 
only  represented.  See  Deut.  xxxiii.  5,  Ps.  jjviii.  3  (2),  Mat.  v.  35. — By 
taking  the  last  verb  as  a  future  proper  {the  King  will  hear  us)  the  psahn  may 
be  made  to  close  with  a  promise,  or  rather  with  a  confident  anticipation  of 
God's  blessing.  Most  interpreters,  however,  prefer  to  make  it  optative, 
and  thus  to  let  the  psalm  conclude  as  it  began,  with  an  expression  of  intense 
desire. 


Psalm21:l-3  103 


Psalm  21 

As  in  the  eighteenth  psalm,  David  publicly  thanks  God  for  the  promises 
contained  in  2  Sam.  vii.,  so  here  he  puts  a  similar  thanksgiving  into  the 
mouth  of  the  church  or  chosen  people.  In  ver.  2-7  (1-6),  the  address  is 
to  Jehovah,  and  the  king  is  spoken  of  in  the  third  person.  In  ver.  8  (7) 
this  form  of  speech  is  used  in  reference  to  both.  In  ver.  9-13  (8-12)  the 
address  is  to  the  king.  In  ver,  14  (13)  it  returns  to  Jehovah.  As  to  the 
substance  or  contents  of  these  successive  parts,  the  first  praises  God  for 
what  he  has  bestowed  upon  the  king,  ver.  2-7  (1-6).  In  the  second,  there 
is  a  transition  to  another  theme,  ver.  8  (7).  The  third  congratulates  the 
king  on  what  he  is  to  do  and  to  enjoy  through  the  divine  mercy,  ver.  9-13 
(8-12).  The  fourth  returns  to  the  point  from  which  the  whole  set  out, 
ver.  14  (13).  The  opinion  that  this  psalm  relates  to  the  fulfilment  of  the 
prayer  in  that  before  it,  seems  to  be  inconsistent  with  its  structure  and 
contents  as  just  described.  They  are  rather  parallel  than  consecutive,  the 
principal  difference  being  this,  that  while  the  twentieth  psalm  relates  to  the 
specific  case  of  assistance  and,  success  in  war,  the  twenty-first  has  reference 
to  the  whole  circle  of  divine  gifts  bestowed  upon  the  Lord's  Anointed. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  A  Psalm  by  David.  The  correctness  of  the 
first  inscription  is  apparent  from  the  structure  of  the  psalm,  throughout 
which  the  speaker  is  the  ancient  church.  The  coiTectness  of  the  other  may 
be  argued  from  the  general  resemblance  of  the  style  to  that  of  the  Davidic 
psalms,  from  numerous  coincidences  of  expression  with  the  same,  and  from 
the  tone  of  lively  hope  which  seems  to  indicate  the  recent  date  of  the  divine 
communication,  especially  when  compared  with  psahns  which  otherwise 
resemble  it,  such  as  the  eighty-ninth.  The  particular  resemblance  between 
this  psalm  and  the  twentieth  makes  them  mutually  testify  to  one  another's 
genuineness  and  authenticiLy. 

2  (1).  Jehovah,  in' thy  strength  shall  the  king  rejoice,  and  in  thy  salvation 
how  shall  he  exidt !  This  verse  commences  the  description  of  God's  favour 
to  the  king  with  a  general  statement,  afterwards  ampUfied  in  ver.  3-7  (2-6), 
Thy  strength,  as  imparted  to  him,  or  as  exercised  in  his  deUverance,  which 
last  agrees  best  with  the  parallel  expression,  thy  salvation,  i.  e.  thy  deUver- 
ance of  him  from  the  evils  which  he  felt  or  feared.  In  thy  strength  and 
salvation,  i.e.  in  the  contemplation  and  experience  of  it.  The  future  verbs 
shew  that  the  gift  has  not  yet  been  consummated,  without  excluding  the 
idea  of  it  as  begun  already. 

3  (2).  The  desire  of  his  heart  thou  hast  given  xinto  him,  and  the  quest  of 
his  lips  hast  not  withholden.  Selah.  The  occasion  of  the  joy  and  exultation 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  verse  is  now  more  particularly  set  forth.  It  is 
easy  to  imagine,  although  not  recorded,  that  the  great  promise  in  the  seventh 
chapter  of  2  Samuel  was  in  answer  to  the  fervent  and  long-continued 
prayers  of  David  for  a  succession  in  his  own  family, — The  word  translated 
quest  occurs  only  here,  but  its  sense  is  determined  by  the  parallehsm  and 
the  Arabic  analogy.  The  combination  of  the  positive  and  negative  expres- 
sions of  the  same  idea  [given  and  not  withholden)  is  a  favourite  Hebrew 
idiom. 

4  (3).  For  thou  wilt  come  before  him  with  blessings  of  goodness,  thou  wilt 
set  upon  his  head  a  crown  of  gold.  This,  as  Luther  observes,  is  an  answer 
to  the  question  what  he  had  desired.     The  for  connects  it  with  the  state- 


104  Psalm21:4-7 

ment  in  the  foregoing  verse,  which  is  here  explained  and  justified.  As  the 
preterites  in  ver.  3  (2)  shew  that  his  request  was  granted  in  the  divine  pur- 
pose, so  the  futures  here  shew  how  it  was  to  be  fulfilled  in  fact.  Come 
before,  come  to  meet  in  a  friendly  manner.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  13, 
xviii.  6  (5),  and  compare  Deut.  xxiii.  5  (4). — Blessings  of  good,  not  blessings 
prompted  by  the  divine  goodness,  but  conferring,  or  consisting  in,  good 
fortune,  happiness.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  2. — The  reference  in  the  last 
clause  is  not  to  David's  literal  coronation  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  nor 
to  the  golden  crown  which  he  took  from  the  Ammonitish  king  of  Kabbah 
(2  Sam.  xii.  30),  but  to  his  ideal  coronation  by  the  granting  of  these  glorious 
favours  to  himself  and  his  successors.  The  divine  communication  in  the 
seventh  of  2  Samuel  seems  to  be  here  viewed,  as  the  only  real  coronation 
of  David  as  a  theocratic  sovereign.  The  last  word  in  the  sentence  is  the 
same  that  was  translated  pure  gold  when  contrasted  with  the  ordinary  word 
for  gold,  Ps.  xix.  11  (10). 

5  (4).  Life  he  asked  of  thee,  thou  hast  given  {it)  to  him.,  length  of  days, 
perpetuitij  and  eternity.  By  disregarding  the  masoretic  interpunction,  the 
construction  may  be  simphfied  without  a  change  of  sense.  *'  Life  he  asked 
of  thee,  thou  hast  given  him  length  of  days,"  &c.  The  last  words  of  the 
verse  are  often  used  adverbially  to  mean  for  ever  and  ever ;  but  as  they  are 
both  nouns,  it  is  best  to  put  them  here  in  apposition  with  the  same  part  of 
speech  which  immediately  precedes.  This  last  clause  shews  that  the  Ufe 
which  David  prayed  for  was  not  personal  longevity,  but  the  indefinite  con- 
tinuation of  his  race,  an  honour  which  was  granted  to  him,  even  beyond 
his  hopes  and  wishes,  in  the  person  of  our  Saviour.  Compare  2  Sam.  vii. 
13,  16.     Ps.  Ixxxix.  5  (4),  cxxxii.  12. 

6  (5).  Great  shall  be  his  majesty  in  thy  salvation ;  glory  and  honour  thou 
wilt  put  upo7i  him.  His  personal  experience  of  God's  saving  grace,  and  his 
connection  with  the  great  scheme  of  salvation  for  mankind,  would  raise  him 
to  a  dignity  far  beyond  that  of  any  other  monarch,  and  completely  justifying 
even  the  most  exalted  terms  used  in  Scripture,  from  the  charge  of  adulation 
or  extravagance. 

7  (6).  For  thou  ivilt  make  him  a  blessing  to  eternity ;  thou  wilt  gladden 
him  with  joy  by  thy  countenance  (or  presence).  He  shall  not  only  be  blessed 
himself,  but  a  blessing  to  others,  the  idea  and  expression  being  both  derived 
from  the  promise  to  Abraham  in  Gen,  xii.  2,  an  allusion  which  serves  also 
to  connect  the  David  ic  with  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  and  thus  to  preserve 
unbroken  the  great  chain  of  Messianic  prophecies.  Make  him  a  blessing, 
literally,  place  him  for  (or  constitute  him)  blessing.  The  plural  form  suggests 
variety  and  fulness,  as  in  Ps.  ^viii.  51  (50),  xx.  7  (6).  By  thy  countenance, 
or  with  thy  face,  i.  e.  by  looking  on  him  graciously,  not  merely  in  thy  pre- 
sence or  before  thee,  as  the  place  of  the  enjoyment,  but  by  the  sight  of  thee, 
as  its  cause  or  source.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  11. 

8  (7).  For  the  king  (is)  trusting  in  Jehovah,  and  in  the  grace  of  the  Most 
High  he  shall  not  be  moved.  The  consummation  of  this  glorious  promise 
was  indeed  far  distant,  but  to  the  eye  of  faith  distinctly  visible.  In  the  grace 
seems  to  mean  something  more  than  through  the  grace  (or  favour)  of  the 
Most  High,  as  the  ground  of  his  assurance,  or  the  source  of  his  security. 
The  words  appear  to  qualify  the  verb  itself,  and  to  denote  that  he  shall  not 
be  shaken  from  his  present  standing  in  God's  favour.  The  use  of  the  third 
person  in  this  verse,  with  reference  both  to  God  and  the  king,  makes  it  a 
kind  of  connecting  link  between  the  direct  address  to  God  in  the  first  part 
of  the  psalm,  and  the  direct  address  to  the  king  in  the  second. 


Psalm  2 1:8 -13  105 

9  (8).  Thy  hand  shall  find  out  all  thine  enemies ;  thy  right  hand  shall 
find  (those)  hating  thee.  Having  shewn  what  God  would  do  for  his 
Anointed,  the  psalm  now  describes  what  the  latter  shall  accomplish  through 
divine  assistance.  Corresponding  to  this  variation  in  the  subject,  is  that 
in  the  object  of  address,  which  has  been  already  noticed.  By  a  kind  of 
climax  in  the  form  of  expression,  hand  is  followed  by  right  hand,  a  still 
more  emphatic  sign  of  active  strength.  To  find,  in  this  connection,  includes 
the  ideas  of  detecting  and  reaching.  Compare  1  Sam.  xxiii.  17,  Isa.  x.  10; 
in  the  latter  of  which  places  the  verb  is  construed  with  a  preposition  (7), 
as  it  is  in  the  first  clause  of  the  verse  before  us,  whereas  in  the  other 
clause  it  governs  the  noun  directly.  If  any  difference  of  meaning  was 
intended,  it  is  probably  not  greater  than  that  between  yinrf  and  find  out  in 
English. 

10  (9).  Thou  shalt  make  them  like  a  fiery  furnace  at  the  time  of  thy 
presence ;  Jehovah  in  his  wrath  shall  swallow  them  up,  and  fire  shall  devour 
them.  The  ascription  of  this  destroying  agency  to  God  in  the  last  clause 
serves  to  shew  that  the  king  acts  merely  as  his  instrument.  Thou  shalt 
make,  literally  set  or  place,  i.  e.  put  them  in  such  or  such  a  situation.  A 
fiery  furnace,  literally  a  furnace  [or  oven)  of  fire.  To  make  them  like  a 
furnace  here  means,  not  to  make  them  the  destroyers  of  others,  but,  by  a 
natural  abbreviation,  to  make  them  as  if  they  were  in  a  fiery  furnace.  At 
the  time  of  iky  presence,  literally  thy  face,  which  may  be  understood  to 
mean,  ivhen  thou  lookest  at  them. 

11  (10).  Their  fruit  shalt  thou  make  to  perish  from  the  earth,  and  their 
seed  from  (among)  the  sons  of  man  (or  Adam).  This  extends  the  threat- 
ened destruction  of  the  enemies  to  all  their  generations.  The  same  figura- 
tive use  oi fruit  occurs  in  Hos.  ix.  16. 

12  (11).  For  they  stretched  out  evil  over  thee  ;  they  devised  a  plot  ;  they 
shall  not  he  able  (to  effect  it).  The  figure  of  the  first  clause  is  the  same  as 
in  1  Chron.  xxi.  10.  (Compare  2  Sam.  xxiv.  12.)  The  idea  here  is  that  they 
threatened  to  bring  evil  on  thee.  As  the  verb  to  he  able  is  sometimes  used 
absolutely,  it  is  translated,  they  shall  not  prevail. 

13  (12).  For  thou  shalt  make  them  turn  their  back;  with  thy  (bow)  strings 
shalt  make  ready  against  their  face.  The  common  version  of  the  first  word 
(therefore)  is  not  only  contrary  to  usage,  but  disturbs  the  sense  by  obscur- 
ing the  connection  with  the  foregoing  verse,  which  is  this:  "  they  shall  not 
preyail,  because  thou  shalt  make  them  turn  their  back."  This  last  phrase, 
in  Hebrew,  is  so  strongly  idiomatic  that  it  scarcely  admits  of  an  exact 
translation.  Thou  shalt  make  (or  place)  them  shoulder.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xviii  41  (40),  where  a  similar  idiom  occurs.  In  the  verse  before  us,  the 
chronological  succession  is  reversed ;  it  was  by  shooting  at  their  face  that 
he  should  make  them  turn  their  back.  The  true  relation  of  the  clauses  is 
denoted,  in  the  English  Bible,  by  supplying  a  particle  of  time  :  "  thou 
shalt  make  them  turn  their  back  (when)  thou  shalt  make  ready  (thine 
arrows)  upon  thy  strings  against  the  face  of  them."  The  version  make 
ready  is  also  a  correct  one,  although  some  translate  the  phrase  take  aim, 
which  is  really  expressed  by  another  form  of  the  same  verb.  The  true 
sense  of  the  one  here  used  is  clear  from  Ps.  xi.  2,  and  the  distinctive  use 
of  both  from  Ps.  vii.  13,  14  (12,  13). 

14  (13).  Be  high,  Jehovah,  in  thy  strength;  we  will  sing  and  celebrate  thy 
power.  Here  the  psalm  returns  to  God  as  its  great  theme,  and  gives  him 
all  the  glory.  Be  high,  exalted,  both  in  thyself  and  in  the  praises  of  thy 
people.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  47  (46).     Thy  strength  and  power,  as 


106  Psalm  22:1 

displayed  in  the  strength  given  to  thine  anointed.  Celebrate  by  music,  as 
the  Hebrew  verb  always  means.  There  is  a  beautiful  antithesis  in  this 
verse,  as  if  he  had  said  :  thou  hast  only  to  deserve  praise,  we  will  give  it. 


Psalm  22 

The  subject  of  this  Psalm  is  the  deliverance  of  a  righteous  sufferer 
from  his  enemies,  and  the  effect  of  this  deliverance  on  others.  It  is  so 
framed  as  to  be  applied  without  violence  to  any  case  belonging  to  the  class 
described,  yet  so  that  it  was  fully  verified  only  in  Christ,  the  head  and  repre- 
sentative of  the  class  in  question.  The  immediate  speaker  in  the  psalm  is  an 
ideal  person,  the  righteous  servant  of  Jehovah,  but  his  words  may,  to  a 
certain  extent,  be  appropriated  by  any  suffering  believer,  and  by  the  whole 
suffering  church,  as  they  have  been  in  all  ages. 

The  psalm  may  be  divided  into  three-  nearly  equal  parts.  The  first 
pleads  the  necessity  of  God's  interposition,  arising  from  his  covenant  rela- 
tion to  the  sufferer,  ver.  2-11  (1-10).  The  second  argues  the  same 
thing  from  the  imminence  of  the  danger,  ver.  12-22  (11-21).  The 
third  declares  the  glorious  effects  which  must  follow  from  an  answer  to  the 
foregoing  prayer,  ver.  23-32  (22-31).  Ver.  12  (11)  and  22  (21)  form 
connecting  links  between  the  first  and  second,  second  and  third  parts. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  On  the  hind  of  the  morning.  A  Psalm  by 
David.  Designed  for  the  permanent  use  of  the  church,  and  therefore  not 
relating  to  mere  individual  or  private  interests.  The  second  clause  of  the 
inscription  is  one  of  those  enigmatical  titles  in  which  David  seems  to  have 
delighted.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  1,  vii,  1,  ix.  1,  xvi.  1.  The  opinion 
that  it  refers  to  the  melody  or  subject  of  some  other  poem,  is  less  probable 
than  that  it  describes  the  theme  of  this.  The  hind  may  then  be  a  poetical 
figure  for  persecuted  innocence,  and  the  morning,  or  rather  dawn,  for  de- 
liverance after  long  distress.  Compare  2  Sam.  i.  19,  Prov.  vi.  5,  Isa. 
xiii.  14,  with  Isa.  viii.  20,  xlvii.  11,  Iviii.  8,  10,  Hos.  vi.  3,  x.  15.  The 
use  of  such  emblems  here  is  less  surprising,  as  this  psalm  abounds  in 
figures  drawn  from  the  animal  kingdom.  See  below,  ver.  13  (12),  14 
(13),  17  (16),  21  (20),  22  (21). 

2  (1).  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me,  far  from  my  deliver- 
ance, the  words  of  rtiy  roaring  ?  In  this  verse  and  the  next  we  have  the 
sufferer's  complaint,  the  summary  description  of  his  danger  and  distress, 
the  highest  point  of  which  is  here  described  as  the  sense  of  desertion  or 
abandonment  on  God's  part.  "  Why  hast  thou  left  me  so  to  suffer,  that  I 
cannot  but  consider  myself  finally  deserted  ?  "  The  use  of  these  words  by 
our  Saviour  on  the  cross,  with  a  slight  variation  from  the  Hebrew  (Mat. 
xxvii.  46,  Mark  xv.  34),  shews  how  eminently  true  the  whole  description  is 
of  him,  but  does  not  make  him  the  exclusive  subject.  The  divine  name 
here  used  is  the  one  descriptive  of  God's  power  (/Nl),  and  may  therefore  be 

considered  as  including  the  idea  oi  my  strength.  *'  Why  hast  thou,  whom 
I  regarded  as  my  strength,  my  support,  and  my  protector,  thus  forsaken 
me  in  this  extremity?"  The  last  clause  admits  of  several  constructions. 
"  Far  from  my  deliverance  (are)  the  words  of  my  roaring,"  i.e.  they  are 
far  from  having  the  effect  of  saving  me.  Or  the  question  may  be  repeated  : 
(Why  art  thou)  far  from  my  help  and  the  words  of  my  roaring  ?"  Or  the 
same  idea  may  be  expressed  by  a  simple  aflGirmation :  *'  (Thou  art)  far  from 


Psalm  22:2 -6  107 

my  help,"  &c.  But  the  simplest  construction  is  to  put  these  words  into 
apposition  with  the  object  of  address  in  the  first  clause,  and  throw  the 
whole  into  one  sentence.  "  Why  hast  thou  forsaken  me,  (standing  or 
remaining)  far  from  my  help,  i.  e.  too  far  off  to  help  and  save  me,  or  even 
to  hear  the  words  of  my  roaring  ?  "  This  last  combination  shews  that  al- 
though the  figure  of  roaring  is  borrowed  from  the  habits  of  the  lower  animals, 
the  subject  to  which  it  is  applied  must  be  a  human  one,  and  as  such 
capable  of  articulate  speech.  The  roaring  of  the  psalmist  was  not  the 
mere  instinctive  utterance  of  physical  distress,  but  the  complaint  of  an  in- 
telligent and  moral  agent.     Compare  Isaiah  xxxviii.  14. 

3  (2),  My  God,  I  call  by  day  and  thou  wilt  not  answer,  and  by  night 
and  there  is  no  silence  to  me.  The  divine  name  here  used  is  the  common 
Hebrew  word  for  God,  denoting  an  object  of  religious  worship.  I  call, 
literally  I  shall  call,  implying  a  sorrowful  conviction  that  his  cries  will  still 
be  vain.  Thon  wilt  not  hear  or  answer  :  the  oi'iginal  expression  is  a  verb 
specifically  appropriated  to  the  favourable  reception  of  a  prayer.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  iii.  5  (4).  Day  and  night,  i.  e.  without  intermission.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  i.  2.  No  silence  implies  no  answer,  and  the  parallelism  is  therefore 
an  exact  one. 

4  (3).  And  thou  (art)  holy,  inhabiting  the  praises  of  Israel.  Here  begins 
his  statement  of  the  grounds  on  which  he  might  claim  to  be  heard,  and  all 
which  may  be  summed  up  in  this,  that  Jehovah  was  the  covenant  God  of 
Israel.  The  word  translated  holy,  in  its  widest  sense,  includes  all  that 
distinguishes  God  from  creatures,  not  excepting  what  are  usually  termed 
his  natural  perfections.  Hence  the  epithet  is  often  found  connected  with 
descriptions  of  his  power,  eternity,  &c.  See  Isa.  vi.  3  ;  xl.  25,  26 ;  Ivii. 
15  ;  Hab.  iii.  3  ;  Ps.  cxi.  9.  The  primary  meaning  of  the  verb  appears  to 
be  that  of  separation,  which  may  here  be  alluded  to,  in  reference  to  Jeho- 
vah's peculiar  relation  to  the  chosen  people.  Or  it  may  be  taken  in  its 
wider  and  higher  sense,  leaving  the  other  to  be  expressed  in  the  last  clause. 
"  Thou  art  the  glorious  and  perfect  God  who  inhabitest  the  praises  of 
Israel,"  *'.  e.  dwellest  among  those  praises,  and  art  constantly  surrounded  by 
them.  Some  prefer,  however,  to  retain  the  primary  meaning  of  the  Hebrew 
verb,  sitting  (^enthroned  upon)  the  praises  of  Israel. 

5  (4).  In  thee  trusted  our  fathers  ;  they  trusted  and  thou  savedst  them. 
Not  only  was  Jehovah  the  covenant  God  of  Israel,  and  as  such  bound  to 
help  his  people,  but  he  had  actually  helped  them  in  time  past.  This  is 
urged  as  a  reason  why  he  should  not  refuse  to  help  the  sufferer  in  this  case. 
The  plural  form,  our  fathers,  makes  the  prayer  appropriate  to  the  whole 
church,  without  rendering  it  less  so  to  the  case  of  Christ,  or  to  that  of  the 
individual  believer. 

6  (5.)  To  thee  they  cried  and  were  delivered;  in  thee  they  trusted,  and  trere 
not  ashamed.  This  last  word  is  continually  used  in  Scripture  for  the  dis- 
appointment and  frustration  of  the  hopes.  The  argument  of  this  verse  lies 
in  the  tacit  contrast  between  the  case  referred  to  and  that  of  the  sufferer 
himself.  As  if  he  had  said,  *'  How  is  it  then  that  I  cry  and  am  not  deli- 
vered, I  trust  and  am  confounded  or  ashamed?" 

7  (6).  And  I  {am)  a  worm,  and  not  a  man ;  a  reproach  of  men,  and  de- 
spised of  the  -people.  The  pronoun  expressed  at  the  beginning  is  emphatic. 
I,  as  contrasted  with  my  fathers.  Our  idiom  would  here  require  an  adver- 
sative particle,  but  I,  the  use  of  which  is  much  less  frequent  in  Hebrew. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  6.  The  insignificance  and  meanness  of  mankind  in 
general  are  elsewhere  denoted  by  the  figure  of  a  worm  (Job  xxv.  6).     But 


108  Psalm  22:7 -9 

even  in  comparison  with  these,  the  sufferer  is  a  worm,  i.  e.  an  object  of  con- 
temptuous pity,  because  apparently  forsaken  of  God,  and  reduced  to  a 
desperate  extremity.  (Compare  Isa.  xH.  14,  and  1  Sam.  xxiv.  15.)  A 
reproach  of  mankind,  despised  by  them,  and  disgi-aceful  to  them. — The  people, 
not  a  single  person  or  a  few,  but  the  community  at  large. 

8  (7).  All  seeing  tne  mock  at  me;  they  pout  with  the  lip ;  they  shake  the 
head.  This  is  an  amplification  of  the  last  clause  of  the  verse  preceding. 
The  verb  in  the  second  member  of  the  sentence  is  of  doubtful  meaning.  It 
may  either  mean  to  stretch  the  mouth,  or  to  part  the  lips  with  a  derisive 
grin.  (See  Ps.  xxxv.  21,  Job  xvi.  10.)  The  shaking  of  the  head  may  be 
either  a  vague  gesture  of  contempt,  or  the  usual  expression  of  negation,  by 
a  lateral  or  horizontal  motion,  equivalent  to  saying  "  No,  no  !"  i.e.  there 
is  no  hope  for  him.  Either  of  these  explanations  is  more  probable  than 
that  which  appUes  the  words  to  a  vertical  movement  of  the  head  or  nodding, 
in  token  of  assent,  and  acquiescence  in  the  sufferings  of  the  sufferer,  as  just 
and  right.  The  peculiar  gesture  here  described  is  expressly  attributed  by 
the  evangehsts  to  the  spectators  of  our  Saviour's  crucifixion  (Mat.  xxvii. 
89,  Mark  xv.  29).  It  is  one  of  those  minor  coincidences,  which,  although 
they  do  not  constitute  the  main  subject  of  the  prophecy,  draw  attention  to 
it,  and  help  us  to  identify  it. 

9  (8).  Trust  in  Jehovah!  He  will  deliver  him,  he  will  save  hiyn,  for  he  de- 
lights in  him,.  The  literal  meaning  of  the  fii'st  clause  is,  roll  to  (or  on) 
Jehovah,  which  would  be  unintelligible  but  for  the  parallel  expressions  in 
Ps.  xxxvii.  5,  roll  thy  way  upon  Jehovah,  and  in  Prov.  xvi.  3,  roll  thy  work 
vpon  Jehovah,  where  the  idea  is  evidently  that  of  a  burden  cast  upon  another 
by  one  who  is  unable  to  sustain  it  himself.  This  burden,  in  the  first  case, 
is  his  way,  i.  e.  his  course  of  life,  his  fortune,  his  destiny,  and  in  the  other 
case,  his  work,  i.  e.  his  business,  his  affairs,  his  interest.  In  evident  allu- 
sion to  these  places,  the  apostle  Peter  says,  casting  all  your  care  upon  him, 
for  he  carethfor  you  (1  Pet.  v.  7).  By  these  three  parallels  light  is  thrown 
on  the  elliptical  expression  now  before  us,  roll,  i.  e.  thy  bm'den  or  thy  care 
vpon  Jehovah. — A  further  difficulty  is  occasioned  by  the  form  of  the  origi- 
nal, which,  according  to  usage,  must  be  either  the  infinitive  construct  or 
the  second  person  of  the  imperative.  But  as  these  seem  out  of  place  in 
such  a  context,  some  arbitrarily  explain  it  as  an  absolute  infinitive,  or  a 
third  person  imperative,  or  change  the  form  to  that  of  a  preterite.  This 
last  is  the  construction  in  the  Septuagint  version  retained  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament (Mat.  xxvii.  43),  and  really  included  in  the  Hebrew,  but  by  no 
means  an  exact  representation  of  its  form.  Perhaps  the  best  solution  of  the 
syntax  is  to  make  this  clause  a  quotation,  or  derisive  repetition  of  the  suf- 
ferer's own  words,  as  if  they  had  said,  "  This  is  he  who  was  so  fond  of 
repeating  the  precept,  Trust  in  Jehovah  !  Let  him  now  try  its  virtue  in 
his  own  case.  He  in  whom  he  has  trusted,  and  exhorted  others  to  trust 
also,  will  no  doubt  deliver  him."  The  next  two  verbs  are  ironical  futures, 
not  imperatives,  and  should  be  so  translated. — The  last  words  of  the  verse 
(is  ysn)  ai*e  always  apphed  elsewhere  to  God's  complacency  in  man,  and 

not  to  man's  reciprocal  dehght  in  God.  The  Septuagint  version,  retained 
in  the  New  Testament,  if  he  will  (have)  him,  or  if  he  ivill  (deliver)  him, 
although  not  incorrect,  is  much  inferior  in  strength  to  the  original. — By 
appropriating  these  words,  the  spectators  of  our  Lord's  sufferings  identified 
themselves  with  the  wicked  persecutors,  by  whom  they  are  here  supposed 
to  be  originally  uttered. 

10  (9).  For  thou  didst  draw  me  from  the  womb,  making  me  trust  upon  the 


Psalm22:10-14  109 

breasts  of  my  mother.  The  argument  from  past  time  is  here  pushed  still 
further.  God  had  not  only  shewn  himself  to  be  the  God  of  the  sufferer's 
forefathers,  but  of  the  sufferer  himself  in  early  Hfe.  The  for  connects  this 
•verse  with  the  last  clause  of  the  one  preceding.  What  his  enemies  ironically 
said  was  seriously  true.  God  had  indeed  delighted  in  him  once,  for  it  was 
he  that  brought  him  into  hfe,  and  through  the  perils  of  infancy.  Thou 
didst  draw  me,  Uterally,  thou  (art  or  wast)  my  breaking  forth,  i.e.  the  cause 
of  it,  as  God  is  said  to  be  the  light,  joy,  strength  of  the  behever,  i.  e.  the 
source  or  the  dispenser  of  these  blessings. — Made  me  trust,  does  not  refer 
to  the  Uteral  exercise  of  confidence  in  God,  which  could  not  be  asserted  of 
a  suckUng,  but  means  gave  me  cause  to  trust  or  feel  secure,  in  other  words, 
secured  me,  kept  me  safe.  The  original  construction  is,  making  m£  trust, 
but  the  Hebrew  infinitive  and  participle  used  in  these  two  clauses  may  be 
here  represented  by  the  past  tense  of  th^  English  verb. — As  applied  to  the 
whole  church  or  chosen  people,  this  verse  may  be  considered  as  descriptive 
of  God's  dealings  with  them  at  the  exodus  from  Egypt,  which  is  elsewhere 
metaphorically  represented  as  a  birth.  The  direct  and  obvious  reference, 
however,  is  to  individual  birth  and  infancy. 

11  (10).  Upon  thee  was  I  cast  from  the  womb ;  from  the  bowels  of  my 
mother,  my  God  (art)  thou.  Into  thy  arms  I  was  at  first  received,  as  into 
those  of  an  affectionate  parent.  See  Ruth  iv.  16,  and  compare  the  oppo- 
site use  of  the  same  figure  in  Ezek.  xvi.  5.  In  the  last  clause  we  are 
brought  back  to  the  point  from  which  we  set  out,  the  sufferer  having,  in 
the  mean  time,  as  it  were,  established  his  right  to  say,  my  God,  my  God, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me? 

12  (11).  Be  not  far  from  me,  for  distress  is  near,  for  there  is  no  helper. 
Having  shewn  that  he  was  justified  in  expecting  that  God  would  not  for- 
sake him  in  extremity,  he  now  shews  that  the  extremity  exists.  The  first 
clause  constitutes  the  link  of  connection  between  the  first  and  second  sub- 
divisions of  the  psalm.  "  Since,  then,  thou  art  my  God,  and  as  such 
must  be  near  in  my  distress.  Oh  be  not  far  from  me  now,  for  my  distress  is 
near,  and  there  is  no  one  else  to  help  me." — Near  is  not  put  in  opposition 
to  proximity  or  actual  contact,  but  to  distance.  The  particular  form  of 
expression  was  suggested  by  the  prayer  in  the  first  clause.  It  was  no 
time  for  God  to  be  afar  off,  when  trouble  was  so  near,  so  close  upon  the 
sufferer. — The  second  for  may  be  subordinated  to  the  first,  and  introduce 
a  reason  for  declaring  that  distress  was  near.  But  it  is  much  more  natu- 
ral to  make  the  two  co-relative,  and  understand  the  second  as  suggesting 
an  additional  reason  for  the  prayer,  be  not  far  from  me. 

13  (12).  Many  bulls  have  compassed  me,  strong  bulls  of  Bashan  have 
surrounded  rrie.  He  now  proceeds  to  amplify  the  last  clause  of  the  fore- 
going verse,  by  shewing  that  trouble  was  indeed  at  hand.  The  strength 
and  fierceness  of  his  persecutors  are  expressed  by  comparing  them  to  cattle 
fed  in  the  rich  and  solitary  pastures  of  Bashan,  where  the  absence  of  men 
would  of  course  increase  their  wildness.  Corresponding  to  the  noun  in  the 
first  clause  is  an  epithet  frequently  applied  to  it  in  Hebrew. 

14  (13).  They  have  opened  upon  me  their  mouth,  a  lion  tearing  and  roar- 
ing. The  tropical  nature  of  the  language  is  evinced  by  the  entire  change 
of  figure  in  this  verse.  The  same  persons  who  before  were  bulls  of  Bashan 
now  appear  as  a  ravening  and  roaring  lion.  There  is  no  need  of  supplying 
a  particle  of  comparison,  the  absence  of  which  in  both  these  verses,  by  sub- 
stituting metaphor  for  simile,  adds  greatly  to  the  life  of  the  description. 

15  (14).  Like  water  I  am  poured  out,  and  all  my  bones  are  parted;  my 


no  Psalm  22:15, 16 

heart  has  become  like  wax,  melted  in  the  midst  of  my  boivels.  Similar  terms 
are  used  in  Josh.  vii.  5,  Lam.  ii.  19,  to  describe  dismay  and  fear;  but  in 
the  case  before  us  they  seem  rather  descriptive  of  extreme  weakness.  See 
Ps.  Iviii.  8  (7),  2  Sam.  xiv.  14,  and  compare  the  symbolical  action  in  1  Sam, 
vii.  6.  The  comparison  with  water  is  apphed  to  moral  weakness  also  in 
Gen.  xlix.  4.  The  parting  of  the  bones  may  either  denote  dislocation  or 
extreme  emaciation,  making  the  bones  prominent.  In  either  case  the  essen- 
tial idea  is  still  that  of  desperate  exhaustion  and  debility. 

16  (15).  Dried  like  the  potsherd  [is)  my  strength,  and  my  tongue  fastened 
to  my  jaws,  and  to  the  dust  of  death  thou  wilt  reduce  me.  The  description 
of  debility  is  still  continued.  He  is  as  destitute  of  vigour  as  a  broken  piece 
of  earthenware  is  of  sap  or  moisture. — Fastened,  literally,  made  to  cleave 
or  stick,  through  dryness. — The  dust  of  death,  i.e.  the  grave,  the  place  of 
burial,  or  more  generally,  the  debased,  humiliated  state  of  the  dead. — Thou 
wilt  place  me  in  it,  or  reduce  me  to  it.  The  translation  of  this  future  as  a 
preterite  is  not  only  ungrammatical,  but  hurtful  to  the  sense,  as  the  idea 
evidently  is,  that  this  is  something  not  experienced  already,  but  the  end  to 
which  his  sufferings  are  tending.  The  direct  address  to  God  recognises 
him  as  the  sovereign  disposer,  and  men  only  as  his  instruments. 

17  (16).  For  dogs  have  surrounded  me,  a  crowd  of  evil-doers  have  beset 
pTie,  piercing  my  hands  and  my  feet.  He  now  resumes  the  description  of 
his  persecutors,  under  figures  borrowed  from  the  animal  kingdom.  The 
comparison  with  dogs  is  much  less  forcible  to  us  than  to  an  oriental  reader, 
because  dogs  in  the  east  are  less  domesticated,  more  gregarious,  wilder, 
and  objects  not  of  affection,  but  abhorrence,  as  peculiarly  unclean.  In  the 
next  clause  the  figurative  dress  is  thrown  aside,  and  the  dogs  described  as 
an  assembly  of  malefactors.  The  first  noun  seems  intended  to  suggest  the 
idea  of  a  whole  community  or  organised  body  as  engaged  in  the  persecu- 
tion. See  above,  on  people,  in  ver.  7  (6).  This  makes  the  passage  spe- 
cially appropriate  to  the  sufferings  of  our  Saviour  at  the  hands  both  of  the . 
mob  and  of  the  government.  The  Hebrew  word  is  one  of  those  applied  in 
the  Old  Testament  to  the  whole  congregation  of  Israel.  (See  above,  on 
Ps.  i.  5,  and  compare  Exod.  xii.  3,  xvi.  1,  2,  9,  Num.  xxvii.  17,  Lev.  iv.  15.) 
The  last  clause,  as  above  translated,  contains  a  striking  reference  to  our 
Saviour's  crucifixion,  which  some  have  striven  to  expunge,  by  denying  that 
the  ancients  nailed  the  feet  as  well  as  the  hands  to  the  cross.  But  although 
there  is  a  singular  absence  of  explicit  declaration  on  the  subject,  both  in 
the  classical  and  sacred  writers,  the  old  opinion,  that  the  feet  were  pierced, 
may  be  considered  as  completely  verified  by  modem  investigation  and  dis- 
cussion. So  far,  therefore,  as  the  question  of  usage  is  concerned,  we  can 
have  no  difficulty  in  referring  this  clause  to  our  Saviour's  crucifixion,  and 
regarding  it  as  one  of  those  remarkable  coincidences,  some  of  which  have 
been  already  noticed,  all  designed  and  actually  tending  to  identify  our  Lord 
as  the  most  prominent  subject  of  the  prophecy.  It  is  very  remarkable,  how- 
ever, that  no  citation  or  application  of  the  clause  occurs  in  any  of  the  gos- 
pels. It  is  also  worthy  of  remark  that  the  clause,  thus  explained,  although 
highly  appropriate  to  one  part  of  our  Saviour's  passion,  is,  unlike  the  rest 
of  the  description,  hardly  applicable,  even  in  a  figurative  sense,  to  the  case 
of  any  other  sufferer.  Even  supposing  the  essential  idea  to  be  merely  that 
of  wounds  inflicted  on  the  body,  it  seems  strange  that  it  should  be  expressed 
in  the  specific  and  unusual  form  of  piercing  the  hands  and  the  feet.  On 
further  inspection  it  appears  that,  in  order  to  obtain  this  meaning,  we  must 
either  change  the  text  (11M3  or  'IJO  for  ""IMS)  or  assume  a  plural  form 


Psalm22:17-19  111 

so  rare  that  some  grammarians  deny  its  existence  altogether  (^HIO  for 
D^lhiD),  and  an  equally  rare  form  of  the  participle  (D*1S3    for    D^S), 

and  a  meaning  of  the  verb  itself  which  nowhere  else  occurs,  but  must  be 
borrowed  from  a  cognate  root  ("113  for  mD) ;  an  accumulation  of  gramma- 
tical and  lexicographical  anomalies,  which  cannot  be  assumed  without  the 
strongest  exegetical  necessity,  and  this  can  exist  only  if  the  words  admit  of 
no  other  explanation  more  in  accordance  with  analogy  and  usage.  Now 
the  very  same  form  in  Isa.  xxxviii.  13,  is  unquestionably  used  to  mean  like 
the  lion,  and  a  slight  modification  of  the  same,  in  Num.  xxiv.  9,  Ezek. 
xxii.  25,  like  a  lion-  This  idea  would  be  here  the  more  appropriate,  because 
the  psalm  abounds  in  such  allusions,  and  because  the  Hon  is  expressly 
mentioned  both  before  and  afterwards.  See  above,  ver.  14  (13),  and  below, 
ver.  22  (21).  The  sense  would  then  be  :  "  they  surround  my  hands  and 
my  feet,  as  they  would  a  lion,"  or,  "  as  a  lion  would,"  i.e.  with  the  strength 
and  fierceness  of  a  lion.  The  hands  and  feet  may  be  mentioned  as  the 
parts  used  in  defence  and  flight.  That  the  mention  of  these  parts,  after 
all,  in  connection  with  the  lion  is  not  altogether  natural,  cannot  fairly  be 
denied,  and  th;s  objection  should  have  all  the  weight  to  which  it  is  entitled. 
But  whether  it  can  outweigh  the  grammatical  difficulties  that  attend  the 
other  construction,  is  a  serious  question,  which  ought  not  to  be  embarrassed 
by  any  supposed  conflict  with  New  Testament  authority,  since  no  citation  of 
the  clause  occurs  there.  It  may  even  be  possible  to  reconcile  the  two  inter- 
pretations by  supplying  a  verb  and  giving  ^"IKS  its  usual  meaning.     "  Like 

the  lion  (they  have  wounded)  my  hands  and  my  feet."  The  point  of  com- 
parison would  then  be  the  infliction  of  sharp  wounds  in  those  parts  of  the 
body,  an  idea  common  to  the  habits  of  the  lion,  and  to  the  usages  of  cruci- 
fixion. 

18  (17).  /  tell  all  my  hones  [while)  they  look  and  stare  upon.  me.  The 
pronoun  of  the  last  clause  is  expressed  in  Hebrew,  which  removes  the 
ambiguity  of  the  construction,  by  shewing  that  the  subject  of  the  following 
verbs  is  not  the  bones  of  the  preceding  clause,  but  something  more  remote, 
namely,  the  sufferer's  enemies  and  persecutors.  The  ambiguity  of  the 
EngUsh  word  tell  corresponds  to  that  of  the  Hebrew  (")^p^^),  which  means 

both  to  number  and  to  relate,  to  count  and  to  recount.  Some  suppose, 
not  improbably,  that  this  verse  presents  the  suff"erer  as  stripped  by  his 
enemies,  and  looking  with  gi-ief  and  wonder  at  his  own  emaciation,  while 
they  gaze  at  it  with  deHght,  as  the  Hebrew  phrase  implies.  See  below,  on 
Ps.  xxvii.  13. 

19  (18).  They  {are  ahout  to)  divide  my  garments  for  themselves,  and  on 
my  clothing  they  {are  ready  to)  cast  lots.  This  is  the  last  stroke  necessary 
to  complete  the  picture.  Having  stripped  him,  nothing  more  is  left  but  to 
appropriate  his  garments,  whether  from  cupidity  or  in  derision  The  futures 
intimate  that  things  can  go  no  further  without  actual  loss  of  hfe,  and  that 
the  case  is  therefore  an  extreme  one.  The  providential  realisation  of  this 
ideal  scene  in  our  Lord's  history  is  expressly  mentioned  by  all  the  four 
evangelists  (Mat.  xxvii.  35,  Mark  xv.  24,  Luke  xxiii.  34,  John  lix.  23,  24). 
This  makes  their  silence  as  to  ver.  17  (16)  the  more  remarkable. 

20  (19).  And  thou,  Jehovah,  be  not  far ;  my  strength !  to  my  assistance 
hasten.  The  pronoun  in  the  first  clause  is  emphatic.  "  Such  is  the  con- 
duct of  my  enemies  ;  but  as  for  thee,  0  Lord,  be  not  far  from  me."  The 
word  translated  strength  is  used  in  this  place  only,  and  apparently  in  refer- 


112  Psalm  22:20 -25 

ence  to  the  name  of  God  with  which  the  psalm  begins  {wii)  and  to  the 
word  hind  (J^TjSt)  in  the  title,  both  which  are  akin  to  it  in  etymology. 

21  (20).  Free  from  the  sword  my  life  (or  soul),  from  the  hand  of  the  dog 
my  lonely  one  (or  only  one).  The  sword  is  a  general  expression  for  life- 
destroying  agents.  See  2  Sam.  xi.  24,  25,  where  it  is  applied  to  archery. 
— My  life,  my  soul,  i.  e.  myself  considered  as  a  living  person. — The  apparent 
solecism,  hand  of  the  dog,  shews  that  both  terms  are  figurative,  or  as  one  has 
quaintly  expressed  it,  that  the  dog  meant  is  a  dog  with  hands.  See  above, 
on  ver.  17  (16),  where  the  plural  dogs  is  co-extensive  in  its  meaning  with 
the  ideal  or  collective  singular  in  this  place. — My  only  {life),  the  only  one 
I  have  to  lose,  is  a  good  sense  in  itself,  both  here  and  in  Ps.  xxxv.  17  ;  but 
the  analogy  of  Ps.  xxv.  16,  and  Ixviii.  7  (6),  recommends  the  sense  of 
solitary,  lonely,  which  is  admissible  in  all  the  places. 

22  (21).  Save  me  from  the  mouth  of  the  lion,  and  from  the  horns  of  the 
unicorns  thou  hast  heard  (or  answered)  me.  The  petition  in  the  first  clause 
is  directly  followed  by  an  expression  of  confident  assurance  that  his  prayer 
will  be  answered,  or  rather  that  it  is  already  heard,  corresponding  to  the 
figurative  expression  in  ver.  3  (2),  thou  wilt  not  hear  (or  answer),  where 
the  same  Hebrew  verb  is  used. — From  the  horns  denotes  of  course  the 
place  from  which  the  prayer  proceded,  not  the  answer.  The  figure  is  a 
strong  one  for  the  midst  of  danger.  The  name  of  any  wild  horned  animal 
would  be  appropriate.     The  precise  sense  of  the  Hebrew  word  (D^D^)  is 

therefore  comparatively  unimportant.  The  common  version  unicorns  rests 
on  the  authority  of  the  Septuagint ;  but  although  the  unicorn,  long  regarded 
as  a  fabulous  animal,  has  now  been  proved  to  be  a  real  one,  we  have  no 
reason  to  believe  that  it  was  ever  known  in  Palestine,  or  to  dissent  fi-om 
the  common  judgment  of  the  learned,  that  the  Hebrew  word  denotes  the 
wild  bull  or  a  species  of  the  antelope,  most  probably  the  former. 

23  (22).  /  will  declare  thy  name  to  my  brethren,  in  the  midst  of  the  assembly 
I  will  praise  thee.  His  certainty  of  audience  and  acceptance  is  further 
expressed  by  declaring  his  intention  to  give  thanks  for  it. — To  declare 
God's  name,  in  Scripture  usage,  is  to  celebrate  the  acts  by  which  he  has 
manifested  his  perfections.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11). —  The  assembly, 
or  congregation  of  Israel,  to  which  the  Hebrew  word  is  constantly  appUed 
(Lev.  xvi.  17,  Deut.  xxxi.  30),  whether  present  in  person  or  by  their  repre- 
sentatives (2  Chron.  xx.  13-15).  The  same  sense  of  the  word  occurs  below, 
Ps.  xxxv.  18,  xl.  10  (9).  The  idea  here  is  that  his  praise  shall  not  be 
merely  private  or  domestic,  but  public. 

24  (23).  Fearers  of  Jehovah,  praise  him  I  All  the  seed  of  Jacob,  glorify 
him  !  And  he  afraid  of  him,  all  the  seed  of  Israel !  These  words  are 
uttered,  as  it  were,  in  the  midst  of  the  ideal  congregation  mentioned  in  the 
verse  preceding.  That  the  call,  though  formally  addressed  to  the  whole 
race,  was  really  intended  for  the  spiritual  Israel,  excluding  wicked  IsraeKtes 
and  including  the  righteous  of  whatever  name  or  nation,  is  indicated  by  the 
words  of  the  first  clause,  while  the  last  shews  that  the  praise  required  is  not 
familiar,  but  in  the  highest  degree  reverential. 

25  (24).  For  he  has  not  despised  and  not  abhorred  the  suffering  of  the 
sufferer,  and  has  not  hid  his  face  from  him,  and,  in  his  crying  to  him,  heard. 
This  is  the  ground  on  which  the  fearers  of  the  Lord  are  called  upon  to 
praise  him,  namely,  the  faithful  execution  of  his  promise  to  the  sufferer  in 
this  case,  and  the  pledge  thereby  afforded  of  like  faithfulness  in  every  other. 

26  (25).  From  thee  {shall  be)  my  praise  in  {the)  great  congregation  ;  my 


Psalm  22:26 -28  113 

vows  I  will  pay  before  Ms  fearers,  those  who  fear  him.  From  (hee  is  some- 
thing more  than  of  thee.  It  does  not  merely  indicate  the  theme  or  subject, 
but  the  source  or  cause  of  his  thanksgiving.  "It  is  thou  who  givest  me 
occasion  thus  to  praise  thee."  In  the  last  clause  there  seems  to  be  a  refer- 
ence to  the  sacrificial  feasts  connected  with  the  fulfilment  of  vows  made  in 
distress  or  danger.  (See  Deut.  xii.  18,  xvi.  11.)  These  were  occasions  of 
festivity,  not  only  to  the  ofierer  and  his  nearest  friends,  but  to  a  wide 
circle  of  invited  guests,  which  makes  the  metaphor  peculiarly  appropriate 
in  this  place.  The  essential  idea  is  the  same  as  in  ver.  23  (22). — His 
fearers,  worshippers,  the  true  Israel,  as  distinguished  from  the  mere  natural 
descendants  of  the  patriarch. 

27  (26).  (Then)  shall  eat  (thereof)  the  humble,  and  be  satisfied ;  (then) 
sh^ll  praise  Jehovah  those  who  seek  him.  May  your  heart  live  for  ever  ! 
The  adverb  then  is  here  supplied  in  the  translation,  in  order  to  retain  the 
Hebrew  order  of  the  sentence.  The  word  thereof  "\%  introduced  to  remove 
all  ambiguity  of  syntax,  and  to  connect  the  act  of  eating  with  the  sacrificial 
feast  of  the  foregoing  verse. — To  seek  God,  in  the  dialect  of  Scripture,  is  to 
seek  to  know  him,  and  also  to  seek  his  favour,  not  only  by  specific  acts  of 
prayer,  but  by  the  whole  course  of  the  life.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  2. — 
The  concluding  wish,  your  heart  live  for  ever,  comprehends  an  assurance 
that  it  shaU  hve.  The  heart  is  said  to  die,  in  cases  of  extreme  grief  and 
distress.  See  1  Sam.  xxv.  37,  and  compare  Ps.  cix.  22.  The  objects  of 
address  are  those  who  seek  and  praise  God.  The  sudden  change  of  person 
is  analogous  to  that  in  ver.  26  (25),  which  begins  yrom,  thee,  and  ends  with 

fearing  him.  That  this  is  not  an  inadvertent  irregularity,  appears  from  its 
recurrence  in  the  next  verse. — The  humble  and  the  seekers  of  Jehovah  are 
parallel  descriptions  of  the  same  class,  namely,  true  believers,  those  who 
are  elsewhere  called  the  righteous. 

28  (27).  Remember  and  return  to  Jehovah  shall  all  the  ends  of  the  earthy 
and  worship  before  thee  all  the  kindreds  of  the  nations.  As  the  joyful  effects 
of  this  deUverance  were  not  to  be  restricted  to  himself  or  his  domestic  circle, 
but  extended  to  the  great  congregation  of  God's  people,  so  too  we  now  read 
that  they  shall  not  be  confined  to  any  one  race,  but  made  to  embrace  aU. 
The  ends  of  the  earth,  here  put  for  the  remotest  nations.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  ii.  8.  These  are  named  as  the  least  Hkely  to  be  comprehended  in  the 
promise,  but  of  course  without  excluding  those  less  distant.  As  if  he  had 
said,  the  ends  of  the  earth  and  all  that  is  between  them.  In  the  other 
clause,  accordingly,  we  find  as  a  parallel  expression,  not  the  furthest,  but 
all  nations.  They  shall  remember  this  deHverance,  this  exhibition  of  God's 
faithfulness  and  might,  and  shall  turn  unto  Jehovah,  be  converted  to  his 
worship  and  his  service.  Some  suppose  an  allusion  to  the  great  original 
apostasy,  or  to  the  temporary  casting  ofl"  of  the  Gentiles  :  they  shall  remember 
their  original  condition,  and  return  unto  the  Lord,  from  whom  they  have 
revolted.  But  this,  though  true  and  really  impUed,  is  not  the  strict  sense 
of  the  words,  which  would  then  have  no  perceptible  connection  with  the 
general  subject  of  the  psalm,  and  the  iriimediate  occasion  of  the  praise  which 
it  contains. — Worship,  literally  prostrate  themselves,  the  accustomed  oriental 
indication  both  of  civil  and  religious  worship. — The  form  of  expression  in 
the  last  clause  is  evidently  borrowed  from  the  patriarchal  promise.  Com- 
pare Gen.  xii.  3,  xxviii.  14. 

29  (28).  For  unto  Jehovah  is  the  kingdom,  and  {he  is)  governor  among 
the  nations.  This  will  not  be  a  gratuitous  extension  to  the  Gentiles  of  what 
properly  belongs  to  Israel  alone,  but  a  restoration  of  God's  mercies,  after 


114  Psalm  22:29 -31 

ages  of  restriction,  to  their  original  and  proper  scope.  For  Jehovah  is  not 
the  king  of  Israel  only,  but  of  all  mankind.  See  Rom.  iii.  29. — The  king- 
dom, i.  e.  general  ecumenical  dominion. — Governor,  properly  a  participle, 
rtding,  the  use  of  which  may  be  intended  to  suggest  that  as  he  has  always 
been  their  governor  de  jure,  so  now  he  begins  to  govern  them  de  facto,  not 
with  a  providential  sway,  which  is  invariable  as  well  as  universal,  but  with 
a  spiritual  sway,  which  is  hereafter  to  be  co-extensive  with  the  earth  itself. 
Compare  the  similar  expressions,  Obad.  21,  Zech.  xiv.  9,  and  the  still  closer 
parallels,  Ps.  xcvi.  10,  xcvii.  1,  xcix.  1. 

30  (29).  They  have  eaten  and  worshipped — all  the  fat  {ones)  of  the  earth 
— before  him  shall  bend  all  going  down  (to)  the  dust,  and  [he  who)  his  own 
soul  did  not  save  alive.  The  distinction  of  ranks  shall  be  as  little  regarded 
at  this  feast  as  that  of  nations. — Eaten  and  worshipped,  partaken  of  the 
sacrificial  feast  in  honour  of  this  great  salvation.  Fat,  a  common  oriental 
figure  for  the  prosperous,  and  especially  the  rich.  These  are  particularly 
mentioned  to  exhibit  a  peculiar  feature  of  the  feast  in  question,  which  was 
not,  like  the  sacrificial  feasts  of  the  Mosaic  law,  designed  expressly  for  the 
poor,  though  these  are  not  excluded,  as  appears  from  the  parallel  clause. — 
Going  down  to  the  dust,  i.e.  the  dust  of  death,  as  in  ver.  16  (15)  above. 
Compare  the  analogous  expressions  used  in  Ps.  xxviii.  1,  4,  10  (3,  9),  Ixxxviii. 
5  (4),  cxv.  17,  cxliii.  7.  The  idea  is,  that  this  enjoyment  shall  be  common 
to  the  rich  and  those  who  are  ready  to  perish,  or  as  it  is  expressed  in  the 
last  clause,  he  who  cannot  keep  his  soul  (or  himself)  alive,  a  strong  expression 
for  the  extreme  of  destitution.  He  who  before,  or  a  little  while  ago,  no 
longer  kept  himself  alive,  but  was  just  about  to  perish,  is  now  seen  kneeling 
at  the  sacrificial  feast  in  honour  of  this  great  salvation. 

31  (30).  Posterity  shall  serve  him  ;  it  shall  be  related  of  the  Lord  to  the 
(next)  generation.  The  last  restriction  to  be  done  away  is  that  of  time. 
The  efiects  of  this  salvation  shall  no  more  be  confined  to  the  present  genera- 
tion than  to  the  higher  classes  of  society,  or  the  natural  descendants  of  the 
patriarchs. — A  seed,  i.  e.  posterity,  the  seed  of  those  who  witness  or  first 
hear  of  the  event. — Shall  serve  him,  i.  e.  worship  and  obey  Jehovah,  the 
same  thing  that  is  expressed  by  eating  and  bowing  down  in  ver.  30  (29) 
above.  The  means  of  this  conversion  shall  be  the  perpetuated  knowledge 
of  what  God  has  done, — Generation  is  used  absolutely,  as  in  Ps.  Ixxi.  18, 
where  it  means  not  this  generation,  but  the  next.  The  complete  phrase 
(1T^^^*  in)  occurs  below,  Ps.  xlviii.  14  (13),  Ixxviii.  4.  The  Lord.  The 
original  is  not  Jehovah,  but  Adhonai,  the  divine  name  properly  denoting 
sovereignty.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  4,  xxi.  2.  The  exposition  above  given 
of  the  verse  before  us  is  equally  agreeable  to  usage,  and  much  better  suited 
to  the  context,  than  the  one  which  makes  it  mean  that  a  seed  shall  be  reck- 
oned by  the  Lord  (as  belonging)  to  the  generation,  i.  e.  to  the  generation  of 
his  people.  (See  below,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  6,)  It  is  highly  improbable  that  the 
passive  verb  (13D^)  has  a  meaning  wholly  different  from  that  of  the  corres- 
ponding active  form  (^'^^D^?)  in  ver,  23  (22)  above. 

32  (31).  They  shall  come  and  shall  declare  his  righteousness  to  a  people 
born,  that  he  hath  done  {it).  The  subjects  of  the  first  verbs  are  the  seed 
and  generation  of  the  preceding  verse.  They  shall  come  into  existence,  shall 
appear  upon  the  scene.  But  even  they  shall  not  monopolise  the  knowledge 
thus  imparted,  but  communicate  it  to  a  people  now  unborn,  but  then  born, 
i.  e.  to  their  own  successors.  The  construction  of  the  participle  as  a  future 
is  unnecessary,  although  not  unauthorised  by  usage.     See  above,  on  Ps. 


Psalm  23:1, 2  115 

xviii.  4  (3).  Compare  with  this  verse  the  beautiful  figures  of  Ps.  xix.  3  (2). 
— Uis  righteousness,  including  the  faithful  execution  of  his  gracious  pro- 
mise. The  last  clause  gives  the  substance  of  the  declaration  to  be  made, 
to  wit,  that  he  has  done  what  forms  the  subject  of  the  whole  psalm.  A 
similar  ellipsis  of  the  object,  where  the  context  readily  supplies  it,  may  be 
found  above  in  ver.  27,  28,  30  (26,  27,  29).  To  these  words  it  is  supposed 
by  some  that  our  Lord  alluded  in  his  dying  exclamation.  It  is  finished  ! 
(John  xix.  30).  The  allusion,  though  not  obvious,  is  interesting,  as  it  brings 
the  beginning  and  the  end  of  this  remarkable  psalm  into  connection  with 
each  other  and  with  that  atiecting  scene  to  which  there  are  so  many  clear 
and  pointed  references  in  the  whole  composition  ;  thus  completing,  as  it 
were,  the  proof,  already  strong  enough,  that  Christ  is  the  great  subject  of 
the  psalm,  as  being  the  great  type  and  representative  of  that  whole  class  to 
whom  it  ostensibly  relates,  but  of  whom  some  parts,  and  especially  the  last 
five  verses,  are  true  only  in  a  modified  and  lower  sense. 

Psalm  23 

An  exquisite  description  of  God's  care  over  his  people  under  the  figure 
of  a  shepherd  and  his  flock,  no  doubt  suggested  by  the  writer's  recollections 
of  his  own  pastoral  experience,  although  probably  composed  at  a  much  later 
period  of  his  life.  The  idea  of  the  whole  psalm  is  contained  in  ver.  1,  carried 
out  and  ampUfied  in  ver.  2-5,  and  again  summed  up,  without  continuing 
the  metaphor,  in  ver.  6.  The  psalm  is  so  constructed  as  at  the  same  time 
to  express  the  feelings  of  the  Psalmist,  and  to  serve  as  a  vehicle  for  those 
of  every  individual  believer  and  of  the  whole  body  of  God's  people  for 
whose  use  it  was  intended. 

1.  A  Psalm  of  David.  Jehovah  {is)  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not  want. 
This  is  the  general  theme  or  idea  of  the  whole  psalm,  that  the  believer's 
relation  to  Jehovah  carries  with  it  necessarily  the  full  supply  of  all  his 
wants.  Spiritual  gifts  are  neither  excluded  nor  exclusively  intended.  No 
nice  distinction  between  these  and  temporal  advantages  is  here  made  for 
us,  and  none  need  be  made  by  us.  The  comparison  of  God's  care  to  that 
of  a  shepherd  is  first  used  by  Jacob,  (Gen.  xlviii.  15,  xHx.  24),  then  by 
Moses  (Deut.  xxxii.  6-12,  compared  with  Ps.  Ixxviii.  52),  both  of  whom, 
Uke  David,  had  themselves  lived  a  pastoral  life.  From  these  the  figure  is 
frequently  borrowed  by  the  later  wi'iters  of  the  Old  Testament.  See  Isa. 
xl.  11,  Ezek.  xxxiv.  12,  Micah  vii.  14,  Ps.  Ixxx.  2  (1),  xcv.  7.  This 
endearing  relation  of  Jehovah  to  his  people  was  exercised  under  the  old 
dispensation  by  the  agency  of  human  or  angelic  messengers,  but  under  the 
new  by  Christ,  of  whom  these  were  only  t^'pes  and  representatives  (Zech. 
xiii.  1),  and  to  whom  the  figure  is  expressly  applied  by  himself  (John  x.  11), 
and  his  apostles  (1  Peter  ii.  25,  v.  4,  Heb.  xiii.  20).  From  him  again,  on 
the  principle  of  delegated  representation,  is  derived  the  pastoral  character 
of  Christian  ministers  (Eph.  iv.  11).  The  futm-e  form,  I  shall  not  want, 
includes  the  present,  I  do  not  want,  with  an  additional  assurance  that  the 
provision  will  be  still  continued.  The  form  of  expression  is  derived  from 
Deut  ii.  7,  viii.  9,  and  recurs  below,  Ps.  xxxiv.  11  (10). 

2.  In  pastures  of  verdure  he  will  make  me  lie  down  ;  hy  waters  of  rest 
(or  repose)  he  will  lead  me.  Here  begins  the  amphfication  of  the  general 
proposition  in  the  foregoing  verse.  The  first  specification  is,  that  he  shall 
not  want  healthful  and  delightful  rest.     This  is  expressed  by  figures  bor- 


116  Psalm  23:3, 4 

rowed  from  the  exquisite  enjoyment  of  a  flock  in  verdant  and  well- watered 
pastures.  The  allusion,  in  the  first  clause,  is  not  to  the  supply  of  food, 
which  is  mentioned  afterwards  in  ver.  5,  but  to  the  refreshing  rest  and  cool- 
ness of  green  meadows.  The  first  noun  properly  means  dwellings,  but  is 
applied  specifically  to  the  dwellings  of  flocks,  i.  e.  their  pasture-grounds. 
See  below,  Ps.  Ixv.  13  (12),  and  compare  Amos  i.  2,  Jer.  ix.  9  (10), 
XXV.  87.  The  next  word  in  Hebrew  means  the  fresh  tender  grass,  here 
referred  to,  not  as  food,  but  in  allusion  to  its  cooling  effect  upon  the  eye 
and  the  skin.  This  explanation  is  confirmed  by  the  fact,  that  the  act 
expressed  by  the  verb  is  not  that  of  eating  but  of  lying  down.  The  verb 
itself  is  one  which  specially  denotes  the  lying  down  of  animals  (Gen.  xxix.  2, 
Num.  xxii.  27,  Isa.  xi.  6),  but  is  sometimes  transferred  to  the  human 
subject  (Isa.  xiv.  30,  Job.  xi.  19),  or  to  other  objects  (Gen.  xlix.  25,  Deut. 
xxix.  19).  By  waters,  not  simply  to  them,  but  along  them,  which  is  one 
of  the  senses  of  the  Hebrew  preposition,  and  affords  a  much  more  pleasing 
image.  By  waters  of  rest  we  are  not  to  understand  still  or  quiet  waters,  a 
sense  which  the  Hebrew  word  has  nowhere  else,  and  which  would  here 
suggest  the  idea  of  stagnation,  or  at  least  that  of  silence,  which  is  far  less 
agreeable  than  that  of  an  audible  flow.  The  idea  really  conveyed  is  that 
of  waters,  by  or  at  which  rest  may  be  enjoyed.  The  repose  is  not  that  of 
the  waters  themselves,  but  of  the  flocks  reclining  near  them.  The  last 
verb  sometimes  means  to  nourish,  or  more  generally  to  provide  for  (Gen. 
xlvii.  17,  2  Chron.  xxxii.  22),  and  the  Septuagint  version  so  explains  it 
here.  The  idea  would  then  be  that  the  shepherd  takes  care  of  his  flock,  or 
tends  it,  by  the  waters  of  repose.  But  a  more  specific  act  is  described,  and 
therefore  a  more  vivid  image  presented,  by  retaining  the  common  version, 
leadeth,  which  is  fuUy  sustained  by  the  use  of  the  same  Hebrew  verb  in 
Exod.  XV.  13,  2  Chron.  xxviii.  15.  The  form,  however,  should  be  future, 
as  in  the  preceding  verse. 

8.  My  soul  he  will  restore  ;  he  will  lead  me  in  paths  of  right  (or  rectitude) 
for  his  name's  sake.  To  restore  the  soul,  here  as  in  Ps.  xix.  8  (7),  is  to 
vivify  or  quicken  the  exhausted  spirit.  Baths  of  right  may  either  mean 
right  paths,  as  opposed  to  those  which  are  devious  and  dangerous,  or  paths 
of  righteousness,  not  man's  but  God's,  not  ways  of  upright  conduct  on  the 
Psalmist's  part,  but  ways  of  faithfulness  on  God's  part.  The  righteousness 
of  God,  so  often  appealed  to  by  the  ancient  saints,  includes  his  covenanted 
mercy,  the  exercise  of  which,  according  to  his  promise,  was  ensured  by  his 
essential  rectitude.  For  his  names  sake,  not  merely ybr  his  own  sake,  nor 
for  his  own  glory,  but  for  the  sake  of  what  he  has  already  done,  the  pre- 
vious display  of  his  perfections,  which  would  be  dishonoured  by  a  failure 
to  fulfil  his  promises.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  23  (22). 

4.  Also  when  I  walk  into  (or  through)  the  valley  of  death-shade,  I  will 
not  fear  evil,  for  thou  {loilt  he)  with  me  ;  thy  rod  and  thy  staff,  they  will 
comfort  me.  He  is  sure,  not  only  of  repose,  restoration,  and  guidance,  but 
of  protection.  The  also  shews  that  something  new  is  to  be  added  ;  not 
only  this  which  I  have  said,  but  more.  The  common  version  {yea,  though 
I  walk)  is  too  indefinite  and  hypothetical.  The  situation  is  not  spoken  of 
as  possible,  but  certain,  though  still  future. — Death-shade  is  a  strong  poetical 
expression  for  the  profoundest  darkness.  See  below,  Ps.  xliv.  20  (19). 
The  common  version,  shadow  of  death,  conveys  more  than  the  original,  and 
fails  to  reproduce  its  compound  form.  The  effect  is  heightened  by  the 
mention  of  a  valley,  as  a  deep  place,  often  overhung  with  woods,  and  natu- 
rally darker  than  a  plain  or  mountain.     There  may  be  some  allusion  to  the 


Psalm  23:5,  6  117 

dread  of  darkness  on  the  part  of  sheep  and  other  timid  animals. — The  rod 
and  the  staff  are  mentioned,  not  as  weapons  of  defence,  but  as  badges  of 
the  shepherd  and  as  tokens  of  his  presence. 

5.  ITiou  wilt  spread  be/ore  me  a  table  in  the  presence  of  my  adversaries  ; 
thou  hast  anointed  with  oil  my  head  ;  my  cup  (is)  oversowing.  To  the 
negative  benefits  before  enumerated,  he  now  adds  the  positive  advantage  of 
abundant  sustenance.  Instead  of  retaining  the  image  of  a  sheep  and  its 
pasture,  the  Psalmist  substitutes  that  of  a  table  furnished  for  a  human  guest. 
The  connection,  however,  is  so  close  and  the  metaphors  so  near  akin,  that 
the  general  impression  remains  undisturbed. — In  the  presence  of  my  enemies 
impUes  in  spite  of  them  ;  they  are  forced  to  witness  my  enjoyment  without 
bemg  able  to  disturb  it. — Anointed,  literally /aiienec^,  in  allusion  to  the 
richness  and  abundance  of  the  unction.  This  was  a  familiar  part  of  an 
ancient  festal  entertainment,  and  is  therefore  frequently  employed  in  Scrip- 
ture as  a  symbol  of  joy.  See  below,  on  Ps.  xlv.  8  (7). — My  cup,  my 
beverage,  which,  with  food,  makes  up  the  supply  of  necessary  nutriment, 
but  with  the  additional  suggestion  of  exhilaration.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  5. 
— Overflowing,  literally  overflow,  or  abundant  drink.  The  change  of  tense 
is  significant  and  expressive.  What  he  had  just  before  confidently  foreseen, 
he  now  describes  as  actually  realised. 

6.  Only  goodness  and  mercy  shall  follow  me  all  the  days  of  my  life,  and 
I  shall  dwell  in  the  house  of  Jehovah  to  length  of  days.  The  specifications 
of  the  four  preceding  verses  are  followed  by  another  summary  expression  of 
the  general  idea  propounded  in  the  first  verse,  but  with  a  change  of  form. 
The  Hebrew  particle  at  the  beginning  has  its  usual  and  proper  sense  of  only 
or  exclusively.  The  favour  which  he  shall  experience  is  so  great  that  he 
regards  it  as  unmixed,  or  the  exceptions  as  unworthy  of  consideration. — 
The  word  translated  goodness  may  be  understood  to  mean  good  fortune, 
good  experienced,  as  a  cognate  form  does  in  Ps.  xvi.  2 ;  but  the  other  version 
agrees  better  with  the  parallel  expression,  mercy.  The  verb  to  follow  or 
pursue  seems  to  be  chosen  in  allusion  to  the  persecution  of  his  enemies, 
and  as  a  strong  expression  for  an  unbroken  series  or  succession  of  divine 
benefactions.  Dwelling  in  the  house  of  Jehovah  does  not  mean  frequenting 
his  sanctuary,  but  being  a  member  of  his  household  and  an  inmate  of  his 
family,  enjoying  his  protection,  holding  communion  with  him,  and  subsisting 
on  his  bounty.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xv.  1. 

Psalm  24 

This  psalm  consists  of  two  distinct  and,  it  may  seem  at  first  sight,  un- 
connected parts.  The  first  praises  God  as  the  universal  sovereign  by  right 
of  creation,  ver.  1,  2,  and  describes  the  moral  requisites  to  intimate  com- 
munion with  him,  ver.  3-6.  The  second  represents  him,  .in  a  striking 
figurative  form,  as  entering  some  place  provided  for  his  residence,  ver,  7-10. 
The  idea  common  to  both  parts  is  the  supremacy  of  God,  both  in  holiness 
and  majesty.  There  is  no  historical  occasion  to  which  such  a  composition 
would  seem  more  appropriate  than  the  removal  of  the  ark  to  mount  Zion 
by  David,  as  described  in  2  Sam.  vi.  and  1  Chron.  xv.  And  as  the  first 
part  of  this  psalm  carries  out  the  idea  of  dwelling  in  God's  house,  expressed 
at  the  close  of  Ps.  xxiii.,  it  is  not  an  improbable  conjecture,  though  by  no 
means  a  necessary  supposition,  that  the  two  psalms  were  designed  to  form 
a  pair,  and  to  be  sung  upon  the  same  occasion ;  the  first,  it  may  be,  as  the 


118  Psalm  24:1 -4 

ark  left  its  former  resting-place,  the  second  as  it  drew  near  to  its  new  one. 
The  resemblance  of  ver.  3-6  to  Ps.  xv.  make  it  not  improbable  that  that 
psalm  also  was  composed  for  use  on  a  similar  if  not  the  same  occasion. 
The  supposition  of  alternate  choirs  in  the  case  before  us  appears  to  be  a 
useless  and  gratuitous  refinement.  The  sanctuary  of  the  old  economy, 
both  in  its  permanent  and  temporary  forms,  was  intended  to  symbolise  the 
doctrine  of  God's  special  presence  and  residence  among  his  people  ;  and  as 
this  was  reaUsed  in  the  advent  of  Christ,  the  psalm  before  us  has  a  per- 
manent interest  and  use,  and  in  a  certain  sense  may  be  described  as 
Messianic. 

1.  To  David,  i.e.  belonging  to  him  as  its  author.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
iii.  1,  iv.  1,  V.  1.  A  Psalm.  To  Jehovah  (belongs)  the  earth  and  its  fulness, 
the  world  and  (those)  dwelling  in  it.  Its  fulness,  that  which  fills  it,  its  con- 
tents. The  word  translated  world  is  a  poetical  equivalent  to  earth,  denot- 
ing specially,  according  to  its  etymology,  the  productive  portion  of  the 
earth,  and  thus  corresponding  indirectly  to  the  Greek  olxov/Mivri,  or  inhabited 
earth.  This  assertion  of  Jehovah's  sovereign  propriety  is  intended  to  shew 
that  he  was  not  the  God  of  Israel  only,  but  of  the  whole  world,  and  there- 
by entitled  to  be  served  with  reverence  and  purity,  an  idea  more  distinctly 
brought  out  afterwards. 

2.  For  He  above  the  seas  has  settled  it,  and  above  the  streams  has  fixed  it. 
The  pronoun  is  emphatic ;  He  and  no  one  else.  See  below,  Ps.  c.  3.  He 
has  made  the  earth  what  it  is,  and  is  therefore  the  sovereign,  both  of  it  and 
its  inhabitants.  The  idea  is  not  that  of  subterraneous  waters  bearing  up  the 
land,  but  simply  that  of  the  habitable  earth,  raised  above  the  surface  of  the 
waters  which  surround  it.     The  use  of  the  Hebrew  preposition  C^y)  is  the 

same  as  in  Ps.  i.  3.  There  is  obvious  allusion  to  the  rescue  of  the  dry 
land  from  the  universal  prevalence  of  water,  as  described  in  the  Mosaic  cos- 
mogony, Gen.  i.  9,  10.  The  sense  of  the  two  verses,  taken  in  connection, 
is  that  since  Jehovah  is  the  God  who  collected  the  waters,  and  caused  the 
dry  land  to  appear,  he  is  the  rightful  sovereign  of  the  habitable  earth,  and 
of  those  whom  it  sustains. 

3.  Who  shall  go  up  into  the  mountain  of  Jehovah,  and  uho  shall  stand  in  his 
holy  place  ?  Since  he  is  thus,  by  right  of  creation,  the  universal  sovereign, 
which  of  his  creatures  shall  enjoy  the  happiness  and  honour  of  appearing  in 
his  presence  !  The  hill  of  the  Lord,  or  mountain  of  Jehovah,  is  mount 
Zion,  henceforth  to  be  hallowed  as  his  earthly  dwelling-place.  The  verb  in 
the  last  clause  does  not  simply  mean  to  stand,  but  to  standfast,  to  maintain 
one's  ground.  See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  5.  It  may,  therefore,  be  implied,  that 
some  who  gain  a  bodily  access  to  the  consecrated  place  shall  not  be  suffered 
to  remain  there.  It  is  indeed  implied  in  the  whole  interrogation  that  mere 
bodily  presence  on  mount  Zion  might  be  wholly  unconnected  with  spiritual 
access  to  the  holy  place . 

4.  2%e  clean  of  hands  and  pure  of  heart,  who  has  not  lifted  up  Ms  soul  to 
vanity,  and  has  not  swoi-n  to  fraud  [ox  falsehood).  This  is  the  answer  to 
the  foregoing  question,  given  by  the  Psalmist  himself.  There  is  no  more 
need  of  supposing  two  speakers  than  in  the  rhetorical  interrogations  which 
are  so  abundant  in  Demosthenes  and  other  animated  writers.  All  moral 
purity  is  here  referred  to  the  hands,  the  tongue,  and  the  heart,  as  the  organs 
of  external  action,  speech,  and  feeling.  The  same  distribution  may  be  made 
in  the  commandments  of  the  decalogue.  The  second  clause  is  very  obscure. 
The  form  of  expression  is  directly  borrowed  from  the  third  commandment 
(Exod.  XX.  7),  where  the  common  version  {take  in  vain)  is  neither  intelli- 


Psalm  24:5,  6  119 

gible  in  itself  nor  an  exact  copy  of  the  original.  The  precise  construc- 
tion') (SlJi/'?  HU.^2)  is  found  in  these  two  places  only ;  but  a  cognate  one  {ii^i 

'  ;     T  *  T   T  T     T 

^^^)  occvirs  repeatedly  in  the  sense  of  setting  the  heart  or  the  desires  on 

something  (See  Deut.  xxiv.  15,  Prov.  xix.  18,  Ps.  xxv.  1,  Ixxxvi.  4, 
cxliii.  8).  The  only  two  plausible  interpretations  of  the  former  phrase  are 
that  which  makes  ^<^^^  a  mere  poetical  variation  of  KltS^n  Vni  and  that 
which  gives  ^<')2J^7  K^J;  in  both  places,  the  sense  of  carrying  to  vanity,  i.  e. 

bringing  the  name  of  God  or  the  soul  of  man  into  connection  with  a  false- 
hood, whether  this  be  taken  in  its  strict  sense,  or  as  meaning  an  unlawful  or 
unsatisfying  object  of  affection.  It  seems  more  natural,  however,  to  explain 
the  case  before  us,  not  by  the  single  one  in  which  the  combination  b  ^<ii.0 

;  T  T 

occurs,  but  by  the  many  in  which  the  same  verb  is  connected  with  the  same 
noun  although  by  a  different  preposition.  The  meaning  of  the  clause  will 
then  be,  who  has  7iot  set  his  heart  on  falsehood,  or  on  any  false  and  sinful 
object.  That  false  swearing  is  particularly  mentioned  in  the  last  clause  can- 
not prove  that  it  is  exclusively  intended  here,  as  parallel  clauses  very 
seldom  say  precisely  the  same  thing. — Sworn  to  falsehood,  i.e.  made  a  false 
oath,  or  sworn  for  deceit,  i.e.  with  a  fraudulent  design. 

5.  He  shall  carry  away  a  blessing  from  Jehovah,  and  righteousness  from 
the  God  of  his  salvation.   The  first  verb  i}^^^)  seems  to  have  been  chosen  with 

some  reference  to  its  use  in  the  foregoing  verse,  but  not  so  as  to  require  us 
to  take  it  in  precisely  the  same  sense.  A  blessing  from  Jehovah,  not  merely 
from  man,  with  allusion,  as  some  think,  to  David's  blessing  the  people, 
2  Sam.  vi.  18. — Righteousness  may  either  mean  a  practical  justification,  an 
attestation  of  his  innocence  afforded  by  his  experience  of  God's  favour ;  or 
the  gift  of  righteousness  itself,  the  highest  and  most  precious  of  all  gifts, 
and  one  which  always  follows  upon  justification. — The  God  of  his  salvation, 
i.  e.  God  his  Saviour,  or  his  God  who  is  a  Saviour.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xviii.  47  (46). 

6.  This  is  the  generation  seeking  him ;  the  seekers  of  thy  face  (are)  Jacob, 
i.  e.  the  true  Jacob,  the  true  Israel.  This  refers  to  the  description  in 
ver.  6. — Seeking  hiyn  (in  the  singular)  is  the  reading  in  the  text ;  the  mar- 
ginal reading  is  those  seeking  him,  which  amounts  to  the  same  thing.  To 
seek  God  and  to  seek  his  face,  i.  e.,  his  countenance  or  presence,  are  common 
phrases  for  the  earnest  endeavour  to  secure  his  favour,  Ps.  xxvii.  8,  cv.  4, 
Hos.  V.  15,  2  Sam.  xxi.  1.  Our  language  does  not  furnish  equivalents  to 
the  two  Hebrew  verbs  employed  to  express  this  idea  in  the  verse  before 
us. — The  connection  of  the  last  word  with  the  rest  of  the  sentence  is 
obscure.  Some  make  it  a  vocative  :  "  who  seek  thy  face,  0  Jacob!"  i.e. 
who  seek  the  countenance  and  friendship  of  God's  people.  Or,  "who 
seek  thy  face,  0  (God  of)  Jacob!"  a  very  harsh  ellipsis,  which  could  only 
be  justified  by  exegetical  necessity.  The  best  sense  is  yielded  by  the  con- 
struction first  proposed,  or  by  another,  which  differs  from  it  only  in  dis- 
pensing with  a  verb  and  throwing  all  into  one  sentence  "This  is  the 
generation  seeking  thee,  those  seeking  thy  face  (0  Jehovah),  (the  true) 
Israel."  The  sudden  apostrophe  to  God  himself  makes  the  sentence  more 
impressive  without  making  it  obscure. — The  distinction  here  made  between 
the  nominal  and  real  Israel  was  peculiarly  necessary  on  occasions  which 
were  suited  to  flatter  the  natural  pride  of  the  chosen  people,  such  as  that 
of  Jehovah's  solemn  entrance  into  Zion,  as  the  peculiar  God  of  Israel.    To 


120  Psalm24:7-10 

correct  this  abuse  of  their  extraordinary  privileges,  two  great  doctrines  are 
here  set  forth ;  that  their  God  was  the  God  of  the  whole  earth ;  and,  secondly, 
that  he  was  holy,  and  required  holiness  as  a  term  of  admission  to  his  pre- 
sence. The  idea  of  a  true  and  false  Israel  reappears  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  is  propounded  with  peculiar  distinctness  and  emphasis  by  Paul 
in  Rom.  ix.  6,  7. 

7.  Lijt  up,  0  gates,  your  heads,  and  he  lijted  up,  ye  doors  of  perpetuity  ! 
And  in  will  come  the  king  of  glory !  The  procession  is  now  commonly 
supposed  to  have  arrived  at  the  entrance  of  the  citadel  or  walled  town  of 
Zion,  the  acropolis  of  Jerusalem.  The  gates  of  this  acropolis  are  those 
personified  in  this  fine  apostrophe.  They  are  called  perpetual  or  everlasting 
on  account  of  their  antiquity,  and  not  in  mere  anticipation  of  their  subse- 
quent duration,  as  in  1  Kings  viii.  13.  They  are  called  upon  to  raise  their 
heads,  that  he  who  is  about  to  enter  may  not  debase  himself  by  stooping  to 
pass  through  them.  The  connection  of  the  clauses  is  correctly  given,  but 
in  a  form  much  more  agreeable  to  the  English  than  the  Hebrew  idiom,  by 
translating  the  future  as  a  subjunctive  tense,  that  the  king  of  glory  may 
come  in.  The  king  of  glory  is  a  phrase  analogous  to  hill  of  holiness,  strength 
of  salvation,  &c.,  and  means  glorious  king. 

8.  Who  is  this,  the  king  of  glory  ?  Jehovah  strong  and  mighty,  Jeho- 
vah mighty  in  battle  (or  a  mighty  warrior).  The  supposition  of  alternate 
or  responsive  choirs  is  as  unnecessary  here  as  in  ver.  4  above.  It  is  the 
case,  so  common  in  all  animated  speech  and  composition,  of  a  speaker  ask- 
ing a  question  simply  for  the  purpose  of  answering  it  himself.  As  if  he 
had  said,  "  Do  you  ask  who  this  king  of  glory  is  ?  It  is  the  Lord,"  &c. 
The  common  version.  Who  is  this  king  of  glory  ?  does  not  fully  convey  the 
force  of  the  original,  the  sense  of  which  is,  "who  is  this  (of  whom  you 
speak  as)  the  king  of  glory  ?"  The  word  translated  mighty,  although  pro- 
perly an  adjective,  is  continually  used  as  a  noun  substantive,  and  is  the 
nearest  equivalent  in  Hebrew  to  the  classical  term  hero.  But  the  simple 
majesty  of  David's  language  would  be  marred  in  a  translation  by  the  use  of 
this  word,  and  still  more  by  that  of  the  combination,  martial  or  military 
hero,  in  the  other  clause.  The  idea,  both  in  this  and  other  places,  is  bor- 
rowed from  the  Song  of  Moses,  Exod.  xv.  3. 

9.  Lift  up,  0  gates,  your  heads,  and  lift  (them)  up,  ye  doors  of  perpe- 
tuity, and  in  will  come  the  king  of  glory.  In  order  to  conclude  with  an 
emphatic  repetition  of  the  epithets  in  ver.  8,  it  was  necessary  that  the 
question  in  that  verse  should  be  repeated  likewise ;  and  in  order  to  this 
the  summons  in  ver.  7  is  repeated  here,  but,  as  in  most  Uke  cases,  with  a 
variation,  which,  though  sUght,  relieves  the  repetition  from  entire  same- 
ness. The  variation  here  consists  in  the  exchange  of  the  passive  form,  he 
lifted  up,  for  the  corresponding  active,  lift  up,  so  your  heads,  the  object 
being  readily  suggested  by  the  other  clause. 

10.  Who  is  this,  the  king  of  glory?  Jehovah  [God)  of  Hosts,  he  is  the  king 
of  glory.  Selah.  Between  the  question  here  and  in  ver.  8  the  only  varia- 
tion is  one  which  cannot  well  be  imitated  in  translation.  For  the  simple 
Hebrew  phrase  (nr^D)  Who  is  this  ?  we  have  here  the  fuller  form  (S^in  ^p 

HT),  in  which  the  personal  pronoun  is  interposed  between  the  interrogative 

and  demonstrative,  so  as  to  suggest  the  two  forms.  Who  is  he  ?  and  Who  is 
this  ?  though  really  constituting  but  a  single  question,  as  the  personal  pro- 
noun (^<^^),  in  Hebrew  usage,  often  serves  as  an  index  of  the  substantive 
when  not  expressed. — There  is  a  more  material  variation  in.  the  answer, 


Psalm  24:10  121 

■where,   instead  of  the   two  phrases,  Jehovah  strong  and  mighty,  Jehovah 
mighty  in  battle,  the  Psabnist  substitutes  the  single  but  still  more  expres- 
sive title,  Jehovah  Zebaoth,  or  of  Hosts.     In  Exodus  xii.  41,  Israel  is  called 
the  hosts  of  Jehovah ;  but  a  much  more  frequent  designation  is  the  host  or 
hosts  of  heaven,  sometimes  applied  to  the  heavenly  bodies,  especially  as 
objects  of  idolatrous  worship  (Deut.  iv.  19,  xvii.  8,  2  Kings  xvii.  16,  Isa. 
xxxiv.  4,  Jer.  xxxiii.  22,  Zeph.  i.  5,  Dan.  viii.  10),  and  sometimes  to  the 
angels  (Jos.  v.  14,  15,  1  Kings  xxii.  19,  2  Chron.  xviii.  18,  Ps.  ciii.  21, 
cxlviii.  2).     In  both  these  senses  God  may  be  described  as  the  God  of 
Hosts,  i.  e.  as  the  sovereign  both  of  the  material  heavens  and  of  their 
inhabitants.     From  the  use  of  hosts  in  Gen.  ii.  1,  some  would  extend  it  to  the 
earth  as  well  as  the  heavens,  and  explain  the  compound  title  as  denoting 
Lord  of  the  Universe,  as  Mohammed  in  the  Koran  speaks  of  Allah  as  the 
Lord  of  Worlds.     But  this  explanation,  even  supposing  it  to  be  correct  as 
to  the  single  place  on  which  it  rests,  derives  no  countenance  from  usage 
elsewhere.     Still  less  admissible  is  that  which  makes  it  simply  mean  the 
God  of  Battles  or  the  God  of  War,  a  name  and  an  idea  much  less  scrip- 
tural than  heathenish.     The  phrase  Jehovah  Zebaoth  does  not  occur  in  the 
Pentateuch,  Joshua  or  Judges,  from  which  some  have  inferred  that  it  was 
afterwards  introduced  in  opposition  to  the  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and 
of  the  spirits  which  were  supposed  to  govern  and  inhabit  them.    According  to 
the  usage  of  the  Hebrew  language,  Jehovah,  as  a  proper  name,  cannot  be  con- 
strued with  a  genitive  directly,  nor  is  it  ever  so  connected  with  any  other 
noun.     The  anomaly  can  only  be    removed  by  making  Zebaoth  itself  a 
proper  name,  or  by  supplying  the  word  God  between  it  and  Jehovah.     The 
first  solution  may  appear  to  be  favoured  by  the  aafSauS  of  the  Septuagint, 
retained  in  Rom.  ix.  29  and  James  v.  4.     But  the  other  is  proved  to  be 
the  true  one  by  such  passages  as  Hos.  xii.  6  (5),  Amos  iv.  13,  where  we 
have  the  fall  form,  Jehovah  God  of  Hosts.     Compare  Ps.  lix.  6  (5),  lxxx.5  (4), 
Ixxxiv.  9  (8). — This  description  of  Jehovah  as  the  God  of  heaven  no  less 
than  of  earth,  while  it  sensibly  strengthens  the  expressions  of  ver.  8,  and 
thus  removes  the  appearance  of  a  mere  tautological  reiteration,  at  the  same 
time  brings  us  back  in  the  conclusion  to  the  point  from  which  we  set  out 
in  ver.  1,  to  wit,  the  universal  sovereignty  of  God.     The  whole  psalm  is  then 
brought  to  a  solemn  and  sonorous  close  by  making  the  answer  echo  the 
terms  of  the  interrogation.  He  is  the  king  of  glory  !     These  points  of  diffe- 
rence between  ver.  8  and  10  impart  a  beautiful  variety  to  the   repeated 
sentence,  without  impairing  in  the  least  the  rhetorical  or  musical  effect 
of  the  repetition  itself,  which  is  followed  only  by  the  customary  indica- 
tion of  a  pause,  both  in  the  sense  and  the  performance.     See  above,  on 
Ps.  iii.  3  (2). 

Psalm  25 

The  first  of  the  alphabetical  psalms,  in  which  the  verses  begin  with  the 
different  Hebrew  letters  in  their  order,  an  arrangement  peculiar  to  those 
psalms,  in  which  a  single  theme  or  idea  is  repeated  under  various  forms, 
and,  as  it  were,  in  a  series  of  aphorisms.  Now  and  then,  in  order  to  com- 
plete the  expression  of  the  thought,  the  series  of  the  letters  is  neglected, 
either  by  repeating  or  omitting  one.  In  this  psalm,  for  example,  two  suc- 
cessive verses  begin  with  i^,  and  two  with  "1,  while  *)  and  p  are  left  out. 
The  first  verse,  however,  does  not  properly  belong  to  the  alphabetical 


122  Psalm  25:1 -6 

series,  but  constitutes  one  sentence  with  the  short  verse  at  the  end,  which 
is  added  after  the  completion  of  the  alphabet.  The  theme  which  runs 
through  this  psalm  is  deliverance  from  enemies,  occasionally  blended  with 
a  prayer  for  the  divine  forgiveness. 

1.  By  David.  Unto  thee,  Jehovah,  my  soul  will  I  lift  up,  or  as  some 
explain  it,  bring  or  carry.  All  agree,  however,  that  the  essential  idea  is 
that  of  confident  desire.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxi\'.  4,  and  compare  Ps. 
Ixxxvi.  4,  cxliii.  8,  below,  where  the  phrase  occurs  again.  The  sentiment 
expressed  is  that  of  settled  confidence  in  God,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other 
helpers. 

2.  My  God,  in  thee  have  I  trusted,  let  me  not  be  ashamed ;  let  not  my 
enemies  triumph  over  me,  or  more  exactly,  with  respect  to  me.  As  the  future 
verb  of  the  preceding  verse  implies  a  fixed  determination  to  confide  in  God 
hereafter,  so  the  preterite  in  this  verse  indicates  that  such  trust  has  been 
exercised  already.  The  present  is  included  under  both  forms. — Ashamed, 
disappointed,  defeated  in  my  plans  and  expectations.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xxii.  6  (5). — The  last  clause  shews  that  suffering  from  enemies  was  in  the 
Psalmist's  mind  throughout. 

3.  Likewise  all  {those)  waiting  for  thee  shall  not  be  ashamed,  ashamed 
shall  be  the  traitors  without  cause.  He  does  not  ask  for  any  special  dispen- 
sation in  his  own  behalf,  but  merely  for  a  fair  participation  in  God's  cus- 
tomary mode  of  dealing  with  the  whole  class  of  which  he  is  a  member,  here 
described  as  those  waiting  for  God,  i.  e.  hoping  in  him,  awaiting  the  fulfil- 
ment of  his  promises.  The  modem  English  sense  of  waiting  on  is  too 
restricted,  though  the  phrase  once  exactly  corresponded  to  the  Hebrew. — 
The  position  of  the  verbs,  at  the  end  and  the  beginning  of  successive 
clauses,  gives  a  peculiar  turn  to  the  sentence,  which  is  lost  in  some  trans- 
lations.— Without  cause  qualifies  the  word  immediately  preceding,  and 
describes  the  enemy  not  only  as  perfidious,  but  as  acting  so  gratuitously, 
and  without  provocation.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  5  (4),  and  below,  on  Ps. 
XXXV.  19,  xxxviii.  20  (19),  Ixix.  5  (4). 

4.  Thy  ways,  Jehovah,  make  me  know  ;  thy  paths  teach  me.  As  the 
ways  of  God,  throughout  this  psalm,  are  the  same  as  in  Deut.  xxxii.  4, 
namely  his  dispensations  towards  his  people,  the  way  in  which  he  orders 
their  condition  and  disposes  of  their  lot,  the  teaching  prayed  for  must  be 
that  of  experience.  "  Let  me  know  in  my  own  case  what  it  is  to  be  guided 
and  protected  and  provided  for  by  God  himself."  This  meaning  suits  the 
context  better  than  that  of  moral  guidance,  which  however  is  implied,  if 
not  expressed. 

5.  Make  me  walk  in  thy  truth  and  teach  me,  for  thou  [art)  the  God  of  my 
salvation  ;  for  thee  have  I  waited  all  the  day.  The  obvious  meaning  of  this 
verse,  interpreted  according  to  New  Testament  and  modem  usage,  would 
be  that  of  a  prayer  for  divine  instruction  in  religious  truth  or  doctrine.  But 
the  usage  of  the  Psalms,  and  the  preceding  context,  are  in  favour  of  ex- 
plaining truth  to  mean  the  veracity  of  God,  or  the  faithful  performance  of 
his  promises.  See  Ps.  xxx.  10  (9),  Ixxi.  22,  xci.  4.  The  teaching  asked 
is  then  experimental  teaching,  or  the  actual  experience  of  God's  faithful- 
ness.— The  God  of  my  salvation,  or  my  Saviour  God.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xviii.  47  (46). — /  have  waited.  This  is  no  new  or  untried  exercise  of  faith, 
to  be  attempted  for  the  first  time,  but  one  with  which  I  have  been  long 
familiar. — AU  the  day,  continually,  always, 

6.  Remember  thy  mercies,  0  Jehovah,  and  thy  favours,  for  from  eternity 
are  they.     The  prayer  for  future  favours  is  here  founded  upon  those  experi- 


Psalm25:7-ll  123 

enced  already. — Of  old  is  an  inadequate  translation  of  Db'lVp,  and  even  in 

the  stronger  form,  ever  of  old,  less  exact  and  expressive  than  the  literal 
translation /ro?w.  eternity,  to  which  there  is  the  less  objection  here,  as  the 
words  relate  not  merely  to  God's  acts  but  to  his  attributes. 

7.  The  sins  of  my  youth  and  my  transgressions  [0)  remember  not;  accord- 
ing to  thy  mercy  remember  thou  me,  for  the  sake  of  thy  goodness,  0  Jehovah! 
Among  the  mercies  which  he  craves,  the  most  important  is  the  pardon  of 
his  sins,  not  only  in  itself  considered,  but  as  that  without  which  all  the 
others  must  be  worthless.  The  sins  of  his  youth  are  mentioned  as  the 
earliest  in  date,  and  probably  as  those  committed  with  the  least  restraint, 
at  an  age  when  reflection  is  subordinate  to  passion.  Compare  Job  xiii.  26, 
2  Tim.  ii.  22.  Besides  the  obvious  reference  to  the  youthful  sins  of  indi- 
viduals, there  may  be  also  an  allusion  to  the  national  iniquities  of  Israel, 
committed  in  the  period  of  their  childhood  as  a  people,  namely,  that  of 
their  sojourn  in  the  wilderness.  See  below,  on  ver.  22,  and  compare  Deut. 
ix.  7. 

8.  Good  and  upright  (is)  Jehovah ;  therefore  idll  he  guide  sinners  in  the 
way.  Not  only  the  goodness,  but  the  rectitude  of  the  divine  nature  requires 
the  exercise  of  covenanted  mercy.  The  second  epithet  is  borrowed  from 
Deut  xxxii.  4. — The  u-ay  meant  in  the  last  clause  is  the  way  of  safety  or 
salvation.  What  is  meant  may  be  either  that  God  guides  sinners  into  it 
by  converting  them,  or  that  he  guides  those  sinners  in  it  who  are  still  his 
people,  as  the  same  person  claims  to  be  both  righteous  and  a  sinner  in  Ps. 
xli.  5,  13,  (4,  12).  Hence  perhaps  he  uses  the  indefinite  term  sinners,  not 
the  distinctive  phrase  the  sinners,  or  the  more  emphatic  epithet,  the  wicked. 

9.  He  will  guide  humble  (sinners)  in  justice,  and  teach  humble  (sinners) 
his  way.  The  common  version  of  D^IJ^,  meek,  is  too  restricted  and  descriptive 
of  mere  temper.  The  Hebrew  word  is  the  nearest  equivalent  to  humble  in 
its  strong  rehgious  sense.  The  omission  of  the  article  may  be  explained  as 
a  poetic  licence,  and  the  word  translated  the  humble,  so  as  to  include  the 
whole  class.  But  the  intimate  connection  between  this  verse  and  the  one 
before  it,  makes  it  more  natural  to  take  D^IJ^  as  a  description  of  the  sin- 
ners mentioned  in  ver.  8,  who  are  then  of  course  to  be  regarded  as  penitent 
believing  sinners,  i.  e.  as  true  converts.  In  justice,  i.  e.  in  the  exercise  of 
justice,  as  before  explained.  The  way  and  the  teaching  are  the  same  as  in 
the  foregoing  context,  namely,  those  of  Providence. 

10.  All  the  paths  of  Jehovah  (are)  mercy  and  truth  to  the  Tceepers  of  his 
covenant  and  his  testimonies.  The  paths  of  Jehovah  are  the  paths  in  which 
he  walks  himself,  in  other  words,  the  ways  in  which  he  deals  with  his  crea- 
tures.— Truth,  veracity,  fidelity.  See  above,  on  ver.  5.  A  similar  com- 
bination occurs,  John  i.  14.  The  last  clause  shews  that  the  preceding 
promises  are  limited  to  those  who  are  in  covenant  with  God. — Keepers, 
observers,  those  obeying. — His  covenant,  the  commands  tp  which  his  pro- 
mise is  annexed.  The  same  are  called  his  testimonies  against  sin  and  in 
behalf  of  holiness.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xix.  8  (7). 

11.  For  the  sake  of  thy  name  (wilt  thou  do  this),  and  wilt  pardon  my 
iniquity  because  it  is  great.     The  form  of  the  verb  (rin^D))  is  one  that  is 

commonly  preceded  by  a  future,  which  may  here  be  readily  supplied,  so  as 
to  make  the  first  clause  refer  to  the  preceding  promises.  For  thy  name's 
sake,  for  the  honour  of  thy  nature  and  thy  attributes,  as  heretofore  revealed 
in  act.  See  above  on  Ps.  xxiii.  3.  The  emphatic  pronoun  at  the  end 
(j^'^rr^l)  may  possibly  refer  to  the  remoter  antecedent,  as  in  Ps.  xxii. 


124  Psalm  25:12 -17 

18  (17).  The  sense  will  then  be,  "  and  forgive  my  iniquity  because  that 
name  is  great."  (Compare  Mai.  i.  11.)  There  is  nothing  ungrammsCtical, 
however,  in  the  usual  construction,  which  also  agrees  better  with  the  usage 
of  the  adjective  (^1),  as  denoting  rather  quantity  than  elevation,  and  with 

the  parallel  phrase,  much  transgression  (^T  yt£?D),  in  Ps.  xix.  14  (13). 

12.  Who  {is)  the  man  fearing  Jehovah  ?  He  will  guide  him  in  the  way 
he  shall  choose.  In  the  first  clause  the  form  of  the  original  is  highly  idio- 
matic ;  who  (is)  this,  the  man,  a  fearer  of  Jehovah  ?  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xxiv.  8. — The  ellipsis  of  the  relative  in  the  last  clause  is  common  to  both 
idioms. — He  guides  him,  and  will  guide  him.  There  is  not  only  an  affir- 
mation, but  a  promise.  The  way,  as  in  the  foregoing  context,  is  the  pro- 
vidential way  in  which  God  directs  the  course  of  a  man's  life.  His  choosing 
it  impUes  not  only  sovereign  authority,  but  a  gracious  regard  to  the  interests 
of  his  servant. 

13.  His  soul  in  good  shall  lodge,  and  his  seed  shall  possess  the  land. 
The  parallelism  between  soul  and  seed  seems  to  shew  that  by  his  soul  we 
are  to  understand  himself,  for  which  the  Hebrew  has  no  appropriate  expres- 
sion. The  promise,  then,  includes  both  himself  and  his  posterity.  To 
lodge,  to  be  at  home,  to  dwell  at  ease,  and  by  implication,..to  abide  or  con- 
tinue undisturbed.  In  good,  not  goodness,  but  good  fortune  or  prosperity. 
The  verb,  translated  shall  possess,  denotes  specifically  to  inherit,  or  possess 
as  an  inheritance,  i.e.  from  generation  to  generation,  in  perpetual  succession. 
The  land,  to  wit,  the  land  of  Canaan ;  and  as  this  was  the  standing  pro- 
mise of  the  law,  uttered  even  in  the  decalogue  (Exod.  xx.  12),  it  became 
a  formula  for  all  the  blessings  implicitly  embraced  in  the  promise  of  Canaan 
to  the  ancient  Israel,  and  is  so  used  even  by  our  Lord  himself,  (Mat.  v.  5.) 

14.  The  friendship  of  Jehovah  is  to  (those)  fearing  him,  and  his  covenant 
to  make  them  know.  The  word  translated  friendship  means  originally  a 
company  of  persons  sitting  together,  Ps.  cxi.  1 ;  then  familiar  conversation, 
Ps.  Iv.  15  (14) ;  then  confidential  intercourse,  intimacy,  friendship,  Prov. 
iii.  32  ;  then  a  confidence  or  secret,  Prov.  xi.  13.  The  last  sense  is  com- 
monly preferred  in  the  English  version,  even  When  one  of  the  others  would 
be  more  appropriate,  as  in  this  case,  where  the  sense  of  intimacy,  friend- 
ship, seems  required  by  the  context.  The  last  clause  is  ambiguous,  and 
may  either  mean,  his  covenant  is  designed  to  be  known  by  them,  or  his 
covenant  is  designed  to  make  them  know,  i.  e.  his  way ;  or  in  general,  to 
give  them  knowledge.  To  make  them  know  his  covenant  is  a  forced  con- 
struction, and  forbidden  by  the  collocation  of  the"  Hebrew  words.  The 
meaning  of  the  whole  verse  seems  to  be,  that  Jehovah  condescends  to  hold 
familiar  intercourse  with  those  who  fear  him,  and  enters  into  covenant  rela- 
tion with  them,  for  the  purpose  of  making  them  know  all  that  they  need 
know  for  his  service  or  their  own  advantage. 

15.  My  eyes  (are)  always  towards  Jehovah  ;  for  he  will  bring  out  from 
the  net  my  feet.  The  first  clause  expresses  settled  trust  and  constant  expec- 
tation. The  figure  of  a  net  is  a  favourite  one  for  dangers  arising  from  the 
craft  and  spite  of  enemies.     See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  16  (15),  x.  9. 

16.  Turn  thee  unto  me,  and  have  mercy  upon  me,  for  lonely  and  distressed 
(am)  I.  The  prayer  to  turn  implies  that  his  face  was  before  averted,  a 
common  figure  in  the  Psalms  for  the  suspension  or  withholding  of  God's 
favour.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  7  (6). — The  word  translated  lonely  is  the 
same  that  occurs  above,  Ps.  xxii.  21  (20). 

17.  The  troubles  of  my  heart  have  they  enlarged;  from  my  distresses  do 


Psalm  25:18 -22  125 

thou  bring  me  out.  The  plural  of  the  first  clause  is  indefinite,  equivalent  to 
a  passive  construction  in  English,  are  enlarged.  (Compare  the  common 
version  of  Luke  xii.  20.)  It  does  not  refer  even  to  his  enemies  specifically, 
but  to  all  others,  as  distinguished  from  his  lonely  self,  and  from  his  sole 
deliverer. 

18.  See  my  affliction  and  my  trouble,  and  forgive  all  my  sins.  So  long 
as  God  leaves  him  to  endure,  he  is  conceived  of  as  not  seeing  his  condition. 
The  prayer  that  he  will  see  includes  the  prayer  that  he  will  save.  The 
renewed  prayer  for  forgiveness  in  the  last  clause  seems  again  to  recall  to 
nrind  the  intimate  connection  between  sufi'ering  and  sin. 

19.  See  my  enemies,  for  they  are  many,  and  [with)  hatred  of  violence 
have  hated  me.  The  agency  of  wicked  foes  in  causing  his  distresses,  which 
had  been  referred  to  in  ver.  2,  15,  17,  is  here  again  brought  into  view. 
The  word  translated  violence  is  very  strong,  including  the  ideas  of  injustice 
and  cruelty.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xi.  6  (5),  xviii.  49  (48). — The  past  tense 
represents  the  enmity  as  something  of  long  standing. 

20.  (0)  keep  my  soul  and  deliver  me  ;  let  me  not  be  ashamed,  for  I  have 
trusted  in  thee.  To  Jceep  is  here  to  keep  in  safety,  to  preserve. — Ashamed, 
confounded,  disappointed.  See  above,  on  ver.  2.  The  word  translated 
trusted  is  not  that  employed  in  ver.  2,  but  the  one  which  occurs  in  Ps.  ii.  12, 
and  which  originally  means  to  seek  a  refuge  or  a  hiding-place.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xi.  2  (1). 

21.  Integrity  and  rectitude  shall  preserve  me,  because  I  have  waited  for 
thee.  The  first  word  means  completeness  or  perfection  (integritas),  i.e. 
freedom  from  essential  defect.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  21,  24  (20,  23). 
Here,  however,  it  may  signify  the  perfect  rectitude  of  God,  which  will  not 
suffer  him  to  cast  off  or  forsake  those  who  wait  for  him,  i.e.  trustfully 
expect  the  fulfilment  of  his  promises. 

22.  Redeem,  0  God,  Israel  out  of  all  his  troubles  I  As  the  psalm  was 
designed,  from  the  first,  to  be  a  veliicle  of  pious  feeling  and  desire  for  the 
whole  church,  it  is  here  wound  up  with  a  petition  shewing  this  extent  of 
purpose.  The  Psalmist  prays  no  longer  for  himself,  but  for  all  Israel. 
The  peculiar  name,  Jehovah,  which  had  hitherto  been  used  exclusively,  is 
here  exchanged  for  the  generic  name  of  God,  perhaps  in  opposition  to  the 
human  adversaries  of  the  Psalmist,  and  his  total  destitution  of  all  human 
help.  This  verse  forms  no  part  of  the  alphabetical  series,  but  begins  with  the 
same  letter  as  ver.  16.  Like  the  first  verse,  it  consists  of  a  single  clause, 
as  if  the  two  together  were  designed  to  constitute  one  sentence. 

Psalm  26 

An  appeal  to  God's  justice  and  omniscience,  ver.  1-3,  enforced  by  a  dis- 
avowal of  all  sympathy  and  communion  with  the  wicked,  ver.  4-6,  and  a 
profession  of  devotion  to  God's  service,  ver.  7,  8,  with  an  earnest  prayer  to 
be  dehvered  from  the  death  of  those  whose  life  he  abhors,  ver.  9,  10,  and 
an  expression  of  strong  confidence  that  God  will  hear  his  prayer,  ver.  11, 12. 
There  is  a  certain  similarity  of  form  between  this  psalm  and  the  foregoing, 
which,  together  with  their  collocation  in  the  Pp liter,  makes  it  not  improbable 
that  they  were  designed  to  constitute  a  pair  or  double  psalm. 

1.  By  David.  Judge  me,  Jehovah,  for  I  in  my  integrity  have  walked, 
and  in  Jehovah  I  have  trusted  ;  I  shall  not  swerve  (or  slip).  The  correct- 
ness of  the  title  is  confirmed  by  the  resemblance  of  the  psalm  itself  to 


126  Psalm  26:2 -6 

several,  the  authorship  of  which  is  undisputed,  more  especially  Ps.  xv. 
xvii.  xviii.  xxiv. — Judge  me,  do  me  justice,  vindicate  or  clear  me.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  1,  2. — In  my  integrity  of  purpose  and  of  principle.  To 
this  is  added  its  inseparable  adjunct,  trust  in  God. — Walked,  lived,  pur- 
sued a  certain  course  of  conduct.  See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  1.  The  last  clause 
is  by  some  explained  as  the  expression  of  a  wish,  let  me  not  be  moved.  But 
there  is  no  reason  for  departing  from  the  strict  sense  of  the  future,  as 
expressing  a  confident  anticipation.  Swerve,  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  37  (36), 
xxxvii.  31. 

2.  Try  me,  Jehovah,  and  prove  me;  assay  my  reins  and  my  heart.  The 
first  verb  is  supposed  by  etymologists  to  signify  originally  trial  by  touch, 
the  second  by  smell,  and  the  third  by  fii'e.  In  usage,  however,  the  second 
is  constantly  appHed  to  moral  trial  or  temptation,  while  the  other  two  are 
frequently  applied  to  the  testing  of  metals  by  the  touchstone  or  the  furnace. 
This  is  indeed  the  predominant  usage  of  the  third  verb,  which  may  there- 
fore be  represented  by  the  technical  metallurgic  term,  assay.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xvii.  3,  where  two  of  the  same  verbs  occur. — Reins  and  heart  are 
joined,  as  seats  of  the  afiections.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  10  (9). — The 
prayer  of  this  verse  is  an  appeal  to  God's  omniscience  for  the  psahnist's 
integrity  of  purpose,  which  agrees  much  better  with  the  context  than  the 
explanation  of  nSmHi  as  a  participle,  and  of  the  last  clause  as  an  affirmation, 
purified  (or  purged)  are  my  reins  and  my  heart. 

8.  For  thy  mercy  [is)  before  my  eyes,  and  I  have  walked  in  thy  truth. 
This  verse  assigns  a  reason  for  his  confident  persuasion  that  he  shall  not 
shde,  to  wit,  because  God's  mercy  is  before  his  eyes,  hterally,  in  front  of 
them,  i.  e.  constantly  in  view,  as  an  object  of  memory  and  ground  of  hope. 
He  is  also  encouraged  by  his  previous  experience  of  God's  truth  or  faithful- 
ness. See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  5.  The  verb  translated  walked  is  an  intensive 
form  of  that  used  in  ver.  1  above,  and  ver.  11  below.  It  means  properly 
to  walk  about  or  to  and  fro,  and  expresses  more  distinctly  than  the  primitive 
verb,  the  idea  of  continuous  habitual  action.  "  My  constant  experience 
of  thy  mercy  and  thy  faithfulness  assure  me  that  I  shall  'uot  fall  away 
hereafter." 

4.  /  have  not  sat  with  men  of  falsehood,  and  vnth  hidden  {men)  I  vrill  not 
go.  He  is  further  encouraged  to  beUeve  that  he  wiU  be  sustained  because 
he  has  not  hitherto  espoused  the  cause  of  those  who  hate  God. — Men  of 
falsehood,  Uars  or  deceivers,  which  appears  to  suit  the  context  better  than 
the  wider  sense  of  vain  men,  i.  e.  destitute  of  all  moral  goodness,  good  for 
nothing,  worthless.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  7  (6),  xxiv.  4.  The  same  class 
of  persons  are  described  in  the  last  clause  as  masked,  disguised,  or  hypo- 
critical.— Sat,  not  merely  in  their  company,  but  in  their  councils,  taking 
part  in  their  unlawful  machinations.  The  change  of  tense  is  anything 
rather  than  unmeaning.  "  I  have  not  sat  with  them  in  time  past,  and  I 
will  not  go  with  them  in  time  to  come."  The  form  of  expression  is  bor- 
rowed from  Gen.  xhx.  6. 

6.  /  will  wash  in  innocence  my  hands,  and  will  compass  thy  altar,  0 
Jehovah !  To  the  negative  professions  of  the  two  preceding  verses  he  now 
adds  a  positive  declaration  of  his  purpose.  Not  content  with  abstaining 
from  all  share  ia  the  counsels  of  the  wicked,  he  is  fully  resolved  to  adhere 
to  the  service  of  the  Lord.  He  will  cleanse  himself  from  all  that  would 
unfit  him  for  that  service,  and  then  cleave  to  the  sanctuary  where  God 
dwells.  The  expression  in  the  first  clause  seems  to  be  copied  from  Gen. 
XI.  5,  and  the  symbol  or  emblem  from  Deut.  xxi.  6.     (Compare  Mat. 


Psalm26:7-ll  127 

xxvii.  24.)  Whether  compassing  the  altar  be  explained  to  mean  going 
round  it  in  procession,  or  embracing  it,  the  idea  expressed  is  still  that  of 
close  adherence  and  devoted  attachment, 

7.  To  make  known  with  a  voice  of  thanksgiving,  and  to  recount  all  thy 
wondrous  works.  The  object  of  the  acts  described  in  the  preceding  verse 
was  to  promote's  God's  glory.  To  make  known,  literally  to  cause  to  hear 
or  to  he  heard.  The  clause  admits  of  several  constructions.  1.  TopubHsh 
thanksgivings  with  the  voice.  2.  To  publish  with  a  thankful  voice,  without 
expressing  what.  3.  To  publish  and  recount  all  thy  wondrous  works  with 
a  voice  of  thanksgiving.  The  last  is  on  the  whole  entitled  to  the  preference. 
— The  last  word  in  the  verse  is  a  passive  participle,  meaning  ivonderfully 
made  or  done.  The  plural  feminine  is  used  indefinitely  hke  the  neuter  in 
Greek  and  Latin,  to  mean  things  done  wonderfully,  which  is  also  the  idea  of 
the  common  version,  wondrous  works. 

8.  Jehovah,  I  have  loved  the  habitation  of  thy  house,  and  the  place  of  the 
dwelling  of  thy  glory.  This  verse  expresses  more  directly  and  laterally  the 
idea  of  ver.  6  above,  and  shews  that  his  compassing  the  altar  was  intended 
to  denote  his  love  for  the  earthly  residence  of  God,  the  altar  being  there 
put  for  the  whole  sanctuary,  which  is  here  distinctly  mentioned.  The 
habitation  of  thy  house  might  be  understood  to  mean  a  residence  in  it ;  but 
the  usage  of  the  first  noun  and  the  parallelism  shew  that  it  rather  means 
the  place  where  thy  house  dwells,  perhaps  in  allusion  to  the  migratory  move- 
ments of  the  ark  and  its  appendages  before  the  time  of  David.  So  too  in 
the  last  clause,  Hebrew  usage  would  admit  of  the  translation,  thy  glorious 
dwelling-place,  as  in  Ps.  xx.  7  (6) ;  but  the  use  of  Ti^S,  in  the  Pentateuch, 

to  signify  the  visible  presence  of  Jehovah  (Exod.  xxiv.  16,  xl.  34,  35), 
seems  decisive  in  favour  of  explaining  it  the  place  where  thy  glory  dwells,  i.e. 
where  the  glorious  God  is  pleased  to  manifest  his  presence. 

9.  Take  not  away  my  soul  with  sinners,  and  with  men  of  blood  my  life. 
The  primary  meaning  of  the  first  verb  is  to  gather,  as  a  harvest  or  as  fruit, 
a  figure  not  unfrequently  applied  in  various  languages  to  death,  here 
described  as  the  taking  away  of  the  life  or  soul.  This  verse  and  the  next 
contain  a  prayer  that  he  may  die  as  he  has  lived  ;  that  since  he  has  had 
no  community  of  interest  or  feeling  with  ungodly  men  in  Hfe,  he  may  not 
be  united  with  them  in  his  death. — Men  of  blood,  literally  bloods,  i.  e. 
murderers,  either  in  the  strict  sense  or  by  metonymy  for  sinners  of  the 
worst  class.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  7  (6).  Another  idiomatic  plural  in  this 
sentence  is  the  word  lives  at  the  end,  which  is  used  as  an  abstract  simply 
equivaleut  to  life  in  English. 

10.  In  whose  hands  is  crime,  and  their  right  hand  is  filed  with  a  bribe. 
The  first  clause  exhibits  the  peculiar  construction  of  the  relative  in  Hebrew 
with  the  personal  pronoun  expressed,  of  which  it  is  the  substitute  in  other 
languages.  Who  (or  as  to  whom) — in  their  hands  (is)  crime.  This  last 
word   (nat)  is  a  very  strong  one,  used  in  the  Law  to  denote  specifically 

acts  of  gross  impurity,  but  signifying  really  any  wicked  act  or  purpose* 
The  common  version,  mischief,  is  too  weak.  The  last  word  in  the  verse 
denotes  especially  a  judicial  bribe  (Ps.  xv.  5),  and  may  be  intended  to 
suggest  that  the  whole  description  has  reference  to  unrighteous  rulers,  or 
to  wicked  men  in  public  office. 

11.  And  I  i)i  my  integrity  will  walk;  redeem  me  and  be  merciful  to  mc. 
The  use  of  the  conjunction  and  emphatic  pronoun  is  the  same  as  in  Ps. 
ii.  6  above.     Our  idiom  would  require  an  adversative  conjunction,  but  I,  in 


128  Psalm  27:1, 2 

opposition  to  the  sinners  just  described,  hut  as  for  me,  I  will  still  walk  as 
I  have  done  in  sincerity  and  simplicity  of  purpose.  The  obvious  contrast 
of  the  tenses  here  and  in  ver.  1,  may  serve  to  shew  how  seldom  they  are 
used  promiscuously  or  confounded. — That  the  Psalmist's  perfection  or  in- 
tegrity was  neither  absolute  nor  inherent,  is  clear  from  the  petition  of  the 
last  clause.  He  expects  still  to  be  perfect,  not  because  he  is  without  sin, 
but  because  he  hopes  to  be  redeemed  from  its  dominion  through  the  mercy 
of  Jehovah. 

12.  My  foot  stands  in  an  even  place  ;  in  the  assemblies  will  I  bless  Jehovah. 
As  a  state  of  danger  and  distress  might  be  compared  to  a  precipitous  and 
rugged  path,  so  one  of  ease  and  safety  is  denoted  by  a  smooth  or  level  path. 
My  foot  (now)  stands,  or  has  (at  last)  stood,  found  a  resting-place,  implying 
previous  wanderings  and  hardships. — The  assemblies  primarily  meant  are 
no  doubt  the  stated  congregations  at  the  sanctuary.  The  determination  to 
praise  God  implies  a  strong  assurance  that  the  occasion  for  so  doing  will 
be  granted.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  8  (7).  The  whole  verse  indeed  is  an 
expression  of  confident  belief  that  God  will  hear  and  answer  the  foregoing 
prayers,  and  thus,  as  in  many  other  psalms,  we  are  brought  back  at  the 
conclusion  to  the  starting-point.     Compare  the  last  clause  of  ver.  1. 


Psalm  27 

A  SUFFERER,  surrouuded  by  enemies  intent  on  his  destruction,  and  de- 
prived of  human  help,  implores  divine  assistance  and  expresses  his  assured 
hope  of  obtaining  it.  The  expression  of  confidence  occurs  at  the  begin- 
ning and  the  end,  the  description  of  the  danger  and  the  prayer  for  deliver- 
ance in  the  body  of  the  psalm.  If  God  be  for  him,  and  admit  him  to  his 
household,  he  is  satisfied  and  safe,  ver.  1-6.  With  this  persuasion  he 
implores  that  God  will  interpose  for  his  deliverance  from  present  danger, 
ver.  7-12.  If  he  did  not  believe  that  God  would  grant  his  request  he  must 
despair;  but  as  he  does  believe  it,- he  encourages  himself  to  wait  for  it,  ver. 
13,  14.  There  is  no  apparent  reference  to  any  particular  historical  occa- 
sion, but  an  obvious  intention  to  provide  a  vehicle  of  pious  sentiment  for  all 
God's  people  under  the  form  of  trial  here  described. 

1.  By  David.  Jehovah  (is)  my  light  and  my  salvation;  of  whom  shall  I 
be  afraid?  Jehovah  (is)  the  stronghold  of  my  life;  of  uhom  shall  I  be  in 
dread?  As  darkness  is  a  common  figure  for  distress,  and  light  for  relief 
from  it,  the  same  idea  is  here  twice  expressed,  first  in  a  figui-ative  form  as 
hght,  and  then  more  hterally  as  salvation.  These  terms  are  applied  to 
God,  by  a  natural  and  common  figure  of  speech,  as  the  source  or  dispenser 
of  Light  and  salvation.  Compare  Micah  vii.  8.  The  interrogations  imply 
negation  of  the  strongest  kind.  The  form  of  expression  is  imitated  in  Kom. 
viii.  31-35. — The  noun  ^TI'Q  is  sometimes  used  as  an  abstract,  strength ; 

but  its  proper  meaning,  as  its  very  form  denotes,  is  local.  The  stronghold 
or  fortress  of  my  life,  that  which  makes  my  Hfe  as  safe  as  waUs  and  forti- 
fications. The  variation  of  the  verbs  in  the  two  clauses  is  merely  rhetorical, 
without  any  change  in  the  idea. 

2.  In  the  drawing  near  against  me  of  evil-doers,  to  devour  my  flesh,  (in 
the  drawing  near  of)  my  adversaries  and  my  enenies  to  me,  (it  is)  they'{that) 
have  stumbled  and  fallen.  Even  in  the  most  imminent  dangers  which  have 
hitherto  befallen  me,  the  divine  protection  has  enabled  me  to  see  those  who 


Psalm  27:3  -  6  129 

sought  to  overwhelm  me  overwhelmed  themselves.  Evil-doers,  not  only 
against  me,  but  in  general.  It  was  not  because  they  were  his  enemies 
merely,  but  because  they  were  the  enemies  of  Grod,  that  he  so  easily  sub- 
dued them. — To  eat  my  flesh,  a  figure  borrowed  from  the  habits  of  wild 
beasts.  Compare  Job  xix.  22,  Ps.  xiv.  4,  xxxv.  1. — To  me  is  to  be  con- 
strued not  with  enemies,  but  with  the  verb,  as  in  Job  xxxiii.  22.  See  be- 
low, on  Ps.  Iv.  19.  The  pronoun  expressed  in  the  last  clause 'is  emphatic, 
"  They  themselves,  not  I,  as  they  expected,  fell." 

8.  If  there  encamp  against  me  an  encampment,  my  heart  shall  not  fear ; 
if  there  arise  against  me  war,  (even)  in  this  (case)  /  (am)  confident.  With 
the  sentiment  of  this  verse  compare  Ps.  iii.  7  (6).  The  primary  meaning 
of  the  noun  in  the  first  clause  is  retained  in  the  translation  for  the  sake  of 
its  assonance  with  the  verb,  which  is  lost  in  the  common  version,  although 
marked  in  the  original.  By  encampment,  however,  must  be  understood 
the  men  encamped,  the  host,  the  army. — In  this,  even  in  this  extremity. 
Compare  Lev.  xxvi.  27,  Job  i.  22.  The  common  version,  in  this  will  I  be 
confident,  although  ambiguous,  appears  to  mean,  "  I  will  confide  in  this, 
i.e.  in  the  fact  that  Jehovah  is  my  light  and  my  salvation."  This  con- 
struction is  grammatical,  and  yields  a  good  sense,  but  the  other  is  more 
pointed  and  emphatic,  ajid  the  absolute  use  of  nSD^i  in  the  sense  of  safe, 

secure,  is  justified  by  Judges  xviii.  27,  Jer.  xil.  5,  Prov.  xi.  15. 

4.  One  (thing)  have  I  asked  from  Jehovah,  (and)  that  will  I  (still)  seek, 
that  I  may  dwell  in  the  house  of  Jehovah,  to  gaze  at  the  heauty  of  Jehovah,  and 
to  inquire  in  his  temple.  To  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  is  not  merely 
to  frequent  his  sanctuary  as  a  place  of  worship,  but  to  be  a  member  of  his 
household,  and  as  such  in  intimate  communion  with  him.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  XV.  1,  xxiii.  6. — Beauty,  loveliness,  desirableness,  all  that  makes  God 
an  object  of  aflfection  and  desire  to  the  believer.  See  below,  on  Ps.  xc.  17. 
Some  take  the '  last  verb  in  the  secondary  sense  of  meditating ;  but  the 
proper  one  of  inquiring  is  entirely  appropriate. — Temple,  properly  palace, 
the  earthly  residence  of  the  gi'eat  King,  and  therefore  equally  appropriate 
to  the  temple  and  the  tabernacle.     See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  8  (7). 

5.  For  he  will  hide  me  in  his  covert  in  the  day  of  evil ;  he  ivill  secrete  me 
in  the  secrecy  xf  his  tent  ;  on  a  rock  he  will  set  me  high.  This  verse  assigns 
his  reason  for  wishing  to  be  still  a  member  of  Jehovah's  household,  namely, 
because  there  he  is  sure  of  effectual  protection. — The  word  translated  covert 
means  a  booth  or  shelter  made  of  leaves  and  branches,  such  as  the  Jews 
used  at  the  feast  of  tabernacles  (Lev.  xxiii.  42).  It  is  here  used  as  a  figure 
for  secure  protection  in  the  day  of  evil,  i.e.  of  suffering  or  danger. — Secrete 
and  secrecy  are  used  in  the  translation  to  represent  the  cognate  verb  and 
noun  in  Hebrew. — By  his  tent,  as  appears  from  the  preceding  verse,  we  are 
to  understand  the  tabernacle,  not  considered  merely  as  a  place  of  pubUc 
worship,  but  as  Jehovah's  earthly  residence,  his  mansion.  In  the  last 
clause  the  idea  of  protection  is  conveyed  by  an  entirely  different  figure,  that 
of  a  person  placed  upon  a  high  rock  beyond  the  reach  of  danger.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  ix.  14  (13),  xviii.  49  (48). 

6.  And  now  shall  my  head  be  high  above  my  enemies  around  me,  and  I 
will  sacrifice  in  his  tabernacle  sacrifices  of  joyful  noise;  Iioill  sing  and  make 
music  to  Jehovah.  And  now  may  either  be  a  formula  of  logical  resumption, 
as  in  Ps.  ii.  10,  xxxix.  8  (7),  or  be  taken  in  its  strict  sense,  as  denoting 
that  he  not  only  hopes  for  future  safety,  but  is  ready  in  the  mean  time, 
even  now,  to  thank  him  publicly  for  his  protection  as  already  realised.  The 
first  clause  merely  ampUfies  the  last  of  the  preceding  verse.     The  next  adds 


130  Psalm27:7-ll 

the  promise  of  a  thank-offering  at  the  tabernacle,  which  implies  an  assured 
hope  of  deliverance  and  prosperity.  By  a  joyful  noise  some  understand  the 
blowing  of  trumpets  which  accompanied  certain  offerings  (Num.  x.  10, 
xxix.  1) ;  but  as  this  is  never  mentioned  in  connection  with  private  sacri- 
fices, it  seems  more  advisable  to  rest  in  the  general  sense  of  the  expression. 

7.  Hear,  0  Jehovah  !  {with)  my  voice  I  will  call,  and  do  thou  have  mercy 
on  me  and  answer  me.  The  Psalmist  here  descends  from  the  tone  of  con- 
fident assurance  to  that  of  strong  desire,  prompted  by  a  sense  of  urgent 
need. —  With  my  voice,  not  merely  with  my  mind,  but  audibly,  aloud. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  5  (4). 

8.  To  thee  hath  said  my  heart — Seek  ye  my  face — thy  face,  Jehovah,  will 
I  seek.  The  general  meaning  of  this  verse  is  obvious  enough,  although 
its  syntax  is  exceedingly  obscure.  The  best  solution  is  to  take  "  seek  ye 
my  face  "  as  a  citation  of  God's  own  words.  "  My  heart  has  said  to  thee 
— (whenever  thou  hast  said)  Seek  ye  my  face, — thy  face,"  &c.  Or,  "  my 
heart  has  said  to  thee — (in  answer  to  thy  words)  Seek  ye  my  face — thy 
face,"  &c. — My  heart  hath  said,  i.  e.  I  have  said  with  or  from  the  heart. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xi.  1.  There  may  be  an  allusion  to  Deut.  iv.  29,  from 
which  the  expression  seek  God  (2  Sam.  xii.  16,  2  Chron.  xx.  4),  and  seek 
his  face  (Ps.  xxiv.  6,  cv.  4)  seems  to  be  derived.  The  idea  is  that  of 
seeking  admission  to  his  presence  for  the  purpose  of  asking  a  favour.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  6. 

9.  Hide  not  thy  face  from  me,  'put  not  away  in  wrath  thy  servant;  my 
help  thou  hast  been ;  forsake  me  not,  and  leave  me  not,  (0)  God  of  my 
salvation !  The  fii'st  petition  is  that  God  will  not  withhold  from  him  the 
manifestation  of  his  love  or  favour.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  7  (6). — Pat  not 
away,  or  thrust  aside,  as  one  unworthy  to  be  noticed. — Thy  servant,  and  as 
such  entitled  to  thy  kind  regard. — Mij  help,  i.  e.  the  source  and  author  of 
my  help,  my  helper.  Thou  hast  been;  the  past  tense  is  here  essential: 
what  thou  hast  been,  continue  to  be  still. — God  of  my  salvation,  my  Saviour 
God,  or  God  my  Saviour ;  see  above,  on  Ps  xviii,  47  (46). 

10.  For  my  father  and  my  mother  have  left  me,  and  Jehovah  tuill  take  me 
in.  Parents  are  here  put  for  the  nearest  friends,  whose  loss  or  desertion  is 
frequently  complained  of  in  the  Psalms  as  one  of  the  most  painful  signs  of 
desolation.  See  Ps.  xxxi.  12  (11),  xxxviii.  12  (11),  kix.  9  (8),  Ixxxviii. 
9  (8),  and  compare  Job  xix.  13.  The  first  clause  may  also  be  translated, 
when  my  father  and  my  mother  have  left  me,  then  the  Lord  will  take  me  in. 
— The  last  expression  is  applied  to  the  compassionate  reception  of  strangers 
or  wanderers  into  one's  house.  See  Josh.  xx.  4,  Judges  xix,  15,  and  com- 
pare Mat.  XXV.  35,  43.  The  case  described  is  an  ideal  one,  and  may  be 
thus  expressed  in  paraphrase  :  "  The  kindness  of  the  nearest  earthly  friends 
may  cease  by  death  or  desertion  (for  the  verb  to  leave  may  comprehend 
both)  ;  but  the  Lord's  compassions  cannot  fail." 

11.  Guide  me,  Jehovah,  {in)  thy  way,  and  lead  me  in  a  straight  {or  level) 
path,  because  of  my  adversaries.  The  way  in  which  he  here  desires  to  be 
led,  is  not  the  way  of  duty  but  of  providence,  which  he  calls  a  straight  or 
smooth  path,  as  distinguished  from  the  rough  or  crooked  ways  of  adversity. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  4,  xxvi.  12. — Because  of  my  enemies,  that  they  may 
have  no  occasion  to  exult  or  triumph.  Of  the  many  Hebrew  words  applied 
to  enemies,  the  one  here  used  is  supposed  by  some  to  signify  mahgnant 
^catchers  for  the  errors  or  calamities  of  others.  The  one  used  in  the  next 
verse  means  oppressors  or  causers  of  distress. — With  this  clause  compare 
Ps.  xxvi.  12. 


Psalm  28:1  131 

12.  Give  me  not  up  to  the  will  of  my  enemies ;  for  risen  up  against  me 
are  witnesses  of  falsehood,  and  a  breather  forth  of  cruelty.  The  word  trans- 
lated will  properly  means  soul,  and  is  here  used  for  the  ruling  wish  or  heart's 
desire,  as  in  Ps.  xxxv.  25.  The  second  clause  assigns  the  ground  or  reason 
of  this  prayer.  As  if  he  had  said,  I  have  reason  to  ask  this, /or  there  have 
risen  up,  &c. — One  breathing  violence  or  cruelty,  a  strong  but  natural  expres- 
sion for  a  person,  all  whose  thoughts  and  feelings  are  engrossed  by  a  favour- 
ite purpose  or  employment,  so  that  he  cannot  live  or  breathe  without  it. 
Compare  the  description  of  Saul's  persecuting  zeal  in  Acts  ix.  1,  and  the 
Latin  phrases,  spirare  minas,  anhelare  scelus. 

13.  Unless  1  believed  (or  fully  expected)  to  looJc  tipon  the  goodness  of 
Jehovah  m  the  land  of  life.  This  is  an  instance  of  the  figure  called  aposio- 
pesis,  in  which  the  conclusion  of  the  sentence  is  suppressed,  either  from 
excitement  and  hurried  feeling,  or  because  of  some  unwilHngness  to  utter 
what  is  necessary  to  complete  it.  Thus  in  this  case  the  apodosis  would 
probably  have  been,  I  would  despair,  or  I  must  have  perished.  (Compare 
Ps.  cxix.  92.)  Of  the  other  cases  usually  cited,  that  in  Gen.  xxxi.  42  espe- 
cially resembles  this,  because  the  sentence  opens  with  a  similar  conditional 
expression. — To  look  upon,  not  merely  to  behold,  but  to  gaze  at  with  dehght. 
See  above  on  Ps.  xxii.  18  (17). — The  land  of  life,  as  opposed  to  that  of 
darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death  (Job  x.  21),  seems  to  be  a  more  correct 
translation  than  the  common  one,  land  of  the  living. 

14.  Wait  thou  for  Jehovah  ;  be  firm,  and  may  he  strengthen  thy  heart ; 
and  wait  thou  for  Jehovah  !  Instead  of  finishing  the  inauspicious  sentence 
which  he  had  begun,  he  interrupts  himself  with  an  earnest  exhortation  to 
await  the  fulfilment  of  God's  promises,  to  hope  in  him.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
XXV.  3. — The  optative  and  causative  senses  of  the  third  verb  (yoXl)  are 
both  determined  by  its  form,  which  equally  forbids  the  versions,  let  thy  heart 
he  strong,  and  he  will  strengthen  it. — The  repetition,  wait  for  the  Lord,  and 
wait  for  the  Lord,  implies  that  this  is  all  he  has  to  enjoin  upon  himself  or 
others,  and  is  more  impressive,  in  its  native  simplicity,  than  the  correct 
but  paraphrastic  version  of  the  last  clause  in  the  English  Bible,  wait,  I  say, 
upon  the  Lord, 


Psalm  28 

As  in  the  preceding  psalm,  a  righteous  sufferer  prays  that  he  may  "not  be 
confounded  with  the  wicked  whom  his  soul  abhors,  so  here  a  hke  prayer  is 
offered  by  the  Anointed  of  Jehovah.  He  first  prays  in  general  for  audience 
and  acceptance,  without  which  he  must  quickly  perish,  ver.  1,  2.  He  then 
asks  to  be  distinguished  from  the  wicked  in  the  infliction  of  God's  judgments, 
ver.  3-5.  He  then  gives  thanks  for  the  anticipated  answer  to  his  prayer, 
ver.  6-8,  and  implores  an  extension  of  the  blessing  to  all  God's  people  at 
all  times,  ver.  9.  The  collocation  of  the  psalm  is  clearly  not  fortuitous, 
but  founded  on  its  close  resemblance  to  the  one  before  it. 

1.  By  David.  Unto  thee,  Jehovah,  will  I  call  ;  my  rock,  be  not  silent  from 
me,  lest  thou  hold  thy  peace  from  me,  and  I  be  made  like  to  those  going  down 
(into)  the  pit.  My  rock,  the  immoveable  foundation  of  my  hope  and  object 
of  my  trust.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  3,  32  (2,  31),  xix.  15  (14).  That 
God  is  such  aff'ords  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  importunate  demands  which 
follow.     It  is  inconsistent  with  the  relation  he  sustains  to  those  who  trust 


132  Psalm  28:2 -5 

him,  that  he  should  be  silent  when  they  pray,  i.  e.  refuse  to  answer.  The 
ideas  of  distance  and  estrangement  are  really  implied  in  being  silent,  and 
suggested  by  the  pregnant  construction  silent  from.  The  meaning  of  the 
last  clause  is  correctly  given,  with  a  change  of  idiom,  in  the  EngUsh  version, 
lest,  if  thou  he  silent,  &c.  The  passive  verb  does  not  merely  mean  to  be 
like,  but  to  be  made  like,  assimilated,  confounded.  TJie  pit,  the  grave,  both 
in  its  narrower  and  wider  sense.  (Compare  Isa.  xiv.  15, 19.)  Those  going 
down  into  the  pit  is  a  common  description  of  the  dead.  See  Ps.  xxx.  4  (3), 
Ixxxviii.  5  (4),  and  compare  Ps.  xxii=  30  (29). 

2.  Hear  the  voice  of  my  supplications,  in  my  crying  unto  thee  (for  help)  ; 
in  my  lifting  up  my  hands  to  thy  holy  oracle.  In  my  crying,  in  my  lifting, 
i.  e.  at  the  time  of  my  so  doing,  when  I  am  in  the  very  act.  The  lifting  up 
of  the  hands  is  a  natural  symbol  of  the  raising  of  the  heart  or  the  desires  to 
God,  and  is  therefore  often  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  act  of  prayer. 
Exod.  ix.  29,  xvii.  11, 12,  1  Kings  viii.  22,  54,  Lam.  ii.  19,  iii.  41,  Ps.  Ixiii. 
5  (4). — The  word  translated  oracle  is  derived  from  the  verb  to  speak,  and 
seems  to  mean  a  place  of  speaking  or  conversation,  Uke  the  Enghsh  parlour 
from  the  French  purler.  Now  we  learn  from  Exod.  xxv.  22,  Num.  vii.  89, 
that  the  place  whence  God  talked  with  Moses  was  the  inner  apartment  of 
the  tabernacle ;  and  from  1  Kings  vi.  19,  that  the  corresponding  part  of 
the  temple  bore  the  name  here  used.  To  this,  as  the  depository  of  the 
ark  and  the  earthly  residence  of  God,  the  ancient  saints  looked  as  we  look 
now  to  Christ,  in  whom  the  idea  of  the  Mosaic  sanctuary  has  been  realised. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  8  (7). 

3.  Draw  me  not  away  with  wicked  {men),  and  with  workers  of  iniquity, 
speaking  peace  with  their  neighbours,  and  evil  [is)  in  their  heart.  This  is 
the  prayer  for  which  he  bespeaks  audience  and  acceptance  in  the  foregoing 
verse.  Draw  me  not  away,  i.  e.  to  punishment  or  out  of  life.  Compare 
Ps.  xxvi.  9,  where  the  parallel  expression  is  gather  me  not.  In  both  cases 
he  prays  that  he  may  not  be  confounded  in  his  death  with  those  whose  Ufe 
he  abhors.  The  last  clause  exhibits  a  particular  trait  in  the  character  of 
the  wicked  men  and  evil  doers  of  the  other  clause.  This  trait  is  hypocritical 
dissimulation,  the  pretence  of  friendship  as  a  mask  to  hatred.  The  simple 
construction  with  the  copulative  and  is  equivalent  to  our  expressions,  but, 
though,  while,  &c. 

4.  Give  to  them  according  to  their  act,  and  according  to  the  evil  of  their 
deeds,  according  to  the  work  of  their  hands  give  thou  to  them ;  return  their 
treatment  to  them.  Having  prayed  that  he  may  not  share  the  destruction  of 
the  wicked,  he  now  prays  that  they  may  not  escape  it.  But  as  this  is 
merely  asking  God  to  act  as  a  just  and  holy  being  must  act,  the  charge  of 
vindictive  cruelty  is  not  merely  groundless,  but  absurd. — The  evil  of  their 
deeds  is  a  phrase  borrowed  from  Moses  (Deut.  xxviii.  20),  and  often 
repeated  by  Jeremiah  (iv.  4,  xxi.  12,  xxiii.  2,  22,  xxvi.  3,  xliv.  22).  The 
same  prophet  has  combined  two  of  the  phrases  here  employed  in  Jer.  xxv. 
14,  and  Lam.  iii.  64.  The  word  translated  treatment  is  a  participle 
meaning  that  which  is  done  by  one  person  to  another,  whether  good  or 
evil.     See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  5  (4). 

5.  Because  they  will  not  attend  to  the  acts  of  Jehovah  and  to  the  doing  of 
his  hands,  he  will  pull  them  down  and  will  not  build  them  up.  Having 
appealed  to  the  divine  justice  for  a  righteous  recompence  of  these  offenders, 
he  now  shews  what  they  have  deserved  and  must  experience,  by  shewing 
what  they  have  done,  or  rather  not  done.  The  acts  of  Jehovah  and  the 
works  of  his  hands  are  common  expressions  for  his  penal  judgments.     See 


Psalm  28:6 -9  133 

Ps.  Ixiv.  10  (9),  xcii.  5  (4),  Isa.  v.  12,  xxviii.  21,  xxix.  23. — Pull  down 
and  not  build  up,  is  an  idiomatic  combination  of  positive  and  negative 
terms  to  express  the  same  idea. — Build,  therefore,  does  not  mean  rebuild, 
but  is  simply  the  negative  or  opposite  of  pull  down.  The  form  of  expres- 
sion is  copied  repeatedly  by  Jeremiah  (xxxi.  28,  xlii.  10,  xlv.  4.)  See  also 
Job  xii.  14. 

6.  Blessed  [be)  Jehovah,  because  he  hath  heard  the  voice  of  my  supplica- 
tions. What  he  asked  in  ver.  2  he  has  now  obtained,  or  at  least  the  assur- 
ance of  a  favourable  answer,  in  the  confident  anticipation  of  which  he  begins 
already  to  bless  God.  The  word  translated  supplications  means,  according 
to  its  etymology,  prayers  for  grace  or  mercy. 

7.  Jehovah,  my  strength  and  my  shield !  In  him  has  my  heart  trusted, 
and  I  have  been  helped,  and  my  heart  shall  eandt,  and  by  my  song  I  will 
thank  {or  praise)  him.  The  construction  of  the  first  clause  as  a  proposition, 
by  supplying  the  substantive  verb,  Jehovah  (is)  my  strength  and  my  shield, 
is  unnecessary,  and  neither  so  simple  nor  so  strong  as  that  which  makes 
it  a  grateful  and  admiring  exclamation. — My  heart  is  twice  used  in  this 
sentence  to  express  the  deep  and  cordial  nature  of  the  exercises  which  he  is 
describing.  The  same  heart  that  trusted  now  rejoices.  As  -he  believed 
with  all  his  heart,  so  now  he  rejoices  in  Hke  manner. — By  my  song,  literally 
from  or  out  of  it,  as  the  source  and  the  occasion  of  his  praise.     Compare 

Ps.  xxii.  26  (25). 

8.  Jehovah  (is)  strength  to  them,  and  a  stronghold  of  salvation  [to)  his 
Anointed  (is)  He.  The  Psalmist  having  spoken  hitherto  not  only  for  him- 
self but  for  the  people,  here  insensibly  substitutes  the  third  person  plural 
for  the  first  person  singular.  In  the  last  clause  he  reverts  to  himself,  but 
with  the  use  of  an  expression  which  discloses  his  relation  to  the  people,  of 
which  he  was  not  only  a  member  but  the  delegated  head,  the  Anointed  of 
Jehovah.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  2.  A  stronghold.  See  above  on  Ps. 
xxvii.  1. — Salvations,  fall  salvation.  See  above  on  Ps.  xviii.  51  (50).  The 
personal  pronoun  at  the  end  of  the  sentence  is  emphatic,  and  intended  to 
concentrate  the  attention  upon  one  great  object. 

9.  Oh  save  thy  people,  and  bless  thy  heritage,  and  feed  them,  and  carry  (or 
exalt  them)  even  to  eternity !  The  whole  psalm  closes  with  a  prayer  that  the 
relation  now  subsisting  between  God  and  his  people  may  continue  for  ever. 
Thy  heritage,  thy  peculiar  people,  whom  thou  dost  preserve  and  treat  as 
such  from  generation  to  generation*  The  idea  and  expression  are  Mosaic. 
See  Deut.  ix.  29,  and  compare  Ps.  xxxiii.  12,  Ixviii.  10  (9),  xciv.  5.  The 
image  then  merges  into  that  of  a  shepherd  and  his  flock,  a  favourite  one 
with  David  and  throughout  the  later  scriptures.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiii,  1. 
— Feed  them,  not  only  in  the  strict  sense,  but  in  that  of  doing  the  whole 
duty  of  a  shepherd.  The  next  verb  is  by  some  translated  carry  them,  in 
which  sense  the  primitive  is  elsewhere  used  in  speaking  of  a  shepherd  (Isa. 
xl.  11),  and  this  very  form  appears  to  have  the  same  sense  in  Isa.  Ixiii.  9, 
while  in  2  Sam.  v.  12  it  is  applied  to  the  exaltation  of  David  himself  as 
a  theocratic  sovereign. 


Psalm  29 

Tbte  essential  idea  in  this  psalm  is  the  same  as  in  the  twenty- eighth,  to 
wit,  that  God  is  the  strength  of  his  people,  but  clothed  Ln  a  different  cos- 
tume, the  divine  power  being  proved  or  exemplified  by  its  exertion  in  the 


134  Psalm  29:1 -3 

elements,  and  then  applied,  in  the  close,  to  the  believer's  consolation.  The 
Psalmist  first  invokes  the  heavenly  host  to  celebrate  their  sovereign's 
honour,  ver.  1,  2.  He  then  describes  Jehovah's  voice  as  producing  the 
most  striking  physical  effects,  ver.  3—9,  and  represents  it  as  belonging  to 
the  same  God  who  presided  at  the  deluge,  and  who  now  protects  and  will 
continue  to  protect  and  bless  his  people,  ver  10,  11.  The  superficial 
notion  that  this  psalm  is  merely  a  description  of  a  thunderstorm,  or  of 
Jehovah  as  the  God  of  thunder,  may  be  corrected  by  observing  that  the 
last  verse  gives  the  key-note  of  the  whole  composition. 

1.  A  psalm  by  David.  Give  to  Jehovah,  ye  sons  of  the  mighty,  give  to 
Jehovah  honour  and  strength.  To  give  in  such  connections,  is  to  recognise 
something  as  belonging  to  another,  to  ascribe  it  to  him.  The  form  of 
expression  is  derived  from  Deut.  xxxii.  3,  and  is  found  not  only  elsewhere 
in  the  the  Psalms  (xcvi.  7,  8),  but  with  a  slight  modification  in  the  New 
Testament  (Kev.  iv.  11,  v.  12,  xix.  1,  1  Peter  v.  11). — The  word  translated 
mighty  is  the  plural  form  of  one  of  the  names  (7NI)  which  describe  God  as 

omnipotent.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  5  (4),  vii.  12  (11),  x.  11,  12,  xvi.  1, 
xvii.  6  (5),  xviii.  3,  31,  33,  48  (2,  30,  32,  47),  xix.  2  (1),  xxii.  2  (1).  The 
plural  foim  may  here  arise  from  assimilation,  both  parts  of  the  compound 
phrase  being  put  into  the  plural,  son  of  God,  sons  of  Gods.  Compare  words 
of  deceits,  Ps  xxxv.  20.     But  a  much  more  probable  solution  is  that  W^^l^ 

is  here  used  as  DN"t7hi  is  elsewhere,  by  a  kind  of  ellipsis  for  D''7K  7^♦, 

Dan.  xi.  36,  the  God  of  Gods,  or  the  Supreme  God.  Compare  Deut.  x.  17. — 
The  sons  of  God  are  the  beings  intermediate  between  God  and  man,  some- 
times called  angels,  in  reference  to  their  office.  The  same  application  of  the 
same  phrase  occurs  in  Ps.  Ixxxix.  7  (6). 

2.  Give  to  Jehovah  the  honour  of  his  name  ;  how  to  Jehovah  in  beauty  of  holi- 
ness. The  honour  of  his  name  is  that  belonging  to  it,  due  to  it.  His  name  is 
his  manifested  nature.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11).  The  verb  in  the 
last  clause  strictly  means,  bow  down  or  prostrate  yourselves  in  worship. — 
The  beauty  of  holiness  is  by  many  understood  to  mean  holy  or  consecrated 
garments,  such  as  were  put  on  in  the  place  of  ordinary  dress,  as  a  token 
of  reverence,  by  the  priests  when  they  approached  unto  the  presence  of 
Jehovah.  See  2  Chron.  xx.  21.  But  neither  here  nor  in  Ps.  xcvi.  9, 
ex.  3,  is  there  any  valid  objection  to  the  obvious  but  spiritual  sense  of 
ornament  produced  by  or  consisting  in  hohness,  such  decoration  as  became 
the  pecuhar  people  of  Jehovah.     Compare  1  Peter  iii.  3-5. 

3.  The  voice  of  Jehovah  on  the  waters  I  The  God  of  glory  thundered. 
The  voice  of  Jehovah  (was)  on  many  waters.  The  invocation  to  the  hea- 
venly host  in  the  two  preceding  verses  is  now  justified  by  an  appeal  to  one 
particular  ma,nifestation  of  God's  majesty,  to  wit,  that  afforded  by  the  tem- 
pestuous strife  of  elements. — The  first  clause  may  be  construed  as  an 
exclamation,  or  the  substantive  verb  may  be  supplied,  either  in  the  past  or 
present  tense.  The  preterite  form  of  the  original  does  not  relate  to  any 
specific  point  of  past  time,  but  merely  shews  that  the  phenomena  described 
have  been  heretofore  witnessed,  and  though  grand  are  nothing  new.  Our 
present  tense  gives  the  sense  correctly,  but  with  a  departmre  from  the 
idiomatic  form  of  the  original. — The  God  of  glory  contains  an  allusion  to 
ver.  1,  2.  Compare  Ps.  xxiv.  7-10. — On  (or  above)  the  waters,  i.  e.  the 
clouds  charged  with  rain.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  12  (11),  and  compare 
Jer.  X.  13. 


Psalm  29:4 -8  135 

4.  The  voice  of  Jehovah  in  potver  !  The  voice  of  Jehovah  in  majesty ! 
The  exclamations,  as  in  ver.  3,  may  be  converted  into  propositions  by  sup- 
plying either  the  past  or  present  tense  of  the  verb  to  be.  '  The  voice  of 
Jehovah  is  (or  was)  in  power.'  In  power,  in  majesty,  i.  e.  invested  with 
these  attributes,  a  stronger  expression  than  the  corresponding  adjectives 
strong  and  majestic,  would  be,  and  certainly  more  natural  and  consonant  to 
usage  than  the  construction  which  makes  in  a  mere  sign  of  that  in  which 
something  else  consists.  It  is,  indeed,  Httle  short  of  nonsense  to  affirm  that 
the  voice  of  God  consists  in  power,  consists  in  majesty,  whereas  there  is 
truth  as  well  as  beauty  in  describing  it  as  clothed  or  invested  with  those 
quahties. 

6.  The  voice  of  Jehovah  (is)  breaking  cedars,  and  Jehovah  has  broken  the 
cedars  of  Lebanon.  In  the  powerful  working  of  the  elements  the  Psalmist 
hears  the  voice  of  God.  That  this  expression  always  denotes  thundef  (Exod. 
ix.  28)  is  a  perfectly  gratuitous  assumption. — Cedars  are  mentioned  as  the 
loftiest  forest  trees,  and  those  of  Lebanon  as  the  loftiest  of  the  species. 
Between  the  verbs  of  the  two  clauses  there  is  a  twofold  variation  which 
appears  to  be  significant.  The  first  is  the  primitive  verb  which  simply 
means  to  break ;  the  other  an  intensive  form,  implying  an  extraordinary 
violence.  See  above,  Ps.  iii.  8  (7).  This  distinction  can  be  reproduced 
in  English  only  by  a  change  of  verb  {break  and  crush),  or  by  some  quah- 
fying  addition  [break  and  break  in  pieces),  But  besides  this  variation,  the 
first  word  is  an  active  participle  (breaking),  and  the  Second  a  finite  tense 
denoting  past  time  (broke  or  has  broken),  which  together  may  indicate 
progression  (it  is  breaking  and  now  he  has  broken),  or  express  the  same 
idea,  namely,  that  he  habitually  breaks,  or  has  often  broken,  the  cedars  of 
Lebanon. 

6.  And  made  them  skip  like  a  calf  Lebanon  and  Sirion  like  the  young  of 
the  unicorns  [antelopes  or  wild  bulls).  The  pronoun  in  the  first  clause  may 
refer  to  cedars,  or  by  anticipation  to  Lebanon  and  Sirion.  This  last  is  the 
Sidonian  name  of  Hermon  (Deut.  iii.  9),  the  principal  summit  in  the  range 
of  Anti-hbanus,  here  mentioned  simply  as  a  parallel  to  Lebanon,  without 
any  special  local  reference.  By  a  similar  rhetorical  specification,  the  natu- 
ral vivacity  of  young  animals  is  specially  ascribed  to  a  particular  species, 
well  known  to  the  writer  and  his  readers  as  remarkable  for  wildness  and 
agility.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  22  (21), 

7.  The  voice  of  Jehovah  (is)  hewing  flames  [or  with  Jlames)  of  fre.  The 
reference  to  lightning  in  this  verse  is  universall}^  admitted,  some  even  seeing 
an  allusion  to  the  brief  and  sudden  flash  in  the  single  clause  of  which  the 
sentence  is  composed.  Interpreters  are  not  agreed,  however,  with  respect 
to  the  specific  image  here  presented.  Some  imderstand  the  act  described 
to  be  that  of  cleaving  or  dividing,  in  allusion  to  the  forked  appearance  of  a 
flash  of  hghtning ;  others  that  of  hewing  out,  extracting  flames  ;  and  others 
that  of  hewing  with  them,  i.  e.  using  them  as  weapons  of  warfare  or  instru- 
ments of  vengeance.  This  last  construction  is  a  common  one  in  Hebrew, 
and  is  favoured  here  by  the  analogy  of  Isa.  li.  9,  Hos.  vi.  5,  where  the 
same  verb  is  appUed  to  God's  penal  judgments. — The  voice  of  God  must 
here  mean  his  authority  or  order,  as  it  could  not  be  said  without  absurdity, 
that  the  thunder  either  hews  the  lightning,  or  hews  with  it. 

8.  The  voice  of  Jehovah  is  about  to  shake  the  wilderness  ;  Jehovah  xmll 
shake  wilderness  of  Kadesh.  This  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  he  can  do  so, 
the  Hebrew  verb  having  no  distinct  potential  form.  The  verb  translated 
shake  is  stronger,  meaning  properly  to  cause  to  tremble.     Having  spoken  of 


136  Psalm  29:9- 11 

God's  power  as  exerted  on  the  mountains,  he  now  says  the  same  thing  of 
the  desert ;  and  as  the  mountains  which  he  specified  were  on  the  northern 
frontier,  so  the  wilderness  which  he  selects  is  that  which  bounded  Palestine 
upon  the  south,  the  northern  portion  of  the  great  Arabian  desert,  with 
which  the  IsraeUtes  had  many  strong  associations,  founded  partly  in  their 
personal  experience,  but  still  'more  in  their  national  history.  See  Deut. 
i.  19,  viii.  15,  xxxii.  10.  It  is  in  this  point  of  view,  and  not  simply  as  a 
plain,  which  it  is  not  in  its  whole  extent,  that  the  wilderness  of  Kadesh  is 
here  added  to  Mount  Lebanon. 

9.  The  voice  of  Jehovah  can  make  hinds  bring  forth,  and  strip  forests ; 
and  in  his  temple,  all  of  it  says,  Glory  !  The  use  of  the  futures  is  the  same 
as  in  the  foregoing  verse.  As  if  to  shew  that  the  divine  control  extends  to 
things  both  small  and  great,  the  Psalmist  passes  suddenly  from  lofty  moun- 
tains and  vast  deserts  to  the  weakest  animals,  in  whom  the  terror  of  his 
presence  hastens  the  throes  of  parturition.  See  Job  xxxix.  1-3,  and  com- 
pare 1  Sam.  iv.  19.  He  then  returns  to  more  imposing  natural  phenomena, 
such  as  the  stripping  of  the  leaves  and  branches  from  whole  forests  by  a 
mighty  wind,  which,  no  less  than  the  thunder,  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  voice 
of  God. — The  temple  or  palace  mentioned  in  the  last  clause  is  not  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem,  nor  any  earthly  structure,  but  heaven,  or  the  whole 
frame  of  nature,  considered  as  God's  royal  residence.  &ee  above,  on  Ps. 
V.  8  (7).  Throughout  this  palace,  all  of  it,  i.  e.  all  its  parts,  its  contents, 
or  its  inhabitants — with  special  reference,  perhaps,  to  the  angeHc  hosts 
invoked  in  ver.  1,  who  are  then  described  as  doing  what  he  there  invites 
them  to  do — not  merely  speaks  of  his  glory,  as  the  English  version  has  it, 
hut  says  "  glory ! ''  as  then- constant  and  involuntary  exclamation.  As  to 
the  true  sense  of  the  verb  "^a^>,  see  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  5  (4). 

•     T 

10.  Jehovah  at  the  flood  sat  (enthroned),  and  Jehovah  sits  (as)  King  to 
eternity.  There  are  oiJy  two  ways  in  which  this  verse  can  be  understood. 
It  must  either  be  explained  as  introducing  a  new  trait  in  the  description  of 
a  tempest,  namely,  that  of  a  flood  or  inundation — or  referred  to  the  uni- 
versal delude,  as  the  grandest  instance  of  the  natural  changes  which  had 
been  described.  In  favour  of  the  latter  explanation  may  be  urged  the  in- 
trinsic grandeur  of  the  image  which  it  calls  up,  its  better  agreement  with  the 
solemn  declaration  in  the  last  clause,  the  pecuUar  fitness  of  a  great  historical 
example  just  in  this  place,  and  the  invariable  usage  of  7l2Dn  to  mean 
Noah's  flood.  The  sense  of  the  whole  verse  may  be  thus  expressed  in 
paraphrase.  The  God  whose  voice  now  produces  these  efi'ects  is  the  God 
who  sat  enthroned  upon  the  deluge,  and  this  same  God  is  still  reigning  over 
nature  and  the  elements,  and  will  be  able  to  control  them  for  ever. 

11.  Jehovah  strength  to  his  people  will  give;  Jehovah  will  bless  his  people 
(with)  peace.  This  is  the  appUcation  of  the  whole  psalm,  clearly  shewing 
that  the  description  of  external  changes  was  not  given  for  its  own  sake,  or 
for  mere  poetical  effect,  but  as  a  source  of  consolation  and  a  gi-ound  of 
hope  to  true  behevers,  who  are  here  assured,  in  a  pregnant  summary  of 
all  that  goes  before,  that  the  God  who  is  thus  visible  and  audible  in  nature, 
who  presided  at  the  flood  and  is  to  reign  for  ever,  is  pledged  to  exercise  the 
power  thus  displayed  for  the  protection  and  well-being  of  his  people. 


Psalm  30:1 -3  137 

Psalm  30 

After  a  title,  giving  the  historical  occasion  of  the  psalm,  ver.  1,  the 
writer  praises  God  for  a  signal  deliverance  from  destruction,  ver.  2-4  (1-3), 
and  calls  upon  Grod's  people  to  join  in  the  praise  of  the  divine  compassion, 
ver.  5,  6  (4,  5).  He  then  reverts  to  the  cause  of  his  affliction,  ver.  7,  8 
(6,  7),  and  recounts  the  means  which  he  employed  for  its  removal,  ver. 
9-11  (8-10),  and  for  the  success  of  which  he  vows  eternal  thankftdness, 
ver.  12  (13),  11  (12).  The  occasion  and  design  of  the  psalm  will  be  con- 
sidered in  the  exposition  of  the  title  or  inscription,  which  constitutes  the 
first  verse  of  the  Hebrew  text. 

1 .  A  Psalm.  A  Song  of  Dedication  {for)  the  House.  By  David. 
The  construction  house  of  David,  although  not  ungrammatical,  is  forced,  as 
that  idea  would,  according  to  usage,  have  been  otherwise  expressed  in  He- 
brew. This  construction  has  moreover  given  rise  to  the  false  notion,  that 
the  psalm  has  reference  to  the  dedication  of  the  king's  own  dwelling, 
whereas  the  house,  as  an  absoulte  phrase,  can  only  mean  the  house  of  God. 
The  historical  occasion  of  the  psalm  is  furnished  by  the  narrative  in  2  Sam. 
xxiv.  and  1  Chron.  xxi.  David's  presumption  in  numbering  the  people 
had  been  punished  by  a  pestilence,  which  raged  until  the  destroying  angel 
had,  in  answer  to  the  king's  prayer,  been  required  to  sheathe  his  sword. 
The  spot  where  this  indication  of  God's  mercy  had  been  given,  was  imme- 
diately purchased  by  David,  and  consecrated  by  the  erection  of  an  altar, 
upon  which  he  offered  sacrifices  and  received  the  divine  approbation  in  the 
gift  of  fire  from  heaven  (1  Chron.  xxi.  26).  This  place  the  king  expressly  calls 
the  house  of  God  (1  Chron.  xxii.  1),  either  in  the  wide  sense  of  the  patri- 
archal Bethel  (Gen.  xxviii.  17,  22),  or  as  the  designated  site  of  the  temple, 
for  which  he  immediately  commenced  his  preparations  (1  Chron.  xxii.  2),  and 
in  reference  to  which  this  psalm  might  well  be  called  a  song  of  dedication, 
although  naturally  more  full  of  the  pestilence,  and  the  sin  which  caused  it, 
than  of  the  sanctuary  yet  to  be  erected, 

2  (1).  I  will  exalt  thee,  0  Jehovah,  because  thou  hast  raised  me  up,  and 
hast  not  let  my  enemies  rejoice  respecting  me.  In  the  first  clause  there  is  an 
antithesis  of  thought,  though  not  of  form.  "  I  will  raise  thee  because 
thou  hast  raised  me."  The  second  verb  is  a  modified  form  of  one  mean- 
ing to  draw  water  from  a  well  (Exod  ii.  16,  19),  and  may  therefore  have 
been  chosen  for  the  purpose  of  suggesting  the  idea  of  a  person  drawn  up 
from  some  depth  in  which  he  had  been  sunk,  a  figure  not  unfrequent  else- 
where. See  particularly  Ps.  xl.  3  (2),  below, — Hast  not  caused  or  permitted 
to  re;Wc«  by  abandoning  me  to  them. —  v  does  not  properly  mean  ot-er  me, 

but  as  to  me.     The  specific  idea  of  rejoicing  over  is  suggested  by  the  context. 

3  (2.)  Jehovah,  my  God,  I  cried  to  thee  {for  help)  and  thou  didst  heal  me. 
The  address,  my  God,  is  never  unmeaning  or  superfluous,  but  always  inti- 
mates a  covenant  relation  as  the  ground  of  confidence.  Any  severe 
sufiiering  is  represented  in  Scripture  under  the  figure  of  disease,  and  relief 
from  it  as  healing.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  3  (2),  and  compare  Ps.  xli.  5  (4), 
cvii.  20,Jer.  xiv.  19,  xv.  18,  xvii.  14,  xxx.  17.  The  healing  here  meant  is 
identical  with  the  help  in  ver.  4  (3)  and  the  joy  in  ver.  12  (11,)  and  proves 
nothing  therefore  as  to  literal  sickness  in  the  Psalmist's  case.  It  is  alto- 
gether natural,  however,  to  suppose  that  David  may  himself  have  been 
afiected  by  the  prevalent  disorder. 

4  (3.)  Jehovah,  thou  hast  brought  up  out  of  heU  my  soul,  thou  hast  made 


138  Psalm  30:4 -8 

me  alive  from  (among  those)  going  down  (into  the)  pit.  The  extremity  of 
his  danger  is  described  in  the  strongest  terms  aflGorded  by  the  language. 
The  essential  meaning  of  both  clauses  is,  that  God  had  saved  him  from  what 
seemed  to  be  inevitable  and  irrecoverable  ruin. — Hell,  sheol,  the  state  of 
the  dead.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5). — Going  down  into  the  pit,  i.e.  dying. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  30  (29). — Made  me  alive  from  them,  i.e.  separated  me 
from  them  by  restoring  or  preserving  my  life,  so  that  I  no  longer  can  be 
numbered  with  them. 

5  (4.)  Make  music  to  Jehovah,  ye  his  gracious  ones,  and  give  thanks  to 
the  merrvory  of  his  holiness.  The  exhortation  in  the  first  clause  is  to  praise 
Grod  by  song  with  instrumental  accompaniment.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii. 
18  (17),  ix.  3,  (2,  11).  His  gracious  ones,  the  objects  of  his  mercy,  and 
themselves  endowed  with  the  same  attribute.  See  above,  on  Ps.iv.  4(3). — 
Memory,  in  this  connection,  does  not  mean  the  power  or  the  act  of  remem- 
bering, but  that  which  is  remembered  when  we  think  of  God,  to  wit,  his  glorious 
perfections,  which  are  summed  up  in  his  holiness,  as  to  the  comprehensive 
sense  of  which,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  4  (3).  See  also  Hos.  xii.  6  (5), 
where  the  memory  of  God  is  particularly  coupled  with  his  mercy,  and 
Exod.  iii.  15,  Isa.  xxvi.  8,  Ps.  cxxxv.  13,  where  memory  and  name  are  used 
as  parallel  expressions. 

6  (5).  For  a  moment  in  Ms  wrath,  life  in  his  favour ;  in  the  evening 
shall  lodge  weeping,  and  at  the  morning  shouting  (or  singing).  Some  un- 
derstand the  contrast  in  the  first  clause  to  be  one  of  duration ;  there  is  only 
a  moment  in  his  wrath,  but  a  lifetime  in  his  favour.  It  is  simpler,  how- 
ever, and  more  agreeable  to  the  usage  of  the  word  translated  life,  to  read 
the  clause  without  an  antithesis  ;  his  wrath  endures  but  a  moment,  and  then 
his  favour  restores  life,  in  its  wide  sense,  as  including  all  that  makes  exist- 
ence desirable.  The  same  idea  is  expressed  in  the  last  clause  by  a  beauti- 
ful figure.  Sorrow  is  only  a  sojourner,  a  stranger  lodging  for  the  night,  to 
be  succeeded,  at  the  break  of  day,  by  a  very  different  inmate.  This, 
though  primarily  referring  to  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  the  present  state, 
admits  of  a  striking  appHcation  to  the  contrast  between  this  life  and  the 
next.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  15. 

7  (6).  And  I  said  in  my  security,  I  shall  not  he  moved  for  ever.  The 
pronoun  is  emphatic :  it  was  I  that  said. — Security.  The  Hebrew  word 
includes  the  ideas  of  prosperity,  and  of  that  self-confidence  which  it  pro- 
duces. Compare  Deut.  viii.  11-18,  xxxii.  15,  Hos.  xiii.  6,  2  Chron.  xxxii. 
25. — Moved,  disturbed  in  my  enjoyment,  shaken  from  my  present  firm 
position.  See  above,  on  Ps.  x.  6,  xvi.  8,  and  compare  Ps.  xiii.  5  (4), 
XV.  5,  xxi.  8  (7). 

8  (7).  Jehovah,  in  thy  favour  thou  didst  establish  to  my  mountain  strength; 
thou  didst  hide  thy  face,  I  was  confounded.  It  was  only  through  God's 
mercy  that  his  power  was  established. — Thou  didst  confirm  streyigth  (liter- 
ally, make  it  stand)  to  my  mountain,  a  common  figure  for  royal  power,  and 
especially  for  that  of  the  theocracy,  the  central  point  of  which  was  mount 
Zion.  See  2  Sam.  v.  9, 12,  Neh.  iii.  15,  Micah  iv.  8,  Isa.  ii.  3.  The  idea 
of  personal  prosperity  in  general,  though  not  expressed  directly,  is  suggested 
by  the  special  case  of  David's  official  eminence. — Thou  didst  hide  thy  face, 
withdraw  the  tokens  of  thy  presence  and  thy  favour.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xiii.  2  (1). — I  was  confounded,  agitated,  terrified,  perplexed.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  vi.  3,  4, 11  (2,  3,  10),  and  compare  Ps.  ii.  5.  The  common  version, 
troubled,  is  too  weak. 

9  (8).   Unto  thee,  Jehovah,  will  1  call,  and  to  Jehovah  I  will  cry  for  mercy. 


Psalm  30:9 -12  139 

This  was  the  resolution  formed  at  the  time  when  God  concealed  his  face 
and  he  was  ti'oubled.  The  insertion  of  the  words  then  said  /,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  verse,  would  render  the  connection  clear,  but  is  unnecessary. 
The  translation  of  the  futures  as  past  tenses  is  a  licence  which  could  only 
be  justified  by  extreme  exegetical  necessity,  certainly  not  by  the  trivial  cir- 
cumstance, that  the  last  clause  speaks  of  Jehovah  in  the  third,person,  which 
is  not  more  surprising  in  a  prayer  than  the  second  person  of  the  first  clause 
would  be  in  a  narrative.  The  sudden  change  of  person  is,  of  course,  the 
same  in  either  case. 

10  (9).  What  profit  (is  there)  in  my  hlood,  in  my  descending  to  corrup- 
tion (or  the  grave)  f  Will  dust  praise  (or  thank)  thee  ?  Will  it  tell  thy  truth? 
This  argument  in  favour  of  his  being  heard  and  rescued  is  the  same  as  that 
in  Ps.  vi.  6  (5),  and  reappears  in  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  11-13  (10-12),  and  inHeze- 
kiah's  psalm,  Isa.  xxxviii.  18,  19,  both  of  which  are  obvious  imitations  of 
David.     For  the  twofold  etymology  and  sense  of  J^n^,  either  of  which  is 

here  appropriate,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  10. — Dust,  the  lifeless  and  dis- 
organised remains  of  the  body. — Tell  thy  truth,  attest  the  truth  of  thy  pro- 
mises by  reciting  their  fulfilment,  and  so  bear  witness  to  the  divine  veracity 
and  faithfulness.  The  questions  of  course  imply  negation.  "  My  destruc- 
tion can  be  no  advantage  to  the  divine  glory,  but  must  rather  involve  a 
loss  of  praise." 

11  (10).  Hear,  Jehovah,  and  have  mercy  on  me;  Jehovah,  he  a  helper  for 
(or  to)  me.  This  petition  is  an  indirect  conclusion  from  the  reasoning  of 
the  preceding  verse.  The  logical  connection  may  be  made  clear  by  a  change 
of  form.  "  Since  thy  glory  will  not  be  promoted  by  my  death,  I  am  en- 
titled to  deliverance,  not  for  my  sake  but  thy  own."  This  last  idea  is 
suggested  by  his  appealing  to  the  divine  mercy,  as  the  ground  on  which  he 
asked  God  to  become  his  helper, 

12  (11).  Thou  hast  turned  my  lament  into  a  dance  for  me  ;  thou  hast 
opened  my  sackcloth  and  hast  girded  me  (vnth)  joy.  To  his  prayer  he  now 
adds  the  account  of  its  fulfilment.  The  relief  of  his  distress  is  described  as 
an  exchange  of  his  lament  or  funeral  song  for  a  joyful  dance,  Compare 
Jer.  xxxi.  13,  Lam.  v.  15.  In  further  allusion  to  the  mourning  customs  of 
the  east,  he  represents  his  mourning  dress,  made  of  the  coarsest  hair-cloth, 
as  now  opened,  i.  e.  loosened,  unfastened,  for  the  purpose  of  removal,  to  be 
replaced  not  merely  by  a  gay  or  festive  dress,  but  by  joy  itself,  poetically 
represented  as  a  garment.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  33,  40  (32,  39),  and 
compare  Isa.  Ixi.  3. 

13  (12).  In  order  that  glory  may  make  music  to  thee  and  not  he  dumhy 
Jehovah,  my  God,  I  will  praise  thee  {or  give  thanks  to  thee)  for  ever.  This 
verse  describes  not  only  the  effect  but  the  design  of  the  deliverance  asked 
for,  and  so  furnishes  a  counterpart  to  the  argument  in  ver.  10  (9).  As  the 
death  of  the  Psalmist  would  deprive  God  of  praise,  so  his  deliverance  is  in- 
tended to  ensure  it. — The  use  oi  glory  in  the  first  clause  is  obscure.  Some 
understand  by  it  the  tongue  or  voice,  which  is  entirely  arbitrary  ;  others 
the  soul,  th^  nobler  part  of  man,  as  in  Ps.  xvi.  9,  Ivii.  9,  cviii.  2  (1).  But 
as  the  form  in  all  these  cases  is  my  glory,  it  seems  better  to  take  glory  here 
without  the  pronoun  in  the  wide  sense  of  every  thing  glorious,  including  the 
worshipper's  highest  powers,  and  perhaps  his  regal  dignity,  as  in  Ps.  vii.  6  (5) 
As  in  God's  temple  everything  says  "Glory!"  (Ps.  xxix.  9),  so  every 
thing  glorious  among  his  works  is  bound  to  praise  him, — Not  he  dumb,  a 
stronger  phrase  than  not  he  silent. — With  the  last  clause  compare  the  words 
of  Hezekiah,  Isa.  xxx-viii.  20. 


140  Psalm  3 1:1 -3 

Psalm  31 

The  Psalmist  first  prays  in  general  for  deliverance  from  his  sufferings 
and  his  enemies,  on  the  ground  of  his  confidence  in  God  and  previous  ex- 
perience of  his  mercy,  ver.  2-9  (1-8).  He  then  prays  more  particularly 
for  deliverance  from  his  present  danger,  with  a  description  of  the  same,  ver. 
10-14  (9-13).  In  the  remainder  of  the  psalm,  the  tone  of  supplication  and 
complaint  is  gradually  exchanged  for  that  of  thankful  assurance,  ver.  15-23 
(14-22),  and  the  whole  is  wound  up  with  an  application  of  the  lesson  fur- 
nished by  the  Psalmist's  experience  to  the  case  of  all  God's  people,  ver. 
24,  25  (23,  24). 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  A  Psalm,  by  David.  Here  we  meet  again 
with  the  inscription,  to  the  chief  musician,  which  has  not  appeared  before 
since  the  title  of  Ps.  xxii.  As  in  all  other  cases,  it  expUcitly  describes  the 
psalm  as  intended  for  musical  peH"ormance  in  the  public  worship  of  the 
ancient  church.  As  this,  however,  was  the  case  with  all  the  psalms,  the 
fact  that  it  is  mentioned  only  in  some  may  be  explained  by  supposing,  that 
in  them  there  was  something  which  might  otherwise  have  caused  them  to 
be  looked  upon  as  mere  expressions  of  personal  feeling. — The  correctness 
of  the  other  clause — a  Psalm  of  David — is  fully  attested  by  internal  evidence. 
The  idea  that  Jeremiah  wrote  it  rests  entirely  on  the  imitation  of  the  first 
clause  of  ver.  14  (13)  in  Jer.  xx.  10,  which  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  the 
practice  of  that  prophet. 

2  (1).  In  thee,  Jehovah,  have  I  trusted.  Let  me  not  he  shamed  for  ever. 
In  thy  righteusness  deliter  me  (or  help  me  to  escape).  The  first  clause  con- 
tains the  ground  of  the  petitions  following,  which  ground  is  the  same  that 
is  often  urged  elsewhere,  namely,  that  a  just  God  cannot  destroy  those  who 
trust  him.  See  above,  Ps.  vii.  2  (1),  xi.  1. — The  prayer  in  the  next  clause 
may  be  either  that  his  present  shame  may  not  endure  for  ever,  or  that  he 
may  never  be  put  to  shame,  which  last  idea  could  not  well  be  otherwise 
expressed  in  Hebrew.  Shamed,  i.e.  utterly  confounded,  disappointed, 
and  frustrated  in  his  hopes.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  11  (10),  xxii.  6  (5), 
XXV.  2,  20.  He  appeals  to  God's  righteousness  or  justice,  in  the  strict 
sense,  upon  which  trust  or  faith  creates  a  claim,  even  on  the  part  of  the 
unworthy,  not  by  virtue  of  any  intrinsic  merit,  but  of  God's  gracious  con- 
stitution. See,  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  1,  2,  xviii.  21-25  (20-24),  xxv.  21. 
xxvi.  1.  This  verse  and  the  two  following  reappear,  without  material 
variation,  in  Ps.  Ixxi.  1-3. 

3  (2).  Incline  unto  me  thine  ear;  [in)  haste  deliver  me;  be  to  me  for  a  rock 
of  strength  for  a  house  of  defences  to  save  me.  The  prayer  for  speedy  dehver- 
ance  implies  extreme  necessity  and  danger.  For  the  meaning  of  the  figures, 
rock  of  strength  and  house  of  defences  or  fortress,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xviii. 
3  (2),  and  as  to  the  plural  form,  on  Ps.  xviii.  51  (50),  xx.  7  (6). — The 
petition  of  the  first  clause  seems  to  imply  that  God  had  hitherto  appeared 
to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  his  prayers.  It  may  perhaps  have  been  intended  to 
suggest  the  additional  idea,  that  his  cry  was  feeble,  so  that  it  had  hitherto 
escaped  the  ear  of  him  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  and  who  is  now  implored 
to  bow  down  or  incUne  his  ear,  that  the  distant  soimd  may  reach  him. 

4  (3).  For  my  rock  and  my  fortress  [art)  thou,  and  for  thy  name's  sake 
thou  u'ilt  lead  me  and  (Cnduct  me  (or  provide  for  me).  What  he  asks  in  the 
preceding  verse  he  here  asserts,  to  wit,  that  God  is  his  protector,  and  must 
therefore,  of  necessity,  protect  him,  not  only  for  the  sufferer's  sake,  but  for 


Psalm  31:4 -8  141 

the  honour  of  his  own  name  or  manifested  nature.  See  above,  Ps.  rdii.  3, 
for  the  meaning  of  this  phrase,  and  on  the  second  verse  of  the  same  psalm, 
for  that  of  the  last  verb. — The  futures  in  the  second  clause  suggest  the 
idea  of  necessity,  and  might  perhaps  be  correctly  rendered  by  the  use  of 
our  auxiUary  must. 

5  (4).  Thou  wilt  bring  me  out  from  the  net  which  they  have  hid  for  me; 
for  thou  (art)  my  strength  (or  my  stronghold).     "  By  thee  I  confidently 

hope  to  be  dehvered  from  the  craft  and  malice  of  my  enemies,  for  my  de- 
fence and  safety  are  in  thee  alone."  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps. 
XXV.  15,  and  with  the  last  Ps.  xxvii,  1.  The  change  of  figure  in  the  last 
clause  shews  the  whole  verse  to  be  highly  metaphorical. 

6  (5).  Into  thy  hand  I  will  commit  my  spirit ;  thou  hast  redeemed  me, 
(0)  Jehovah,  God  of  truth.  The  verb  in  the  first  clause  means  to  entrust 
or  deposit  anything  of  value.  By  my  spirit  we  may  either  understand  my 
my  life  or  myself,  but  not  my  soul,  as  distinguished  from  my  body. — The 
preterite  thou  hast  redeemed,  expresses,  in  the  strongest  manner,  his  assured 
hope,  and  the  certainty  of  the  event. — God  of  truth,  veracity  or  faithful- 
ness. See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  5,  and  compare  Jer.  x.  10.  The  words  of 
the  first  clause  of  this  verse  were  quoted  or  imitated  by  our  Saviour  on  the 
cross,  Luke  xxiii.  46,  which  only  proves  that  he  considered  himself  one  of 
those  to  whom  the  psalm  might  be  applied,  but  without  excluding  others  ; 
and  accordingly  John  Huss,  while  on  his  way  to  the  stake,  repeatedly 
quoted  this  whole  verse,  as  the  expression  of  his  own  emotions. 

7  (6).  /  have  hated  those  regarding  vanities  of  falsehood,  and  I  (for  my 
part)  in  Jehovah  have  confided.  The  present  is  included  in  the  preterite 
of  the  first  clause.  "  I  have  hated  them,  and  hate  them  still."  "  I  hate 
them,  and  have  done  so  heretofore."  See  above,  Ps.  xvi.  4,  xxvi.  5. — Re- 
garding, religiously  observing,  waiting  upon,  watching  with  respect  and 
trust.  Compare  Hos.  iv.  10,  Zech.xi.  11,  Jonah  ii.  9  (8).  This  last  place 
contains  also  the  word  vanities  here  used,  and  even  in  the  Law  appUed  to  idols, 
as  no  gods,  and  as  "nothing  in  the  world"  (1  Cor.  viii.  4).  See  Deut. 
xxxii.  21,  and  compare  Jer.  ii.  5,  x.  15,  xiv.  22,  xvi.  19,  xviii.  15.  The 
words  here  combined  are  highly  contemptuous,  denoting  vanities  of  empti- 
ness, or  nothings  of  nonentity,  presented  in  contrast  to  Jehovah,  God  of 
truth,  in  whom  the  Psalmist  has  confided.  And  I,  as  opposed  to  them. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  6. 

8  (7).  /  will  triumph  and  joy  in  thy  mercy,  thou  who  hast  seen  my  afflic- 
tion, hast  known  the  pangs  of  my  soul.  In  the  strength  of  his  faith  he  sees 
deliverance  already  present. — Sast  known  in  the  pangs  of  my  soul,  i.e.  in 
the  time  of  my  distress  hast  been  aware  of  it,  which  seems  to  be  the  mean- 
ing of  this  verb  and  preposition  elsewhere  (Gen.  xix.  33,  35,  Job  xxxv.  15). 
Luther  and  others  give  a  difierent  construction,  hast  known  my  soul  in  dis- 
tress, but  the  other  is  favoured  by  the  occurrence  of  the  phrase  distress  (or 
agonies)  of  soul  in  Gen.  xlii.  21,  and  Ps.  xxv.  17.  The  sight  and  know- 
ledge here  applied  to  God  imply  a  corresponding  action.  "  Thou  hast  seen 
and  known  my  state,  and  dealt  with  me  accordingly."  With  the  first 
clause  compare  Ps.  ix.  3  (2). 

9  (8).  And  hast  not  shut  me  up  in  the  hand  of  a  foe,  (but)  hast  made  to  stand 
in  the  wide  place  my  feet.  To  shut  up  in  the  hand  of  any  one  is  to  abandon 
to  his  power.  The  expression  is  a  figurative  one,  but  occurs  in  prose,  and 
even  in  the  history  of  David.  See  1  Sam.  xxiii.  11,  xxvi.  8.  The  figure 
of  the  last  clause  is  a  favourite  with  David.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  2  (1), 
xviii.  20,  37  (19,  36). 


142  Psalm  3 1:9 -13 

10  (9).  Have  mercy  upon  me,  0  Jehovah,  for  distress  is  to  me  ;  sunken 
through  grief  is  my  eye,  my  soul,  and  my  belly.  Having  thus  professed  his 
confidence  of  ultimate  deUverance,  he  reverts  to  his  actual  condition,  and 
prays  for  the  divine  interposition,  on  the  ground  of  what  he  has  already 
eufiered.  On  the  sinking  or  falling  of  the  eye,  as  a  sign  of  extreme  grief 
and  weakness,  see  above,  on  Ps.  vi,  8  (7).  Having  mentioned  this  as  a 
specific  symptom,  he  then  uses  the  generic  terms,  soul  and  belly,  i.  e.  body. — 
For  the  true  sense  of  the  word  translated  grief,  see  above,  on  Ps.  x.  14. 

11  (10).  For  wasted  with  grief  {ox  indignation)  is  my  life,  and  my  years 
toith  sighing  ;  my  strength  totters  because  of  my  iniquity,  and  my  bones  are 
decayed.  Wasted,  consumed  before  the  time. — Life  and  years,  grief  and 
sighing,  are  correlative  expressions.  Life  is  made  up  of  years ;  grief  is 
expressed  by  sighs  and  groans. — To  totter  or  stumble  is  a  verb  applied  else- 
where to  the  parts  of  the  body — as  the  Imees  in  Ps.  cix.  24 — here  meta- 
phorically to  the  strength  itself. — Because  of  my  iniquity  or  guilt  is  not 
inconsistent  with  the  appeal  to  God's  righteousness  in  ver.  2  (1),  but  only 
proves  that  the  Psalmist  lays  no  claim  to  a  sinless  perfection.  See  above, 
onPs.  xviii.  24  (23). — The  bones  are  mentioned  as  the  seat  of  strength, 
the  sohd  frame-work  of  the  body. — Decayed,  grown  old,  worn  out.  See 
below,  on  Ps.  xxxii.  3. 

12  (11).  By  means  of  (or  because  of)  all  my  adversaries  I  xms  a  reproach, 
mid  to  my  neighbours  very  {much),  and  a  fear  to  my  acquaintances  ;  seeing  me 
in  the  street  they  fled  from  me  (or  those  seeing  me  in  the  street  fled  from.  me). 
The  first  word  properly  means  from  or  out  of.  It  was  from  his  enemies, 
both  as  the  cause  and  the  occasion,  that  his  disgrace  proceeded.  A  reproach, 
despised  by  others,  and  considered  a  disgrace  to  them.  See  above,  on  Pf. 
xxii.  7  (6).  In  the  second  clause  there  is  an  obvious  progression.  He 
was  so  esteemed,  not  only  by  his  fellow-men  indefinitely,  but  by  his  neigh- 
bours, and  that  greatly  (^^<D),  which  seems  equivalent  to  saying,  "  and  to 

Done  more  than  my  neighbours,"  or,  "  above  aU  to  my  neighbours."  In  the 
last  clause  the  climax  is  completed.  Not  only  were  his  neighbours  ashamed 
of  him ;  his  acquaintances  were  afraid  of  him.  See  below,  Ps.  xxxviii. 
12  (11),  Ixix.  9  (8),  Ixxxviii.  19  (18),  and  compare  Job  xix.  18,  14. 

18  (12).  I  was  forgotten  as  a  dead  man  out  of  mind ;  I  was  like  a  broken 
vessel  (or  a  vessel  perishing).  The  next  stage  of  his  calamity  was  that  of 
contemptuous  oblivion,  which  usually  follows  the  acute  one  of  disgust  and 
shame  described  in  the  foregoing  verse. — From  the  heart,  i.  e.  the  memory; 
the  expression  seems  to  correspond  exactly  to  the  second  member  of  the 
English  proverb.  Out  of  sight,  out  of  mind. — The  comparison  with  an 
earthen  vessel,  at  best  of  little  value,  easily  broken,  and  when  broken, 
worthless,  only  fit  to  be  contemptuously  thrown  aside,  is  a  favourite  with 
Jeremiah,  who  appears  to  have  derived  it,  with  some  other  favourite  ideas 
and  expressions,  from  the  psalm  before  us.  See  Jer.  xix.  11,  xxii.  28, 
sxv.  34,  xlviii.  88,  and  compare  Hos.  viii.  8. 

14  (13).  For  I  heard  the  slander  oj  many — terror  (was)  all  around — in 
their  consulting  together  against  me,  to  take  my  soul  (or  my  life)  they  plotted. 
The  for  connects  what  follows  not  so  much  with  what  immediately  precedes 
as  with  the  general  description  of  his  urgent  need  in  ver.  10  (9).  Have 
mercy  upon  me,  for  distress  is  to  me,  of  which  he  is  about  to  give  another 
proof  or  instance.  The  first  clause  is  closely  copied  in  Jer.  xx.  10,  and 
the  phrase  magor  missahib  (fear  round  about)  is  a  favourite  with  that  pro- 
phet. See  Jer.  vi.  25,  xx.  3,  xlvi,  5,  xlix.  29,  and  compare  Lam.  ii.  22. 
— The  term  used  for  consulting  is  akin  to  that  in  Ps.  ii.  2. — The  connec- 


Psalm  31 .14-19  143 

tion  between  the  slander  of  the  first  clause  and  the  plotting  of  the  second 
seems  to  be,  that  the  former  was  regarded  as  a  necessary  means  to  the 
successful  execution  of  the  latter. 

15  (14).  And  I- on  thee  did  trust,  Jehovah  ;  I  said,  my  God  (art)  thou  I 
*'  Amidst  these  distresses,  and  in  spite  of  them,  I  still  confided  in  Jehovah, 
and  expressed  my  confidence  by  solemnly  avouching  him  to  be  my  God,  and 
therefore  bound  by  covenant  to  save  me,  as  I  am  no  less  bound  by  cove- 
nant to  trust  him."  It  is  worthy  of  remark  how  constantly  the  ancient 
saints  make  trust  in  God  essential  to  all  spiritual  safety. — With  the  last 
clause  of  this  verse  compare  Ps.  xvi.  1. 

16  (15).  In  thy  hand  (are)  my  times;  set  me  free  from  the  hand  of  my 
foes  and  from  my  persecutors.  By  times  we  are  to  understand  the  cur- 
rent of  events  or  the  vicissitudes  of  life,  as  when  we  speak  familiarly  of 
good  times,  hard  times,  and  the  like.  There  may  be  also  an  allusion  to 
the  turning-points  or  critical  junctures  of  his  history.  The  first  clause 
presents  the  ground  or  reason  of  the  second.  "  Since  the  events  of  my 
life  are  at  thy  disposal,  set  me  free,"  &c.  Freeing  from  the  hand  is  the 
opposite  of  shutting  up  in  it.  See  above,  on  ver.  9  (8). — Foes  and  perse- 
cutors, not  as  distinct  classes,  but  as  difierent  descriptions  of  the  same. 

17  (16).  Let  thy  face  shine  on  thy  servant;  save  me  in  thy  mercy.  The 
first  clause  contains  an  allusion  to  the  sacerdotal  benediction  recorded  in 
Num.  vi.  25.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  7  (6),  where  we  have  a  similar  allu- 
sion to  that  passage.  "  Grant  me  a  sensible  assurance  of  thy  favour." 
This  he  asks  because  he  is  his  servant,  a  relation  implying  the  necessity  of 
God's  interposition  in  his  favour.  While  God  is  God,  he  cannot  leave  his 
faithful  servants  to  perish.  Even  here,  however,  his  appeal  is  to  God's 
mercy,  as  the  only  source  or  means  of  safety. 

18  (17).  Jehovah,  let  me  not  he  shamed,  for  I  have  called  (upon  thee). 
Let  the  ivicked  be  shamed,  be  silenced,  in  hell.  He  distinguishes  himself,  as 
one  who  calls  upon  God,  from  the  wicked  who  do  not,  and  appeals  to  the 
righteousness  of  God  as  requiring  that  defeat,  and  disappointment,  and 
finistration  of  the  hopes,  should  fall,  not  upon  the  class  to  which  he  belongs 
and  of  which  he  is  the  representative,  but  upon  that  represented  by  his 
enemies,  of  whom  it  has  been  well  said,  that  they  are  not  reckoned  sinners 
because  they  are  his  enemies,  but  enemies  because  they  are  sinners,  or  in 
other  words,  enemies  to  him  because  they  are  the  enemies  of  God. — 
Silenced  in  reference  to  their  present  loud  and  angry  contests  with  the 
righteous. — In  hell,  or  in  the  grave,  i.  e.  in  death. 

19  (18).  Struck  dumb  be  the  lips  of  lying,  the  (lips)  speaking  against  a 
righteous  [man),  insolently  in  pride  and  scorn.  This  wish  has  special  refer- 
ence to  the  slanders  mentioned  in  ver.  14  (13). — Insolently,  literally  insolent, 
that  which  is  insolent,  or  as  an  abstract,  insolence,  audacity. 

20  (19).  Sow  great  is   thy  goodness  which  thou  hast  hidden  for  those 
fearing  thee,  (and)  wrought  for  (those)  trusting  in  thee  before  the  Son  of  man 

(or  mankind)  I  Some  suppose  an  antithesis  between  what  God  does  secretly 
for  those  who  trust  him  openly,  or  publicly  profess  their  faith.  Compare 
Mat.  vi.  4.  But  usage  and  the  toasoretic  accents  are  in  favour  of  a  dif- 
ferent construction,  which  connects  before  the  sons  of  man  with  tvrought,  and 
supposes  the  antithesis  to  be  between  the  two  successive  stages  of  God'? 
dispensations  towards  believers,  first  what  he  does  in  secret,  and  then  what 
he  does  in  public.  "  How  great  is  thy  goodness  which  thou  hast  first 
treasured  up,  and  then  wrought  openly  before  the  sons  of  men  for  those 
who  trust  thee." 


144  Psalm  3 1:20 -23 

21  (20).  Thou  uilt  secrete  them  in  the  secret  of  thy  face  (or  presence)  from 
the  leagues  of  man  ;  thou  uilt  hide  them  in  a  covert  from  the  strife  of  tongues. 
A  particular  manifestation  of  this  goodness  is  now  specified,  to  wit,  the 
protection  of  its  objects  from  the  craft  and  malice  of  their  fellow-men.  The 
figures  are  the  same  as  in  the  first  clause  of  Ps.  xxvii.  5,  except  that  the 
presence  of  God  is  substituted  for  his  dwelling,  which  indeed  derives  its 
power  of  protection  solely  from  that  presence.  The  leagues  or  plots  of  man 
are  those  mentioned  in  ver.  14  (13),  and  the  strife  of  tongues  the  slander 
there  referred  to ;  not  the  strife  of  tongues  in  mutual  dispute  among  his 
enemies,  but  the  united  strife  of  all  their  tongues  against  himself. 

22  (21).  Blessed  (be)  Jehovah,  for  he  hath  made  his  mercy  wonderful  to 
me  in  a  city  of  defence  {or  fortified  city).  What  he  had  just  asserted  to  be 
generally  true  of  all  believers,  he  now  declares  to  have  been  verified  in  his 
own  experience. — Has  made  his  mercy  wonderful,  has  exercised  surprising 
mercy,  or  in  modern  phrase,  has  been  wonderfully  gracious. — In  a  fenced 
city  is  by  some  understood  to  mean  as  such  a  city,  a  comparison  which 
really  occurs  in  other  places.  For  another  supposed  instance  of  the  same 
construction,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxix.  4.  In  this  case,  however,  as  in  that, 
the  strict  sense  of  the  particle  may  be  retained,  not  only  without  injury 
but  with  advantage  to  the  sense,  which  will  then  be,  that  Jehovah  had 
exercised  extraordinary  mercy  towards  the  psalmist,  by  bringing  him  into  a 
position  where  he  was  as  safe  from  the  evils  which  he  felt  or  feared,  as  he 
would  have  been  from  mere  corporeal  perils  in  a  walled  town  or  a  fortress. 

23  (22).  And  (yet  it  was)  /  (that)  said  in  my  terror,  I  am  cut  off  from 
before  thine  eyes.  Nevertheless,  thou  didst  hear  the  voice  of  my  prayers  (for 
mercy)  in  my  crying  unto  thee  (for  help).  The  fuU  force  of  the  emphatic 
pronoun  can  be  represented  only  by  a  paraphrase.  The  meaning  is  that 
this  very  person  who  experiences  this  wonderful  protection  was  the  same 
who,  but  a  Uttle  while  before,  had  given  himself  up  for  lost. — In  my  haste. 
The  Hebrew  word  denotes  the  hurried  flight  of  one  escaping  panic-struck 
from  his  pursuers.  See  the  Uteral  application  of  the  verb,  in  historical 
prose,  to  the  case  of  David  himself,  1  Sam.  xxiii.  26,  and  compare  Ps. 
xlviii.  6  (5),  civ.  7.  Our  idiom  absolutely  requires  an  adversative  particle 
at  the  beginning  of  the  second  clause,  although  the  Hebrew  word  is  pro- 
perly a  particle  of  afiirmation,  meaning  certainly  or  surely.  Notwithstand- 
ing his  despondency  and  unbeUef,  Jehovah  heard  and  answered  his 
prayers  for  mercy  and  his  cries  for  help,  both  which  ideas  are  suggested  in 
the  original. 

24(23)  Love  Jehovah,  ye  his  gracious  ones  {or  favoured  ones) ;  faith- 
Jceeping  (is)  Jehovah,  and  repaying  in  plenty  (the  man)  working  pride  (or 
acting  proudly).  In  this  and  the  remaining  verse,  he  makes  a  further 
application  of  the  truth,  which  he  had  just  attested  from  his  own  experi- 
ence, to  the  case  of  aU  God's  saints  or  gracious  ones,  at  once  the  subjects 
and  the  objects  of  benignant  dispositions,  those  who  are  merciful  because 
they  obtain  mercy  (Mat.  v.  7).  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  4  (3). — The  next 
words  admit  of  two  interpretations  :  keeping  (preserving)  the  faithful,  and 
keeping  faith,  literally  fidelities,  the  plural  being  often  used  in  Hebrew  as 
an  abstract.  The  predominant  usage  of  D''J'IO^^  is  in  favour  of  this  last 
construction.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xii.  2  (1).  Keeping  faith  of  course 
means  with  those  who  are  faithful  to  himself,  so  that  we  still  have  the 
antithesis  between  them  and  the  man  doing,  exercising  pride,  a  form  of 
speech  much  stronger  than  its  Enghsh  equivalent,  acting  proudly. — Abun- 
dantly, or  literally,  in  plenty. 


Psalm  32: 1,2  145 

25  (24).  Be  strong,  and  let  him  confirm  your  heart,  all  ye  that  wait  for 
Jehovah  (or  hope  in  him).  The  idea  and  the  form  of  expression  are  the 
same  as  in  Ps.  xxvii.  14,  except  that  what  the  Psahnist  there  says  to  him- 
self, or  to  his  own  soul,  he  here  says  to  aU  that  hope  in  God,  or  wait  for 
the  fulfilment  of  his  promises.  See  the  same  description  of  God's  people 
in  Ps.  xxxiii.  18,  below. — Be  strong  in  purpose  and  desire,  and  he  will  make 
you  strong  in  fact.  This  promise  is  conveyed  under  the  form  of  a  wish, 
may  he  strengthen  (or  confirm)  your  heart.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  14. 


Psalm  32 

The  Psalm  opens  with  a  general  assertion  of  the  blessedness  arising  from 
the  pardon  of  sin,  ver.  1,  2,  which  is  then  exemplified  by  a  statement  of 
the  Psalmist's  own  experience,  ver.  3-6,  and  extended  to  the  case  of  others 
also,  ver,  7-9,  the  whole  ending,  as  it  began,  with  an  assertion  of  the 
misery  of  sinners  and  the  happiness  of  the  righteous,  ver,  10,  11. 

1.  By  David.  Maschil.  Happy  (he  whose)  transgression  {is)  taken 
away,  covered  [his)  sin.  The  ascription  of  the  psalm  to  David  is  not  only 
free  from  all  improbability,  and  recognised  in  the  New  Testament  (Rom. 
iv.  6),  but  confirmed  by  its  resemblance  to  his  other  compositions,  and  by 
a  seeming  reference  to  a  signal  incident  in  David's  Ufe,  described  as  unique 
in  the  history  itself  (1  Kings  xv.  5),  and  the  same  which  gave  occasion  to 
the  fifty-fijTst  psalm.  The  feelings  here  described  bear  a  striking  analogy 
to  those  recorded  in  the  narrative,  2  Sam.  xii.,  as  will  be  more  distinctly 
pointed  out  below.  But  although  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  this  psalm 
was  connected,  in  its  origin,  with  a  peculiar  and  most  painful  passage  of 
the  writer's  own  experience,  it  was  not  intended  to  express  his  personal 
emotions  merely,  nor  even  those  of  other  saints  in  precisely  the  same  situa- 
tion, but  to  draw  from  this  one  case  a  general  lesson,  as  to  the  misery  of 
impenitent  dissimulation,  and  the  happiness  arising  from  confession  and 
forgiveness.  And  lest  this  wide  scope  of  the  psalm  should  be  lost  sight  of 
in  the  contemplation  of  the  circumstances  which  produced  it,  it  is  described 
in  the  inscription  as  a  maschil,  an  instructive  or  didactic  psalm,  a  designa- 
tion which,  in  the  case  of  many  other  psalms,  would  be  superfluous,  and 
which  is  actually  found,  for  the  most  part,  only  where  the  didactic  purpose 
of  the  composition  is  for  some  cause  less  obvious  than  usual.  (Compare 
the  introduction  to  Ps.  xxxiv.  below.)  That  the  maschil  was  prefixed  by 
David  himself,  is  rendered  still  more  probable  by  the  allusion  to  it  in  the 
body  of  the  psahn.  See  below,  on  ver.  8. — Taken  away,  put  out  of  sight, 
the  same  idea  that  is  expressed  in  the  other  clause  by  covered.  This 
verse  is  explained  by  Paul,  in  Rom.  iv.  6,  as  relating  to  justification 
"without  works "  and  "  by  faith." 

2.  Happy  man  —  Jehovah  will  not  impute  to  him  iniquity  —  and 
there  is  not  in  his  spirit  guile.  The  peculiar  form  of  the  construction  may 
be  thus  resolved  into  our  idiom :  happy  the  man  to  whom  the  Lord,  &c. 
The  phrase  at  the  beginniag,  Oh  the  happinesses  of  the  man,  is  substantially 
the  same  as  in  Ps.  i.  1. — Impute,  reckon  or  charge  to  his  account,  and 
deal  with  him  accordingly.  The  whole  phrase  occurs  in  2  Sam.  xix.  20 
(19).  The  threefold  designation,  sin,  transgression,  and  iniquity,  seems  to 
be  borrowed  from  Exod,  xxxiv.  7,  where  the  doctrine  of  forgiveness  is  first 
fully  and  explicitly  propounded.  —  Guile,  deceit,  including  self-deception  as 
to  one's  own  character  and  dissimulation  in  the  sight  of  God,  the  attempt 


146  Psalm  32:3 -6 

to  palliate  or  conceal  sin  instead  of  freely  confessing  it,  which  is  an  indis- 
pensable condition  of  forgiveness,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  both  testa- 
ments (Prov.  xxviii.  13,  1  John  i.  8-10). 

3.  For  I  kept  silence  {and)  my  bones  decayed,  in  my  roaring  all  the  day. 
The  sentence  admits  of  several  different  constructions — *  because  I  kept 
silence  my  bones  decayed' — *when  I  kept  silence,'  &c.  But  the  simplest 
is  that  which  gives  the  "'Z)  its  usual  and  proper  meaning,-  and  supposes  it  to 

introduce  the  Psalmist's  proof  of  the  preceding  proposition  drawn  from  his 
own  experience.  **  I  know  this  happiness,  for  I  was  once  in  a  different  con- 
dition and  have  been  delivered." — Kept  silence,  refrained  from  acknowledging 
my  sins  to  God.  The  bones  are  here  put  for  the  framework  of  the  body, 
in  which  the  strength  resides,  and  the  decay  of  which  impHes  extreme  debi- 
litation. The  verb  translated  decayed  is  especially  applied  to  the  weaken- 
mg  effect  of  time  ;  they  grew  old,  or  wore  out.—  In  denotes  both  tiine  and 
cause — '  while  I  roared,'  and  '  because  I  roared.'  The  figure  is  bori'owed 
from  the  habits  of  inferior  animals,  and  means  loud  or  passionate  complaint. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  2  (1). 

4.  For  day  and  night  thy  hand  weighs  upon  me;  changed  is  my  mois- 
ture in  (or  into)  droughts  of  summer.  Selah.  The  for  at  the  beginning 
shews  the  connection  of  this  verse  with  that  before  it,  as  assigning  the  cause 
of  the  decay  there  mentioned.  **  My  bones  waxed  old  because  thy  hand," 
&c. — The  future^  in  the  fij-st  clause  cannot,  without  arbitrary  violence,  be 
taken  as  a  preterite.  It  seems  to  have  been  used  for  the  purpose  of  describ- 
ing his  condition  as  it  seemed  to  him  at  the  time,  when  the  hand  of  God 
not  only  weighed  upon  him  but  seemed  likely  still  to  do  so.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xviii.  17  (16).  The  word  translated  moisture,  i.  e.  viidl  juice,  analo- 
gous to  the  sap  of  plants,  is  so  explained  from  an  Arabic  analogy  ;  but  some 
think  this  sense  inappropriate  in  the  only  other  case  where  the  Hebrew 
word  occurs  (Num.  xi.  8),  and  infer  from  Ps.  cii.  5  (4),  that  it  is  an  un- 
usual expression  for  the  heart.  His  inward  agonies  ai*e  represented  as  intense 
and  parching  heats. 

5.  My  sin  I  will  make  known  to  thee,  and  my  guilt  I  did  not  conceal.  I 
sdid,  I  will  make  confession  of  my  transgressions  to  Jehovah.  And  thou 
didst  take  away  the  guilt  of  my  sin.  Selah.  Most  interpreters  explain  the 
future  verb  of  the  first  clause  as  a  preterite,  because  all  the  other  verbs  are 
preterites  ;  but  this  only  renders  the  future  form  of  the  first  verb  more 
remarkable,  and  makes  it  harder  to  explain  why  a  past  tense  was  not  used 
in  this,  as  in  all  the  other  cases,  if  the  writer  intended  to  express  past  time. 
The  only  consistent  method  of  solution  is  fo  understand  the  first  clause  as 
a  reminiscence  of  the  Psalmist's  resolution  in  the  time  of  his  distress, 
repeated  in  the  second  clause,  and,  in  both  cases,  followed  by  a  recital  of 
the  execution  of  his  purpose.  (I  said)  my  sin  I  will  make  known  to  thee, 
and  my  guilt  I  (accordingly)  did  not  conceal.  I  said,  I  will  make  confes- 
Bion  to  Jehovah,  aud  thou  didst  take  away  the  guilt  of  my  sin.  See  above, 
oii  Ps.  XXX.  9  (8). 

6.  For  this  shall  every  gracious  one  make  supplication  to  thee  at  the  (right) 
time  (for)  finding  [thee) ;  surely  at  the  overflow  of  many  waters,  unto  him 
they  shall  not  reach.  The  first  words  are  equally  ambiguous  in  Hebrew  and 
in  English.  At  first  sight,  both  may  seem  to  mean,  for  this  grace,  this 
forgiveness,  every  godly  man  shall  pray  to  thee.  But  although  this  con- 
struction yields  a  good  sense,  it  is  less  consistent  with  the  usage  of  the 
Hebrew  verb  and  preposition  than  another  which  explains  the  phrase  to 
mean /or  this  cause,  or  on  this  account,  to  wit,  because  I  have  experienced 


Psalm  32 .7-9  147 

the  blessedness  of  penitent  confession  and  the  pardon  which  invariably  fol- 
lows it.     For  the  true  sense  of  TDTl,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxxi.  24  (23). — 

•    r 

Shall  pray  is  not  a  mere  prediction  or  anticipation,  but  a  jussive  future, 
such  as  is  constantly  employed  in  laws.  The  sense  might  therefore  be 
conveyed  by  rendering  it,  let  every  pious  person  pray. — The  time  of  finding 
is  the  time  when  God  is  to  be  found.  See  Isa.  Iv.  6,  and  compare  Deut. 
iv.  29,  Jer.  xxix.  12-14.  In  this  case  there  may  be  a  particular  allusion 
to  the  interval  between  the  sin  and  punishment,  during  which  the  penitent 
confessions  and  importunate  petitions  of  the  sinner, — i.e.  the  offending 
saint,  to  whom  alone  the  Psalmist  here  refers — may  avail  to  avert  the  judg- 
ments which  must  otherwise  inevitably  follow.  This  effect  is  described  in 
the  last  clause  by  the  figure  of  a  flood,  which  is  not  suffered  to  extend  to 
him.  The  word  translated  surely  means  in  strictness  only ;  i.  e.  the  effect 
of  such  a  prayer  will  be  only  this,  or,  as  we  say,  neither  more  nor  less. 

7.  Ihou  {art)  a  hiding-place  for  me ;  from  distress  thou  tvilt  preserve  me; 
with  songs  (or  shouts)  of  deliverance  tho2i  wilt  surround  me.  Selah.  This 
is  not,  as  some  suppose,  the  prayer  itself,  which  the  believer  is  exhorted,  in 
ver.  6,  to  offer,  but  a  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  assurance  that  the 
prayer  will  prove  effectual,  derived  from  the  psalmist's  own  experience,  or 
rather  from  the  feelings  which  it  has  produced.  As  if  he  had  said,  "  Every 
gracious  soul  may  try  this  method  without  fear  of  disappointment,  for  I 
have  tried  it,  and  the  efiect  is  that,  at  this  very  moment,  God  is  my  refuge 
and  protector,  and  I  feel  a  strong  assurance  that  he  has  the  joy  of  his  sal- 
vation in  reserve  for  me."  The  solemnity  and  truth  of  this  profession  are 
then  indicated  by  a  meditative  pause,  denoted  in  the  usual  manner. 

8.  I  ivill  instruct  thee,  and  will  guide  thee,  in  the  nay  which  thou  shalt  go  ; 
I  will  counsel  thee,  my  eye  (shall  be)  u^wn  thee.  Some  regard  these  as  the 
words  of  God  to  David  ;  but  besides  the  gratuitous  assumption  of  two  dif- 
ferent speakers  in  the  two  successive  verses,  without  anything  to  indicate 
a  change,  the  obvious  allusion  in  the  first  word  (^'?''^b^^<)  to  the  laconic 
title  of  the  psalm  (^"'Sb^) — as  if  the  instruction  there  promised  was  abont 

to  be  imparted— makes  it  altogether  probable  that  David  is  here  speaking 
in  his  own  person  and  fulfilling  the  vow  recorded  in  another  place,  that 
when  forgiven  and  restored  to  communion  with  God,  he  would  teach  trans- 
gressors his  ways.  See  Ps.  li.  15  (13).  He  may  therefore  be  considered 
as  addressing  another  like  himself —to  wit,  a  godly  person  O^pn)  overtaken 
in  transgression  or  exposed  to  strong  temptation — and  offering  to  point  out 
to  him  the  path  of  safety.  The  construction  of  the  latter  clause  which  some 
prefer — I  will  counsel  for  thee  {with)  my  eye— is  much  less  natural  and 
simple  than  the  one  above  given,  where  the  phrase,  my  eye  is  (or  shall  be) 
upon  thee,  adds  to  the  idea  of  advice  that  of  Mendly  watchfulness  and 
supervision. 

9.  Be  ye  not  as  a  horse  (or)  as  a  mule  (in  which)  there  is  no  understand- 
ing— in  bridle  and  bit  (consists)  its  ornament,  to  muzzle  it,  (because  of  its) 
not  approachiny  to  thee.  The  counsel  or  advice,  which  was  promised  in 
the  previous  verse,  is  here  imparted.  The  plural  form  does  not  imply  a 
change  in  the  object  of  instruction,  but  merely  shews  that  the  individual 
addressed  in  ver.  8  was  the  representative  of  a  whole  class,  namely,  that 
described  by  the  collective  phrase,  every  gracious  {person),  in  ver.  6. — The 
mule  is,  among  various  nations,  a  proverbial  type  of  stubborn  persistency 
in  evil,  and  we  find  analogous  allusions  to  the  horse  in  Jer.  v.  8,  viii.  6. 


148  Psalm  32:10, 11 

The  reason  for  using  a  comparison  with  brutes  is  intimated  in  the  second 
clause,  to  wit,  that  the  debased  irrationahty  of  sin  might,  be  distinctly 
brought  into  view.  The  analogy  is  carried  out  with  no  small  subtilty  by 
representing  that  what  seems  to  be  the  trappings  or  mere  decoration  of  these 
brutes  is  really  intended  to  coerce  them,  just  as  that  in  which  men  pride 
themselves  may  be,  and  if  necessary  will  be  used  by  God  for  their  restraint 
and  subjugation.  The  common  version  of  the  last  clause — lest  they  come 
near  unto  thee — would  be  suitable  enough  in  speaking  of  a  wild  beast,  but 
in  reference  to  a  mule  or  horse  the  words  can  only  mean,  because  they  wiU 
not  follow  or  obey  thee  of  their  own  accord,  they  must  be  constantly  coerced, 
in  the  way  both  of  compulsion  and  restraint. 

10.  Many  pains  (are)  to  the  xoicked ;  and  (as  to)  the  (man)  trusting  in 
Jehovah,  mercy  shall  encompass  him,  or,  he  will  encompass  him  (with)  mercy. 
In  this  and  the  remaining  verse  the  psalmist  loses  sight,  not  only  of  the 
horse  and  mule,  to  which  he  had  compared  the  stubborn  sinner,  but  of  the 
particular  case  which  had  occasioned  the  comparison,  and  closes  with  the 
statement  of  a  general  truth,  founded  in  necessity  and  verified  by  all  expe- 
rience, that  sin  produces  misery  and  trust  in  God  salvation.  It  is  imphed 
though  not  expressed  in  the  first  clause,  that  the  sufferings  of  the  wicked, 
while  he  still  continues  such,  are  hopeless  and  incurable,  while  those  to 
which  the  righteous  is  subjected,  are  salutary  in  efiect  and  temporary  in 
duration.  See  below,  Ps.  xxxiv.  20  (19).  Here  again,  as  in  Ps.  xxxi.  15 
(14)  above,  we  may  observe  that  the  antithesis  is  not  between  the  wicked 
and  the  absolutely  righteous,  but  between  the  wicked  and  the  man  trusting 
in  Jehovah,  and  that  the  effect  ascribed  to  this  trust  is  not  the  recognition 
of  the  man's  inherent  righteousness,  but  his  experience  of  God's  mercy, 
which  implies  that  he  is  guilty  and  unworthy  in  himself,  and  can  only  be 
delivered  from  the  necessary  consequences  of  his  sin,  by  simply  trusting  in 
the  mercy  of  the  very  Being  whom  he  has  offended. — Of  the  two  construc- 
tions given  in  the  version  of  the  closing  words,  the  last  is  recommended  by 
the  analogy  of  ver.  7,  where  the  same  verb  governs  two  accusatives. 

11.  Mejoicein  Jehovah,  and  exult,  ye  righteous,  and  shout  (or  sing),  all  ye 
upright  in  heart  1  This  is  the  practical  use  to  be  made  of  the  preceding 
doctrine ;  for,  if  that  be  true,  it  follows  that  the  righteous  have  abundant 
cause  for  exultation,  not  in  themselves  but  in  Jehovah,  i.  e.  in  their  knowledge 
and  possession  and  enjoyment  of  him. — The  righteous,  as  opposed  to  the 
vyicked ;  not  the  absolutely  perfect,  but  those  trusting  in  the  mercy  of 
Jehovah  for  deliverance  both  from  punishment  and  sin.  The  verb  of  the 
second  clause  is  properly  a  causative,  and  means  to  make  others  shout  or 
sing  for  joy.  See  Deut.  xxxii.  43,  Ps.  Ixv.  9  (8),  Job  xxix.  13.  In  one 
place,  however,  Ps.  Ixxxi.  2  (1),  it  appears  to  be  intransitive,  and  such  may 
be  the  case  here,  where  the  other  verbs  mean  simply  to  rejoice. 

Psalm  33 

A  SONG  of  praise,  intended  to  excite  and  to  express  the  confidence  of 
Israel  in  Jehovah,  and  closely  connected  with  the  didactic  psalm  before  it, 
the  closing  sentiment  of  which  is  here  carried  out.  This  intimate  relation 
of  the  two  psalms  may  account  for  the  absence  of  a  title  in  the  one  before 
us,  as  in  the  case  of  the  ninth  and  tenth.     See  above,  p.  46. 

After  a  general  invitation  to  praise  God,  ver.  1-3,  the  reasons  are  assigned, 
to  wit,  his  truth,  faithfulness,  and  mercy,  ver.  4-6,  his  creative  power,  ver. 


Psalm  33:1 -5  149 

7-9,  and  his  control  of  human  agents,  not  only  individuals  but  whole 
nations,  making  them  subservient  to  his  own  designs,  ver,  10,  11,  from  all 
which  is  inferred  the  happy  lot  of  his  peculiar  people,  ver.  12.  The 
Psalmist  then  continues  his  praise  of  God,  as  omniscient,  ver.  13,  14,  and 
contrasts  the  insufficiency  of  all  created  help,  ver.  15, 16,  with  the  security  of 
those  whom  he  protects,  ver.  17, 18,  and  the  whole  concludes  with  an  expres- 
sion of  strong  confidence  in  him,  on  the  part  of  all  his  people,  ver.  19-21. 

1.  Exult,  ye  righteous,  in  Jehovah  !  To  the  upright  suitable  (is)  praise. 
The  Hebrew  verb,  according  to  the  etjonologists,  originally  means  to  dance 
for  joy,  and  is  therefore  a  very  strong  expression  for  the  liveliest  exultation. 
In  Jehovah,  i.  e.  in  the  knowledge  and  possession  of  him,  with  particular 
reference  to  the  covenant  relation  between  him  and  his  peculiar  people,  who 
are  here  called  the  righteous  and  the  upright,  by  way  of  eminence,  as  in 
Num.  xxiii.  10,  not  because  they  were  all  actually  so,  but  because  they  ought 
to  have  been  so,  as  this  was  the  idea  or,  so  to  speak,  the  theory  of  a  chosen 
people,  and  those  natural  descendants  of  Israel  who  were  not  of  this  cha- 
racter were  not  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  the  church,  which,  on  the  con- 
trary, to  the  true  Israel,  were  legitimate  occasion  of  rejoicing,  and  made 
praise  pecuUarly  comely  or  suitable  to  them. 

2.  Give  thanks  to  Jehovah  with  a  harp  ;  with  a  lyre  of  ten  (strings)  make 
music  to  him.  The  first  verb  means  to  acknowledge,  either  sins  or  favours ; 
in  the  first  case,  it  answers  to  confess,  Ps.  xxxii.  5,  in  the  other  to  thanks 
Ps.  vii.  18  (17).  See  also  Ps.  xxviii.  7,  xxx.  10  (9).  The  common  ver- 
sion, praise,  is  too  indefinite,  though  this  idea  is  undoubtedly  included.  The 
mention  of  the  instruments  does  not  exclude  vocal  praise,  but  merely  gives 
it  an  accompaniment  and  support,  as  if  the  voice  were  too  weak  by  itself  to 
utter  the  divine  praise.  The  precise  form  of  the  instruments  here  named 
is  now  unknown  and  wholly  unimportant.  The  ten  strings  of  the  second 
are  mentioned,  either  to  identify  it  by  a  similar  circumstance,  or,  as  some 
suppose,  because  the  number  had  a  mystical  significance.  The  same  com- 
bination reappears  below  in  Ps.  cxhv.  9,  while  in  Ps.  xcii.  4  (8)  the  two 
words  are  separately  used,  as  if  denoting  difierent  instruments. 

3.  Sing  unto  him  a  new  song ;  play  well  with  joyful  noise  !  A  new 
song  implies  the  continual  recurrence  of  fresh  reasons  and  occasions  for  the 
praise  of  God,  and  also  the  spontaneous  ebullition  of  devout  and  thankful 
feelings  in  the  hearts  of  those  by  whom  the  praise  is  ofiered.     This  is  the 

first  instance  of  the  expression,  but  it  frequently  reappears  in  later  psalms 

Ps.  xl.  4  (3),  xcvi.  1,  xcviii.  1 — and  once  or  twice  in  the  New  Testament, 
Kev.  V.  9,  xiv.  3. — Play  well,  hterally  do  well  to  play  or  in  playing.  This 
pecuUar  idiom  occurs  in  the  history  of  David,  1  Sam.  xvi.  17. — Joyful 
noise,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  6,  in  which  place,  as  in  this,  there  is  no 
certain  or  necessary  reference  to  sacrifice,  but  only  to  an  audible  and  lively 
expression  of  religious  feeling. 

4.  For  right  is  the  word  of  Jehovah,  and  all  his  work  is  (done)  in  faithful' 
ness.  The  tvord  here  meant  is  the  word  of  promise,  and  the  work  is  its 
performance  or  fulfilment.  The  word  is  right  or  upright,  i.  e.  uttered  in 
sincerity  and  with  a  full  determination  to  redeem  it.  In  faithfulness,  exe- 
cuted faithfully.     Compare  Num.  xxiii.  19,  Ps.  cv.  42. 

5.  Loving  righteousness  and  justice — (with)  the  mercy  of  Jehovah  is  the 
earth  filled.  He  is  loving,  i.  e.  he  habitually  loves.  The  last  clause  repre- 
sents God's  mercy  as  a  matter  of  notorious  and  universal  observation,  and 
the  whole  verse  exhibits  his  justice  and  his  mercy  as  in  harmony  with  one 
another,  and  equally  consolatory  to  his  people. 


150  Psalm  33:6- 11 

6.  By  the  word  of  Jehovah  were  the  heavens  made,  and  by  the  breath  of  his 
mouth  all  their  host.  Having  set  forth  the  righteousness,  fidelity,  and  mercy 
of  Jehovah,  as  displayed  on  earth,  the  Psalmist  now  demonstrates  his  ability 
to  dehver  and  protect  his  people,  by  exhibiting  his  almighty  power  in  the 
creation  and  sustentation  of  the  imiverse.  There  is  obvious  allusion  to  the 
history  of  the  creation  in  Grenesis.  This  is  especially  apparent  in  the  clos- 
ing words,  all  their  host,  which  are  borrowed  from  Gen.  ii.  1.  Breath  is  a 
poetical  equivalent  to  word,  'and  conveys  still  more  strongly  the  idea  of  the 
ease  with  which  a  God  could  make  a  world.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  not  a 
mere  fortuitous  coincidence,  that  these  two  words  are  used  in  Scripture  to 
designate  the  second  and  third  persons  of  the  Godhead.  Compare  Gen. 
i.  2,  Job  xxvii.  3,  xxxiii.  4,  Ps.  civ.  29,  30,  Isa.  xi.  4. 

7.  Gathering  as  a  heap  the  waters  of  the  sea,  putting  in  storehouses  the 
depths.  The  participle  represents  it  is  an  act  still  continued,  and  aflfording 
a  perpetual  evidence  of  God's  almighty  power,  which  is  just  as  necessary 
now  as  on  the  first  day  of  creation,  to  prevent  the  earth  from  being  totally 
submerged. — As  a  heap.  Dealing  with  fluids  as  if  they  were  solids,  with 
an  obvious  allusion  to  Exod.  xv.  8.  See  also  Josh.  iii.  13-16,  Ps.  Ixxviii.  13» 
— Putting,  Uterally  giving,  storing,  depositing. — Depths,  masses  of  water. 
The  main  point  of  the  description  is  God's  handling  these  vast  hquid  masses, 
as  men  handle  soUd  substances  of  moderate  dimensions,  heaping  the  waves 
up  and  storing  them  away,  as  men  might  do  with  stones  or  wheat. 

8.  Let  them  be  afraid  of  Jehovah — all  the  earth  ;  let  them  stand  in  awe 
of  him — all  the  dwellers  in  the  world.  The  position  of  the  verbs  at  the 
beginning  of  the  clauses  adds  greatly  to  the  strength  of  the  expression.  The 
parallelism  is  exact,  the  terms  being  nearly  synonymous.  That  the  earth 
of  the  first  clause  means  its  rational  inhabitants,  is  implied  in  the  plural 
verb,  and  expressed  in  the  parallel  clause.  For  the  precise  sense  of  the 
word  translated  world,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  1.  The  remoter  inference 
suggested  is,  that  this  omnipotent  creator  and  preserver  of  the  universe  is 
able  to  protect  his  people,  and  entitled  to  their  confidence. 

9.  For  (it  was)  He  (that)  said  (Be),  and  it  was;  (it  was)  He  (that)  com- 
rnanded,  and  it  stood.  The  whole  form  of  the  sentence  here  is  modelled 
upon  that  of  the  cosmogony  in  Genesis,  where  these  two  verbs  repeatedly 
alternate.  The  common  version,  he  spake  and  it  was  done,  is  liable  to  three 
exceptions.  The  first  is,  that  the  emphatic  pronoun  of  the  Hebrew  is  not 
fairly  represented  ;  the  second,  that  the  phrase  it  was  done  is  much  less 
striking  than  it  was;  the  third,  that  the  Hebrew  verb  ("I^M)  does  not  mean 

to  speak  but  to  say.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  5  (4).  What  was  said,  every 
reader  could  supply  from  recollection  of  the  narrative  in  Genesis. — Stood, 
appeared,  came  into  existence.     Compare  Ps.  cxix.  90,  91. 

10.  Jeho'vah  has  annulled  the  counsel  of  nations  ;  he  has  frustrated  the 
j)lans  of  the  peoples.  What  he  has  done  he  can  do,  although  this  is  not 
expUcitly  affirmed.  He  who  created  and  sustains  the  universe  can  frustrate, 
as  he  pleases,  the  designs  of  his  own  creatures,  whether  individuals  or 
nations,  from  whom,  therefore,  his  own  people  can  have  nothing  to  fear. 

11.  Ihe  counsel  of  Jehovah  to  eternity  shall  stand ;  the  thoughts  of  his 
heart  to  generation  and  generation.  This  is  the  converse  of  the  proposition. 
For  the  same  reason  that  no  purpose  of  his  creatures  can  succeed  against 
Ms  will,  no  opposition  of  the  creature  can  afl'ect  the  execution  of  his  own 
designs. — Counsel,  plan,  purpose. — Thoughts  of  his  heart,  conceptions  or 
intentions  of  his  mind. — To  generation  and  generation,  a  common  idiomatic 
phrase  meaning  one  generation  after  another,  or  indefinitely,  all  generations. 


Psalm  33:12 -19  151 

12.  Happy  the  nation  whose  God  (is)  Jehovah,  the  people  he  hath  chosen 
for  a  heritage  for  him.  This  is  the  centre  of  the  whole  psahn,  the  conclu- 
sion from  what  goes  before,  and  the  text  or  theme  of  all  that  follows.  Under 
the  general  proposition  is  included  a  particular  fehcitation  of  Israel  as  the 
actual  choice  and  heritage  of  God,  i.e.  chosen  to  be  his,  in  a  pecuHar  sense, 
by  hereditary  succession,  through  a  course  of  ages. 

13.  From  heaven  looked  Jehovah ;  he  saw  all  the  sons  of  man  (or  Adam). 
He  looked  not  at  any  one  time  merely,  but  at  all  times  ;  he  has  always 
looked  upon  them  since  he  first  created  them.  As  his  omnipotence  is  con- 
stantly exerted  to  sustain  them  in  existence,  so  his  omniscience  is  continually 
exercised  in  the  same  inspection  as  at  first. 

14.  From  the  place  of  his  dwelling  he  gazed  at  all  the  dwellers  on  the 
earth.  From  his  own  residence  without  and,  above  the  earth,  he  has  con- 
tinued still  to  look  intently  upon  its  inhabitants.  The  verb  is  a  poetical 
one,  stronger  than  the  ordinary  look.     See  Song  Sol.  ii.  9,  Isa.  xiv.  16. 

15.  The  (God)  forming  all  their  hearts,  the  (God)  attending  to  all  their 
deeds.  The  article  agrees  with  the  subject  of  the  verb  understood,  and  this 
construction  it  is  necessary  to  retain,  in  order  to  connect  the  sentence  as 
closely  with  the  one  before  it  as  in  the  original.  Forming  implies  knowing, 
which  is  more  distinctly  expressed,  in  reference  to  their  outward  conduct, 
in  the  other  clause.  God  is  also  described  as  the  creator  of  the  human  soul 
in  Zech.  xii.  1.  Compare  Num.  xvi.  22,  xxvii.  16.  His  control  of  it  is 
expressly  affirmed  in  reference  to  kings,  Prov.  xxi.  1. 

16.  Not  at  all  is  the  king  saved  by  greatness  of  force  ;  a  mighty  (man) 
shall  not  he  freed  by  greatness  of  strength.  It  shall  not  be,  because  it  is  not 
so,  nor  ever  has  been.  The  future  therefore  really  includes  a  universal  pre- 
sent. The  negation  is  of  course  to  be  Umited  by  what  precedes,  the  saving 
power  of  mere  human  strength  being  only  denied  as  it  stands  opposed  to 
God,  or  affects  to  be  independent  of  him.  The  Psalmist  here  begins  a  con- 
trast between  God's  perfection  and  all  created  helps,  considered  as  objects 
of  confidence.  The  king  is  a  generic  term,  describing  a  whole  class,  more 
strongly  than  our  indefinite  phrase,  a  king. 

17.  A  lie  (is)  the  horse  for  salvation,  and  by  the  greatness  of  his  strength 
he  shall  not  deliver.  This  is  a  mere  specification  of  the  general  statement 
in  the  sixteenth  verse.  The  horse  meant  is  the  war-horse,  and  is  singled 
out  as  one  of  the  elements  of  mihtary  strength  in  which  the  ancients  were 
especially  disposed  to  trust.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xx.  8  (7),  and  compare  Isa. 
xxxi.  1-3.  A  lie,  a  falsehood,  i.e.  something  which  deceives  and  disappoints 
the  confidence  reposed  in  it.  The  deUverance  and  salvation  here  referred 
to  are  dehverance  and  salvation  from  the  perils  of  war. 

18.  Lo,  the  eye  of  Jehovah  (is)  towards  his  fearers,  to  those  waiting  for  his 
mercy.  While  the  material  strength  of  other  men  fails  to  secure  them,  those 
who  fear  the  Lord,  and  hope  in  his  mercy,  are  secure  beneath  his  vigilant 
inspection.  That  this  is  intended  for  their  good,  is  more  distinctly  stated  in 
the  next  verse. 

19.  To  deliver  from  death  their  soul,  and  to  keep  them  alive  in  the  famine. 
The  sentence  is  continued  from  the  foregoing  verse.  His  eye  is  towards 
them  for  the  very  purpose  of  interposing  when  he  sees  it  to  be  necessary, 
for  the  rescue  of  their  soul,  their  life,  from  death  in  general,  to  which  is 
added  one  specific  form  of  danger  well  known  to  the  ancient  Hebrews.  The 
famine  is  a  similar  expression  to  the  king  in  ver.  16,  and  to  our  common 
phrase  the  pestilence,  when  used  in  a  generic  sense,  and  not  in  reference  to 
any  particular  disease  or  visitation. 


152  Psalm  33:20 -22 

20.  Our  soul  has  hoped  (or  waited)  for  Jehovah  ;  our  help  and  our  shield 
(is)  He.  In  the  remainder  of  the  psalm,  the  people  of  God  express  their 
trust  in  him,  and  pray  that  he  will  deal  with  them  according  to  their  faith. 
The  preterite  expresses  a  habit  already  formed  and  fixed,  and  therefore  really 
including  a  description  of  the  present.  In  the  terms  of  this  verse,  there 
appears  to  be  a  reference  to  the  language  of  the  Pentateuch  in  several  places. 
See  Gen.  xv.  1,  xlix.  18,  Deut.  xxxiii.  29.  The  figure  of  a  shield  occurs 
above,  in  Ps.  iii.  4  (3),  xviii.  3,  31,  36  (2,  30,  35).  The  position  of  the 
pronoun  is  emphatic  and  significant.  Our  safety  and  protection  are  in  him, 
and  him  alone. 

21.  For  in  him  shall  our  heart  rejoice,  for  in  his  holy  name  have  we 
trusted.  The  consecution  of  the  tenses  is  not  unmeaning  or  fortuitous. 
The  Psalmist's  assurance  of  the  future  is  derived  from  the  possession  of  a 
faith  already  tried  and  proved  to  be  truly  in  existence.  It  is  because  he 
has  trusted  that  he  knows  he  shall  rejoice.  The  exchange  of  both  these 
tenses  for  a  present  is  at  once  enfeebling  to  the  sense  and  ungrammatical. — 
His  holy  name,  in  the  wide  sense  which  the  epithet  so  often  has  in  this  book, 
nearly  corresponding  to  his  glorious,  his  divine  name.  See  above  on  Ps. 
xxii.  4  (3).  To  trust  in  this  name  is  to  build  one's  hopes  on  the  manifes- 
tation of  God's  attributes  in  previous  acts  ;  to  believe  that  what  he  [has 
heretofore  shewn  himself  to  be,  he  will  be  still  in  the  experience  of  his 
people. 

22.  Be  thy  mercy,  Jehovah,  upon  us,  as  we  have  waited  for  thee.  The 
faith  implied  in  this  hope  being  the  sole  condition  of  God's  mercy,  its  pos- 
session constitutes  a  claim  upon  that  mercy,  which  is  here  urged  as  the 
sum  of  all  the  previous  petitions.  What  is  thus  waited  for  cannot  but  be 
reaHsed.  A  merciful  and  righteous  God  cannot,  without  denial  of  himself, 
withhold  that  which  his  people  thus  expect.  Any  appearance  of  a  merito- 
rious claim  is  excluded  by  the  doctrine  sufficiently  implied  here  and  abun- 
dantly taught  elsewhere,  that  the  condition  is  as  much  the  gift  of  God  as 
that  which  is  suspended  on  it.  The  claim  in  reaUty  amounts  to  a  petition 
that  as  God  had  given  the  desire  he  would  fulfil  it. — As,  according  as,  not 
merely  since,  because,  in  proportion  to  our  faith,  so  deal  with  us.  Com- 
pare Mat.  ix.  29. 

Psalm  34 

After  the  title  containing  the  historical  occasion,  ver.  1,  the  Psalmist  ex- 
presses his  determination  to  praise  God  for  his  goodness  as  experienced 
already,  ver.  2,  3,  (1,  2),  and  invites  others  to  unite  with  him  in  so  doing, 
ver.  4  (3).  He  then  briefly  states  his  own  experience,  ver.  5-7  (4-6),  and 
founds  upon  it  the  general  doctrine  of  God's  care  for  his  own  people,  ver. 
8-11  (7-10).  Assuming  then  the  tone  of  an  instructor,  he  lays  down 
rules  for  the  securing  of  this  great  advantage,  ver.  12-15  (11-14),  and 
contrasts,  ia  the  remainder  of  the  psalm,  the  safety  of  the  righteous,  even 
when  afflicted,  with  the  certain  ruin  of  the  wicked,  ver.  16-23  (15-22). 

The  psahn  is  so  evidently  a  didactic  one,  or  maschil,  that  an  express 
designation  of  this  character  was  not  required.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxii.  1. 

As  to  its  foiTQ,  this  is  the  second  instance  of  an  alphabetical  psalm,  ap- 
proaching very  nearly  to  perfect  regularity,  the  only  letter  omitted  being  "). 
It  is  very  remarkable  that  ^ere,  as  in  Ps.  xxv.,  the  last  verse  begins  with  B|, 
like  ver.  16,  and  seems  to  be  added  to  the  alphabetic  series. 


Psalm  34:1 -6  153 

1,  By  David,  in  (the  time  of)  his  changing  (disguising)  his  reason  before 
Abimelech,  and  he  drove  him  away,  and  he  went.     The  incident  referred  to 
is  recorded  in  1  Sam.  xxi.    David,  having  fled  from  Saul  into  the  land  of 
the  Philistines,  was  brought  into  the  presence  of  Achish  king  of  Gath,  jfrom 
whom  he  had  reason  to  expect  retaUation  for  injuries  formerly  received,  and 
therefore  pretended  to  be  mad,  an  expedient  which,  in  spite  of  its  dubious 
moraUty,  it  pleased  God  to  allow  to  be  successful.     In  grateful  recollection 
of  this  undeserved  deliverance,  not  without  some  compunction  with  respect 
to  the  means  by  which  he  had  secured  it,  David  seems,  at  a  later  period  of 
his  life,  to  have  composed  this  psalm  for  popular  instruction,  to  which  it  is 
peculiarly  adapted  by  its  clearness  and  simplicity,  as  well  as  by  its  alpha- 
betic form,  which  is  a  valuable  aid  to  the  memory. — In  his  changing  does 
not  necessarily  designate  the  date  of  composition,  but  only  that  of  the 
event  which  gave  occasion  to  it.     The  common  version,  behaviour,  is  in- 
consistent with  the  usage  of  the  Hebrew  word,  which  means  taste,  judg- 
ment, understanding,  reason. — Abimelech,   king's  father,  hereditary  sove- 
reign, was  the  traditional  title  of  the  king.     See  Gen.  xx.  2,  xxvi.  1.     His 
personal  name  was  Achish,  1  Sam.  xxi.  10,  11,  12,  14. 

2  (1).  I  will  bless  Jehovah  at  every  time  :  always  his  praise  (shall  be)  in 
my  mouth.  The  promise  of  unceasing  praise  suggests  the  idea  of  extraor- 
dinary benefits  to  call  it  forth. — In  all  time,  in  every  variety  of  situation, 
even  the  most  discouraging,  he  is  resolved  to  bear  in  mind  what  God  has 
done  for  him  in  times  past. 

3  (2).  In  Jehovah  shall  glory  my  soul ;  the  humble  shall  hear  and  rejoice. 
The  first  verb  is  strictly  a  reflective  form,  and  means  to  praise  one's  self, 
i.  e.  to  boast,  or,  as  denoting  a  more  permanent  affection  of  the  mind,  to 
glory,  i.e.  to  exult  in  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  some  admired  and 
beloved  object.  The  act  of  glorying  is  ascribed  to  the  soul,  in  order  to 
describe  it  as  done  cordially,  ex  animo. — The  humble,  as  opposed  to  the 
proud  and  the  presumptuous,  is  a  general  description  of  God's  people,  who 
are  naturally  interested  in  the  good  experienced  by  the  Psalmist,  both  for 
his  sake  and  their  own.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  27  (26),  xxv.  9. 

4  (3).  Magnify  (praise)  to  Jehovah  with  me,  and  let  us  exalt  his  name 
together.  In  Ps.  Ixix.  31  (30),  the  verb  to  magnify  is  construed  directly 
with  its  object,  but  in  this  case  with  a  dative,  to  Jehovah,  which  may  either 
be  regarded  as  a  poetical  equivalent  to  the  accusative,  or  connected  with  the 
noun  praise  understood,  or  with  name,  supplied  from  the  other  clause. 

5  (4).  I  sought  Jehovah,  and  he  ansuered  me,  and  from  all  my  fears 
delivered  m.e.  He  here  begins  to  assign  a  reason  why  he  and  others  should 
praise  God.  He  had  delivered  him  from  all  his  fears  by  removing  the 
occasions  of  them.     The  same  plural  form  occurs  Isa.  Ixvi.  4. 

6  (5).  They  looked  unto  him  and  brightened,  and  let  not  their  faces  blush. 
The  plural  they  refers  to  the  whole  class  of  which  the  Psalmist  was  the 
representative. — Brightened,  or  as  we  say  in  English,  brightened  up,  is  a 
natural  expression  of  relief  and  renewed  cheerfulness.  In  the  last  clause 
the  optative  form  is  substituted  for  that  of  simple  affirmation,  so  as  to 
increase  the  emphasis.  The  wish,  let  not  their  faces  blush,  implies  that 
there  is  danger  of  their  doing  so,  and  need  of  divine  grace  to  prevent  it. 

7  (6).  This  sufferer  called,  and  Jehovah  heard,  and  from  all  his  distresses 
saved  him.  From  the  general  expressions  of  the  preceding  verse,  he  now 
recurs  to  his  own  case  in  particular.  This  sufferer,  or  afflicted  one,  mean- 
ing himself,  as  we  say  in  modem  phrase,  the  speaker  or  the  writer,  as  a 
periphrasis  for  the  personal  pronoun. 


154  Psalm  34:7 -13 

8  (7).  Encamping  (is)  the  angel  of  Jehovah  round  about  his  fearers — and 
(now)  he  has  rescued  them.  The  angel,  not  only  in  the  collective  sense  of 
angels,  but  in  its  specific  sense,  as  denoting  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  by  way 
of  eminence,  the  angel  of  thfe  covenant  and  of  the  divine  presence  (Isa. 
Ixiii.  9),  in  whom  the  manifestation  of  the  Godhead  took  place  under  the 
Old  Testament.  As  this  angel  was  the  captain  of  the  Lord's  host  (Josh.  v. 
14,  1  Kings  xxii.  19),  his  presence  imphes  that  of  many  others,  and  the 
■word  encamp  is  therefore  perfectly  appropriate.  The  conversive  future 
represents  the  act  denoted  by  the  last  verb  as  consequent  upon  the  other. 
This  grammatical  relation  can  only  be  imperfectly  expressed  in  a  transla- 
tion, though  the  general  idea  is  sufficiently  clear. 

9  (8).  Taste  ye  and  see  that  Jehovah  is  good ;  hajipy  the  man  who  will 
trust  in  him.  The  only  proof  is  furnished  by  experience.  The  exhortation 
seems  to  imply  that  the  provision  is  already  made  and  only  waiting  for  the 
guests.     Compare  Luke  xiv.  17,  and  see  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  12. 

10  (9).  Fear  Jehovah,  yc  his  saints,  for  there  is  no  want  to  his  fearers. 
The  fear  of  God  is  here  put,  as  in  several  other  places,  for  the  whole  of 
piety  or  genuine  religion,  which  must  ever  rest  upon  the  basis  of  profound 
awe  and  veneration.  See  Ps.  ii.  11,  Prov.  i.  7,  ix.  10.  His  saints,  those 
get  apart  and  consecrated  to  his  service,  and  as  such  bound  to  be  holy  in 
the  strict  sense.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  3.  The  last  clause  represents 
this  as  no  less  the  interest  than  the  duty  of  God's  people.  They  are  called 
upon  to  fear  him,  not  only  because  fear  is  due  to  him,  but  because  it  is  the 
surest  method  of  securing  their  own  safety  and  supplying  their  own  wants. 

11  (10).  Toung  lions  have  lacked  and  hungered,  and  the  seekers  of  Jehovah 
shall  not  want  all  (or  any)  good.  The  first  verb  propefly  means  grovm  poor 
or  become  impoverished,  and  is  therefore  strictly  applicable  only  to  a  human 
subject,  a  sufficient  proof  that  such  a  subject  is  really  referred  to  here  under 
the  figure  of  a  lion,  which  is  frequently  used  elsewhere  to  denote  men  of 
strength  and  violence.  See  Job  iv.  10,  11,  and  compare  Ps.  Ivii.  5  (4), 
Nahum  ii.  12-14  (11-13),  Ezek.  xix.  2,  3,  xxxviii.  13.  The  sentiment 
then  is,  that  while  the  most  powerful  and  least  scrupulous  of  men  may  be 
reduced  to  want,  the  people  of  God  shall  be  abundantly  and  constantly 
provided  for.     The  contrast  is  analogous  to  that  presented  in  Isa.  xl.  30,  31. 

12  (11).  Come,  sons,  hearkeit  to  me  ;  the  fear  of  Jehovah  I  will  teach 
you.  As  one  experienced  in  the  ways  of  God,  he  now  addresses  those  less 
enhghtened,  and  invites  them  to  avail  themselves  of  his  instructions.  Son^ 
or  children  is  a  natural  and  common  designation  of  the  pupil  as  related  to 
the  teacher.  Compare '  Prov.  i.  8,  10,  15.  To  teach  men  the  fear  of  the 
Lord  is  to  teach  them  how  and  why  they  should  fear  him.  And  accord- 
ingly we  find  in  the  ensuing  verses  a  practical  argument  in  favour  of  true 
piety  derived  from  its  beneficent  efiects  on  those  who  cherish  it  and  prac- 
tise it. 

13  (12).  Who  (is)  the  man,  the  (one)  desiring  life,  loving  days  (in  which) 
to  see  good  f  The  interrogation  is  equivalent  to  saying,  whosoever  desires 
life,  i.  e.  desires  to  live,  not  in  the  sense  of  mere  existence  but  of  genuine 
enjoyment,  which  is  distinctly  expressed  in  the  last  clause  by  the  words 
loving  days,  i.  e.  desiring  many  days  or  long  Hfe,  not  for  its  own  sake,  but 
as  a  time  of  happiness.  Whoever  does  desire  this — and  the  wish  must  of 
course  be  universal — let  him  observe  the  following  precepts.  To  see  good 
is  to  know  it  by  experience,  to  possess  it  and  enjoy  it.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
iv.  7  (6). 

14  (13).  Keep  thy  tongue  from   evil  and  thy  lips  from  speaking  guile. 


Psalm  34:J4- 17  155 

The  man  who  was  inquired  for  in  ver.  13  (12),  is  here  directly  addressed. 
Whoever  thou  art,  if  thou  desire  thus  to  Uve,  keep,  watch,  guard,  thy  tongue 
from  speaking  evil,  a  comprehensive  phrase,  for  which  the  last  clause  sub- 
stitutes one  more  specific,  namely,  speaking  guile,  uttering  deceit,  or  lying. 
The  stress  here  laid  upon  this  sin  is  so  remarkable,  when  viewed  in  con- 
nection with  the  means  by  which  David  escaped  from  Achish,  as  suggested 
in  the  title,  that  it  can  only  be  explained  by  supposing  that  he  looked  on 
the  success  of  his  deception  as  a  most  unmerited  forbearance  upon  God's 
part,  which,  far  from  recommending  the  same  course  in  other  cases,  made 
it  incumbent  on  the  Psalmist  to  dissuade  others  from  it. 

15  (14).  Depart  from  evil  and  do  good  ;  seek  peace  and  pursue  it.  Not 
only  in  relation  to  this  one  sin,  but  to  all,  if  thou  desire  to  enjoy  Ufe,  de- 
part from  evil,  break  off  the  practice  and  abjure  the  love  of  it ;  and  since 
this  is  neither  practicable  nor  sufficient  as  a  mere  negation,  effect  it  by  a 
positive  performance  of  its  opposite,  do  good.  Compare  the  exhortation  in 
Isa.  i.  16,  17,  Cease  to  do  evil,  learn  to  do  good.  The  last  clause  may  be 
explained  as  a  return  from  generals  to  particulars,  hostility  and  hatred  being 
singled  out  as  falsehood  and  deceit  were  in  the  preceding  verse.  Compare 
Rom.  xii.  18,  2  Cor.  xiii.  11.  Or  peace  may  be  understood  as  comprehend- 
ing peace  with  God  and  the  enjoyment  of  his  favour. — In  either  of  these 
senses,  or  in  both,  if  thou  desire  to  enjoy  life,  seek  peace,  not  in  an  indolent 
and  listless  manner,  but  pursue  it,  chase  it,  hunt  for  it,  and  eagerly  en- 
deavour to  attain  it.  The  command  implies  that  the  object  is  both  worthy 
of  pursuit  and  Uable  to  be  lost. 

16  (15).  The  eyes  of  Jehovah  (are)  towards  the  righteous,  and  his  ears 
toivards  their  cry.  The  inducement  to  comply  with  the  foregoing  precepts 
is  that  God  will  protect  his  servants  from  those  dangers  against  which 
neither  violence  nor  craft  can  secure  them.  They  have  no  need  neither  to 
speak  guile  or  break  the  peace,  in  order  to  be  safe  from  injury.  Another 
watches  over  them,  whose  vigilance  cannot  be  eluded  or  exhausted.  The 
eyes  of  the  Lord  are  to  the  righteous,  i.e.  open  to  them,  or  turned  towards 
them,  so  that  he  continually  sees  their  true  condition,  and  his  ears  are 
directed  to  their  cry,  or  open  to  receive  it.  This,  without  a  figure,  means, 
that  he  is  constantly  apprised  of  their  necessities  and  ready  to  receive  their 
prayers,  in  which  assurance  that  of  safety  and  abundance  is  fully  compre- 
hended. 

17  (16).  The  face  of  Jehovah  (is)  with  evil-doers,  to  destroy  from  the 
earth  their  memory.  The  same  unsleeping  vigilance  is  exercised  towards 
others  also,  but  for  a  very  different  purpose.  The  face  of  the  Lord  is  with 
evil-doers,  i.  e.  visible  or  present  to  them,  no  less  than  to  good  men.  The 
preposition  before  evil-doers  is  not  the  same  that  occurs  twice  in  the  verse 
preceding,  and  which  properly  denotes  direction,  but  another  meaning  in 
or  with.  The  unfavourable  sense,  against,  which  it  may  seem  to  have  both 
here  and  elsewhere  (e.  g.  Jer.  xxi.  10,  xUv.  11),  is  suggested  by  the  context. 
In  all  these  cases  some  interpreters  suppose  the  sense  to  be  that  the  eyes 
or  face  of  God  penetrate,  as  it  were,  and  rest  in  the  object. — The  design 
with  which  Jehovah  watches  evil-doers  is  not  to  interpose  for  their  deUver- 
ance  or  relief,  but  to  destroy  from  the  earth  their  very  memory,  a  strong 
expression  for  entire  extirpation.  Compare  Exod.  xvii.  14,  Deut.  xxv.  19, 
Isa.  xxvi.  14,  and  see  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  6,  7  (5,  6). 

18  (17).  They  cried  and  Jehovah  heard,  and  from  all  their  distresses  de- 
livered them.  This  may  at  first  sight  seem  to  have  respect  to  the  evil-doers 
of  the  preceding  verse,  who  are  then  represented  as  obtaining  reHef  from 


156  Psalm  34:18 -22 

deserved  judgments  by  humble  prayer  to  God.  But  as  the  wicked  are,  in 
this  whole  passage,  mentioned  only  incidentally,  and  as  a  kind  of  foil  or 
contrast  to  the  righteous,  it  seems  better  on  the  whole,  to  make  the  first 
verb  here  indefinite,  men  cry  for  help,  but  with  special  reference  to  the 
righteous  of  ver.  16  (15).  God  watches  over  the  righteous  to  protect  them 
— as  he  does  over  the  wicked  to  destroy  them — and  whenever  they  cry  to 
Viim  for  help,  he  saves  them.  This  parenthetical  construction  of  ver.  17 
(16)  is  the  more  admissible  because  it  contains  no  finite  verb,  whereas  ver. 
18  (17)  contains  three. 

19  (18).  Near  (is)  Jehovah  to  the  broken  in  heart,  and  the  crushed  in 
spirit  he  will  save.  These  figurative  terms  are  always  used  in  a  good  sense 
and  applied  to  humble  penitents.  See  Ps.  li.  19  (17),  Isa.  Ivii.  15,  Ixi.  1, 
Ixvi.  2.  They  are  descriptive  of  the  contrition  wrought  by  divine  grace  in 
the  hearts  of  sinners.  To  such  the  Lord  is  always  near,  i.  e.  ready  to 
deliver  and  protect.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  12  (11). 

20  (19).  Many  evils  (befall)  the  righteous,  and  from  them  all  xoill  Jehovah 
deliver  him.  The  preceding  promise  might  have  seemed  to  imply  exemp- 
tion from  all  sufi'ering;  but  this  can  only  be  enjoyed  in  connection  with  ex- 
emption from  all  sin.  While  sin  continues  to  exist,  sorrow  must  coexist 
with  it,  even  in  the  case  of  true  believers  or  the  righteous,  who  are  never 
described  in  this  book  as  absolutely  sinless.  See  above,  Ps.  xix.  13  (12), 
XXV.  7.  While  the  sufierings  of  the  righteous  shew  them  to  be  sinners, 
their  deliverance  illustrates  the  divine  compassion.  The  relation  of  the 
clauses  would  in  our  idiom  require  a  hut  instead  of  the  simple  copulative, 
which  the  Hebrew  writers  commonly  employ  in  such  connection. 

21  (20).  Keeping  all  his  bones — not  one  of  them  is  broken.  The  sentence 
may  be  completed  by  supplying  the  substantive  verb  :  (he  is)  keeping,  i.  e. 
habitually  keeps  ;  but  it  is  simpler  and  better  to  regard  this  and  the  verse 
before  it  as  one  sentence,  and  the  participle  as  agreeing  regularly  with 
Jehovah. — Keeping,  in  the  pregnant  sense  of  watching  and  preserving. — 
His  bones,  his  frame,  his  body.  See  above,  Ps.  xxxii.  8,  and  below,  Ps. 
XXXV.  10. — The  literal  translation  of  the  last  clause,  one  of  them  is  not 
broken,  would  be  equivocal  in  English.  The  original  expression  occurs 
also  in  Isa.  xxxiv,  16.  The  ^octrine  or  promise  of  this  verse  is  analogous 
to  that  in  Mat.  x.  30. 

22  (21.)  Evil  shall  slay  the  toicked,  and  the  haters  of  the  righteous  shall 
be  guilty.  While  the  sufierings  of  which  the  righteous  man  is  a  partaker 
are  but  temporary,  those  of  the  wicked  shall  be  ultimately  fatal.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xxxii.  10.  Evil  must  have  the  same  sense  in  both  cases,  namely, 
that  of  physical  evil,  sufi'ering  or  misfortune.  The  result  here  described  is 
not  fortuitous,  but  brought  about  by  moral  causes.  They  must  be  de- 
stroyed because  they  are  found  guilty,  i.e.  of  rebellion  against  God,  one 
conclusive  proof  of  which  is  afi"orded  by  their  hatred  of  his  people.  They 
shall  be  guilty,  i.e.  recognised  and  known  aS'  such  and  treated  accordingly. 
*'  The  sufferings  of  the  wicked  man,  unlike  those  of  the  righteous,  tend  to 
death,  because  the  hatred  of  the  former  to  the  latter  proves  himself  to  be 
worthy  of  destruction." 

23  (22.)  Jehovah  redeems  the  soul  of  his  servants,  and  guilty  shall  none  be 
(of)  those  trusting  in  him.  The  precise  form  of  the  first  clause  in  Hebrew 
is,  Jehovah  redeeming  the  soul  of  his  servants,  which  seems  to  mean  that  he 
is  doing  so  now,  and  that  he  habitually  does  so.  The  soul  or  vital  principle 
is  named  because  the  case  was  one  of  life  and  death.  None  of  those  trust- 
ing in  him  shall  be  recognised  and  treated  as'guilty,  the  opposite  of  that 


Psalm  35:1 -3  157 

which  had  been  just  asserted  of  the  wicked.  The  condition  and  ground  of 
this  immunity  is  faith  or  trust  in  God,  without  which,  according  to  the 
doctrine  of  both  testaments,  there  can  be  no  escape  from  guilt  or  punish- 
jueut. 

Psalm  35 

We  have  here  another  of  those  psahns,  in  which  two  great  parties,  the 
righteous  and  the  wicked,  are  exhibited  in  contrast  and  in  an  attitude  of 
mutual  hostiUty.  The  psalm  may  be  divided  into  three  parts,  parallel  to 
one  another,  in  all  of  which  the  elements  combined  are  complaint,  prayer, 
and  the  promise  of  thanksgiving  for  anticipated  deUverance.  The  first 
division  is  occupied  with  an  invocation  of  divine  judgments  on  God's  ene- 
mies, ending  with  an  expression  of  triumph  in  God's  favour,  ver.  1-9.  The 
second  contains  a  more  particular  description  of  these  enemies,  as  oppres- 
sors, false  accusers,  unthankful  renderers  of  evil  for  good,  and  mahgnant 
scoffers,  with  a  prayer  for  the  divine  interposition,  and  a  pledge  of  pubHc 
thanksgiving,  ver.  10-18.  The  third  renews  briefly  the  description  of  the 
enemy,  but  is  chiefly  filled  with  prayer  to  be  dehvered  from  them,  and 
closes,  like  the  others,  with  a  promise  of  pei-petual  thanksgiving,  ver. 
19-28. 

1.  jSy  David.  Oppose,  Jehovah,  my  opposers ;  devour  my  devourers. 
The  correctness  of  the  title  is  confirmed  by  the  appearance  of  allusion  to 
1  Sam.  xxiv.  16  (15),  the  incident  recorded  in  which  place  may  have  been 
present  to  the  Psalmist's  mind  although  we  have  no  reason  to  beheve  that 
he  wrote  it  with  exclusive  reference  to  that  time  or  to  himself,  but  for  the 
use  of  pious  sufferers  in  general. — Strive  with  my  strivers,  or  contend  with 
my  contenders.  The  original  verb  is  one  specifically  used  to  denote  judicial 
contest,  litigation,  in  which  sense  a  cognate  noun  is  used  below,  ver.  23, 
and  the  English  Bible  thus  translates  the  verse  before  us :  plead  {my  cause) 
with  them  that  strive  against  me  ;  fight  against  them  that  fight  against  me. 
It  is  only  in  the  passive  form,  however,  that  UVh  means  to  fight ;  its  pri- 
mary sense  is  to  devour.  The  application  of  this  metaphor  to  warfare  is 
not  uncommon.  See  below,  Ps.  Ivi.  2,  3  (1,  2),  and  compare  Num.  xiv.  9, 
xxiv.  8,  Deut.  vii.  16. 

2.  Lay  hold  of  shield  and  luckier ;  and  stand  up  in  my  defence  (or  f(yr 
my  help).  The  manifestation  of  God's  saving  and  protecting  power  is 
described  in  Scripture  under  various  figures  corresponding  to  the  form  of 
the  particular  suffering  or  danger.  Against  injustice  he  appears  as  an  ad- 
vocate or  judge  (see  ver.  23  below) ;  against  violence  as  a  warrior  (see  Deut. 
xxxii.  41,  42).  In  this  character  the  Psalmist  here  entreats  him  to  appear, 
and  for  that  end  to  seize,  grasp,  or  lay  hold  of  his  weapons  of  defence. 
The  shield  and  huclder  seem  to  have  been  different  in  size  (1  Kings  x. 
16,  17),  though  not  in  use. — Arise,  address  thyself  to  action.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  iii.  8  (7). — In  my  help  is  by  some  explained  to  mean  as  my  help, 
i.e.  my  helper;  but  the  Hebrew  idiom  seems  to  be  identical  with  our  phrase 
in  my  defence. 

S.  And  draw  out  the  spear,  and  stop  (the  way)  against  my  pursuers  ;  say 
to  my  soul,  Thy  salvation  {am)  I.  The  fu-st  verb  properly  means  empty, 
pour  out,  and  then  draw  out.  Some  suppose  the  expression  to  be  strictly 
applicable  only  to  the  sword,  but  to  be  here  appHed  by  a  kind  of  poetic 
licence  to  the  spear.  Others  suppose  it  to  be  strictly  used,  but  in  relation 
to  the  drawing  of  it  out  of  its  repository  or  conceahnent.      Some  explain 


158  Psalm  35:4 -7 


f , 


"i^D  as  a  foreign  word,  identical  with  the  Scythian  cdya^ig,  or  battle-axe. 

But  no  such  word  occurs  in  Hebrew  elsewhere,  and  the  meaning  of  the 
verb  "I^D  is  entirely  appropriate,  to  close  or  stop  the  way  against  another. 

Against,  or  literally  to  meet,  in  a  hostile  or  military  sense  which  the  word 
has  in  Deut,  i.  44,  Josh.  viii.  14,  and  elsewhere. — To  my  soul;  see  above, 
on  Ps.  xi.  1. — Thy  salvation,  see  below,  Ps.  xxxviii.  23(22). 

4.  Shamed  and  confounded  he  the  seekers  of  my  soul;  turned  hack  and 
made  to  bliish  the  devisers  of  my  hurt.  Entirely  disappointed  ^in  their 
hopes  and  eftorts.  The  optative  meaning  of  the  futures  is  determined 
by  the  unambiguous  form  Tl^  in  ver.  6  below.     The  seekers  of  my  soul  or 

life,  i.e.  such  as  seek  it  to  destroy  it.  Compare  Mat.  ii.  13,  20.  Turned 
lack,  disgracefully  repulsed  and  defeated.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  18  (17). 
Made  to  blush :  the  form  of  the  verb  in  Hebrew  is  not  causative,  but  simply 
means  to  blush  or  be  confused.  The  causative  form  is  here  employed  in 
order  to  give  uniformity  to  the  English  sentence. — My  hurt,  literally  my 
evil,  i.  e.  evil  fortune,  calamity,  or  injury. — Devisers,  literally  thinkers,  i.  e. 
such  as  meditate  or  purpose  my  destruction. 

5.  Let  them  be  as  chaff'  before  a  uind,  and  the  angel  of  Jehovah  smiting. 
Under  the  influence  of  inspiration,  the  Psalmist  sees  the  natural  and  right- 
eous consequences  of  their  wickedness,  and  viewing  the  case  jnerely  in  itself, 
apart  from  personal  feeling,  speaks  of  this  effect  as  desirable.  The  wish 
expressed  is,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  equivalent  to  a  prediction  or  the 
afl&rmation  of  a  general  truth.  The  Psalmist  desires  the  destruction  of  these 
sinners  precisely  as  God  wills  it ;  nor  is  it  any  harder  to  reconcile  such 
wishes  with  the  highest  degree  of  human  goodness  than  it  is  to  reconcile 
tlie  certain  fact  that  God  aUows  some  men  to  perish  with  his  infinite  bene- 
volence. The  figure  of  chaff  before  the  wind  suggests  the  idea  of  intrinsic 
worthlessness  with  that  of  easy  and  complete  destruction.  Compare  Ps. 
i.  4.  The  participle  at  the  close  means  striking  [them)  down,  so  that  they 
cannot  rise.  Compare  Ps.  xxxvi.  13  (12).  The  angel  of  Jehovah,  his 
appointed  instrument  of  vengeance.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiv.  8  (7). 

6.  Let  their  way  be  dark^  and  slippery,  and  the  angel  of  Jehovah  chasing 
them.  The  optative  form  of  the  verb  at  the  beginning  determines  the  sense 
of  those  which  go  before,  and  which  otherwise  might  be  ambiguous. — Dark 
and  slippery,  literally  darkness  and  smoothnesses,  an  emphatic  substitution 
of  the  abstract  for  the  concrete.  The  fearful  image  thus  suggested  of  men 
driven,  like  chaff"  before  the  wind,  along  a  dark  and  slippery  path,  is 
rendered  more  terrific  by  the  additional  idea  of  their  being  hotly  pursued  by 
the  destroying  angel.  The  construction  of  the  last  clause,  both  in  this  verse 
and  the  one  before  it,  is :  (let)  the  angel  of  Jehovah  (be)  pursuing  them. 

7.  For  without  cause  they  hid  for  me  their  pit-fall ;  xcithout  cause  they 
digged  for  my  soul.  This  verse  assigns  the  reason  of  the  imprecations  or 
denunciations  which  precede. — Without  cause,  wantonly,  gratuitously,  un- 
provoked, and  therefore  prompted  by  mere  mahce.  See  below,  ver.  19. — 
The  pit  of  their  net  is  an  idiomatic  phrase  like  the  hill  of  my  holiness.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  ii.  6.  The  true  sense  of  the  phrase  appears  to  be  their  net- 
pit,  i.  e.  their  pit  covered  with  a  net,  a  figure  borrowed  from  the  ancient 
modes  of  hunting.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  16  (15),  ix.  16  (15).  In  the 
last  clause  we  may  either  supply  a  relative,  as  in  the  common  version,  which 
they  digged,  or  take  the  verb  in  the  absolute  sense  of  making  a  pit  or 
diteh. 


Psalm  35:8 -13  159 

8.  Let  ruin  come  (upon)  him  (when)  he  does  not  know ;  and  his  net  which 
he  hid — let  it  take  him — with  ruin  (to  his  ruin)  let  him  fall  into  it.  The  first 
noun  properly  denotes  a  crash,  as  of  a  falling  house,  and  then  a  ruin,  both, 
in  the  narrower  and  wider  sense.  When  he  does  not  know,  unawares,  unex- 
pectedly, as  in  Isa.  xlvii.  11,  Job.  ix.  5.  The  last  clause  may  also  be 
translated,  into  ruin  let  him  fall  into  it,  i.  e.  as  the  common  version  has  it, 
into  that  very  ruin.     But  it  is  simpler  to  let  HKiti^B  qualify  the  verb ;  let 

Tn'm  fall  with  ruin,  i.  e.  ruinously  to  his  own  destruction. 

9.  And  my  soul  shall  exult  in  Jehovah,  shall  joy  in  his  salvation.  Our 
idiom  would  require  so  or  then  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence,  to  make 
the  connection  of  the  verses  clear. — In  Jehovah,  not  merely  on  account  of 
him,  but  in  union  with  him  and  possession  of  him,  as  the  parallel  phrase^ 
in  his  salvation,  means  in  the  experience  and  enjoyment  of  it.  This  is  a 
kind  of  promise  that  the  favour  asked  shall  not  be  unrequited  by  thanks- 
giving, and  the  same  idea  is  still  further  carried  out  in  the  next  verse. 

10.  All  my  bones  shall  say,  Jehovah,  who  is  like  thee,  delivering  the  sufferer 
from  (one)  stronger  than  hhnself,  and  the  sufferer  and  the  needy  from  his 
spoiler?  The  bones,  the  frame,  the  person,  are  here  put  for  the  whole  man. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxii.  3.  The  interrogative  form  implies  negation. 
"  There  is  no  such  saviour  besides  God."  The  apparent  tautology  may  be 
relieved  in  English  by  translating  eveii  the  sufferer,  &c.  But  such  repetitions 
are  entirely  congenial  to  the  Hebrew  idiom.  With  the  second  clause  com- 
pare Jer.  xxxi.  11,  and  with  the  third  Ps.  x.  2. 

11.  There  rise  up  witnesses  of  violence;  (as  to)  that  which  I  have  not  known 
they  ask  me.  The  future  verbs  describe  the  acts  as  still  in  progress,  and  as 
likely  to  be  long  continued.  They  are  rising  or  about  to  rise,  asking  or  about 
to  ask.  The  word  translated  violence  is  one  of  very  frequent  occurrence  in 
the  psalms,  and  includes  the  ideas  of  injustice  and  cruelty.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  vii.  17  (16),  xi.  5,xviii.  49  (48),  xxv.  19,  xxvii.  12.  "  They  endeavour 
to  draw  from  me  the  acknowledgment  of  crimes  which  I  have  not  committed, 
and  of  which  I  have  no  knowledge." 

12.  They  repay  me  evil  for  good — bereavevient  to  my  sold.  "  If  given  up 
to  them,  I  have  nothing  to  expect  but  a  continued  recompence  of  evil  for 
good,  extending  even  to  the  loss  of  what  is  most  essential  to  my  being  and 
well-being."  The  word  translated  bereavement  commonly  means  loss  of 
children,  but  is  here  used  metaphorically  for  the  most  extreme  and  lament- 
able destitution. 

13.  And  I — in  their  sickness  my  clothing  (was)  sackcloth;  1  humbled  with 
fasting  my  soul — and  my  prayer  into  my  bosom  shall  return.  The  general 
idea  is  that  he  displayed  the  deepest  sympathy  with  their  distresses.  This 
idea  is  expressed  by  figures  borrowed  from  the  oriental  mourning  usages. 
Sackcloth,  fasting,  and  prayer  are  here  particularly  mentioned.  To  humble 
the  soul  (or  ones  self),  or  as  some  explain  it,  to  mortify  the  appetite,  is  the 
phrase  by  which  fasting  is  described  in  the  Law  of  Moses  (Lev.  xvi.  31, 
xxiii.  27,  32,  Num.  xxix.  7),  and  which  is  here  combined  with  the  later 
word  D!)iJ. — The  last  clause  is  obscure,  and  is  by  some  understood  to  signify 
the  constancy  of  supplication,  coming  back  and  going  out  again  without 
cessation.  Others  explain  it  as  a  mere  description  of  the  attitude  of  prayer 
with  the  head  bowed  upon  the  bosom,  as  if  he  had  said,  I  was  continually 
pouring  prayer  into  my  bosom.  But  neither  of  these  explanations  is  so 
probable  as  the  traditional  one  of  the  Jews,  according  to  which  he  desires 
that  the  prayer  which  he  ofiered  for  them  might  redound  to  his  own  advan- 
tage.    Or  the  clause  may  be  still  more  simply  construed  as  a  prediction  : 


160  Psalm  35:14 -17 

"  My  prayer  shall  not  be  lost,  it  shall  return  in  blessings  to  the  heart  which 
prompted  it." 

14.  As  (if  it  had  been)  a  friend,  a  brother  to  mc,  I  went  on  (or  uertt  about); 
as  a  mourner  for  a  mother,  squalid  I  bowed  down.  He  not  only  mourned  in 
their  calamity,  but  with  the  deepest  gi-ief,  as  for  a  friend,  a  brother,  or  a 
parent,  which  terms  are  so  arranged  as  to  produce  a  beautiful  and  striking 
climax. — The  verb  in  the  first  clause  corresponds  very  nearly  to  the  famiUar 
English  phrase  went  on,  in  the  sense  of  lived  or  habitually  acted.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  i.  1. — The  Hebrew  word  ITfp  means  squalid,  dirty,  in  allusion 

to  the  ancient  oriental  practice  of  neglecting  the  appearance,  and  even 
covering  the  dress  and  person  with  dust  and  ashes,  as  a  token  of  extreme 
grief.     The  bowing  down  is  also  to  be  taken  as  a  part  of  the  same  usage. 

15.  And  (yet)  in  my  limping  th^y  rejoiced,  and  were  gathered  together  ; 
there  were  gathered  together  against  me  cripples,  and  I  did  not  know  (it) :  they 
did  tear  and  were  not  silent.  With  his  beha\'iour  to  them  in  their  affliction 
he  contrasts  theirs  to  him.  As  disease  in  general  is  a  common  figure  for 
distress,  so  lameness  in  particular  is  so  used  here  and  in  Ps.  xxxviii.  18 
(17),  Jer.  XX.  10.  They  assembled  not  to  comfort  but  to  mock  him  and 
revile  him. — The  obscure  word  D''D3  has  been  variously  explained  to  mean 

smiters  with  the  tongue  (Jer.  xviii.  18),  i.e.  slanderers — whipped  (Job 
XXX.  8),  i.  ^.  degraded  criminals — and  smitten  (Isa.  hii.  4),  i.e.  afflicted. 
But  Luther's  explanation,  which  connects  the  word  with  the  cognate  form 
Dy^T  HD^  (2  Sam.  iv.  4,  ix.  3),  smitten  in  the  feet,  lame,  crippled,  not  only 
yields  a  good  sense,  but  agrees  best  with  the  figure  of  the  first  clause. 
'  When  I  limped  cripples  mocked  at  me  ' — i.  e.  those  who  were  themselves 
contemptible  treated  me  with  contempt.  /  did  not  know  it.  It  was  done 
behind  my  back,  and  while  I  was  entirely  unsuspicious.  See  above,  on 
ver.  8.  This  is  a  more  natural  construction  than  whom  I  did  not  know, 
which  is,  moreover,  inconsistent  with  what  goes  before. — They  rent  or  tore 
me  by  their  slanders. 

16.  With  worthless  mockers  for  bread — gnashing  against  me  their  teeth. 
This  they  did  in  the  company  of  impious,  reprobate,  or  worthless  scofiers, 
who  calumniate  others  for  the  sake  of  gaining  favour  with  their  wicked 
patrons.  Hence  they  are  called  bread  or  cake  scoffers,  those  who  earn  their 
food  by  spiteful  mockery  of  others.  The  form  of  the  whole  verse  is 
extremely  idiomatic,  and  scarcely  admits  of  an  exact  translation.  The 
literal  meaning  of  the  first  clause  is  with  the  worthless  of  mockers  of  bread, 
and  in  the  second  the  verb  gnash  is  an  infinitive,  which  can  only  be  ren- 
dered in  intelligible  EngUsh  by  a  participle  or  a  finite  verb,  they  gnashed,  or 
gnashing.  This  is  always  expressive  of  malignant  rage,  and  shews  that 
what  is  here  described  is  not  mere  raillery  but  spiteful  defamation. 

17.  Lord,  how  long  wilt  thou  look  on?  JRestore  my  soul  from  their 
ruins  (or  ruinous  plots),  from  the  young  lions  my  lonely  one.  The  first 
Hebrew  word  is  not  Jehovah  but  Adhonai,  properly  expressive  of  dominion 
or  sovereignty.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  2— How  long  ?  The  Hebrew  phrase 
usually  means  how  much,  |but  is  here  specially  appUed  to  time ;  hoio  much 
time  ?  how  long  f  Wilt  thou  see  what  treatment  I  receive,  and  merely  see 
it,  as  an  indifferent  spectator  ? — Restore  my  soul  has  not  the  same  sense  as 
in  Ps.  xix.  8  (7),  xxiii.  3,  but  the  strict  one  of  bringing  back  from  the  dan- 
gerous extreme  to  which  he  had  been  brought  by  the  ruins  or  ruinous  de- 
vices— I.  e.  designed  to  ruin  others — of  his  enemies.     Lions  are  mentioned 


Psalm  35:]  8 -22  161 

as  the  strongest  and  fiercest  of  wild  beasts,  and  young  lions  as  the  most 
active  of  their  species.  See  tibove,  on  Ps.  xxxiv.  11  (10). — My  lonely,  soli- 
tary sowZ.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  21  (20). 

is.  I  will  thank  thee  in  the  great  assembly,  in  (the  midst  of  the)  mighty 
people  I  will  praise  thee  On  the  supposition  that  his  prayer  will  be  heard 
and  answered,  he  engages  to  give  public  thanks,  in  the  great  congregation 
or  assembly  of  God's  people.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  23,  26  (22,  25). — 
Strong  people,  strong  in  numbers,  a  poetical  equivalent  to  great  congrega- 
tion.— The  verb  in  the  last  clause  means  to  praise  in  general ;  that  in  the 
first  to  praise  for  benefits  received,  to  acknowledge  favours,  in  other  words 
to  thank.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiii.  2. 

19.  Let  them  not  rejoice  respecting  me,  my  enemies  of  falsehood,  (and  let 
not)  my  haters  without  cause  wink  the  eye.  Respecting  me,  at  my  expense, 
or,  in  this  and  similar  connections,  over  me,  although  this  idea  is  not  so 
much  expressed  in  the  text  as  suggested  by  the  context.  See  above,  Ps. 
XXV.  2,  and  below,  ver.  24,  Ps.  xxxviii.  17  (16).  Let  them  not  rejoice,  let 
them  have  no  occasion  so  to  do. — My  enemies  of  falsehood,  my  false  enemies, 
who  gratify  their  spite  by  calumny  and  slander. — My  haters  without  cause, 
those  who  hate  me  gratuitously,  out  of  sheer  spite,  without  any  reasonable 
ground  or  even  colourable  pretext.  This  is  a  favourite  description  of  the 
enemies  of  the  righteous — see  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  5  (4),  xxv.  3 — and  was 
pre-eminently  true  of  the  enemies  of  Christ,  to  whom  it  is  applied  in  the 
New  Testament  (John  xv.  25).  The  negation  of  the  first  clause  is  to  be 
repeated  in  the  other,  as  in  Ps.  ix.  19  (18).  Winking  is  here  referred  to 
as  a  gesture  of  mutual  congratulation  among  accompUces  in  guilt.  Com- 
pare Prov.  vi.  13,  X.  10. 

20.  For  not  peace  will  they  speak,  and  against  the  quiet  of  the  land  words 
of  deceits  ioill  they  devise.  The /or  assigns  a  reason  why  they  ought  not  to 
be  sufl'ered  to  rejoice  in  the  success  of  their  designs.  The  reason  is, 
because  their  designs  are  evil,  tending  not  to  peace — in  the  strict  sense,  as 
opposed  to  strife,  or  in  the  wide  sense,  as  opposed  to  trouble  and  calamity 
— but  to  the  disturbance  of  those  who  are  peacefully  inclined,  the  quiet  (or 
tranquil)  of  the  land,  i.  e.  the  land  of  promise,  considered  as  the  home  of 
God's  chosen  people,  who,  as  its  rightful  proprietors,  are  characteristically 
peaceful,  and  averse  from  all  strife  and  disorder.  Compare  Mat.  v.  5.  To 
disturb  these,  the  wicked  devise  words  of  deceits,  in  which  phrase  words  is 
not  an  idiomatic  pleonasm, — compare  xli.  9  (8),  Lxv.  4  (3), — but  a  sub- 
stantive expression,  meaning  false  (or  lying)  words,  and  more  specifically 
slanders — see  below,  Ps.  xxxvi.  4  (3) — the  utterers  of  which  are  called 
lying  enemies  in  ver.  19.  The  futures  of  this  verse  include  the  present : 
they  do  so  ndw  and  will  do  so  still.  Some  connect  not  peace  as  an 
emphatic  compound,  meaning  just  the  opposite  of  peace.  Compare 
Isa.  X.  15. 

21.  And  have  widened  against  me  their  mouth;  they  have  said.  Aha,  aha, 
our  eye  has  seen.  "  They  have  mocked  at  my  distress  with  contemptuous 
grimaces,  and  rejoiced  in  the  fulfilment  of  their  spiteful  wishes."  With 
the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xxii.  8  (7)  above.  The  Hebrew  interjection  in 
the  last  clause  (nKH)  seems  to  be  a  natural  expression  of  joyful  surprise. 

Their  success  was  almost  too  great  to  be  real,  yet  attested  by  their  senses. 
The  verse  ends  with  a  kind  of  aposiopesis  :  "  our  .own  eyes  have  seen" — 
what  we  could  not  have  beheved  on  the  report  of  another,  to  wit,  the  grati- 
fication of  our  warmest  wishes.     See  below,  ver.  25. 

22.  Thou  hast  seen,  Jehovah,  be  not  silent ;  Lord,  he  not  far  from  me. 


162  Psalm  35 .23-27 

**  But  they  are  not  the  only  witnesses  of  my  distress,  for  thou,  Lord,  hke- 
wise  seest  and  hast  long  seen  it.  Seeing  it,  therefore,  be  no  longer  silent  j 
refrain  no  longer  from  interposing  in  my  favour;  speak  in  my  behalf;  be 
near  me  in  this  time  of  peril."  The  connection  of  the  verses  is  like  that 
in  Ps.  X.  13,  14,  and  the  prayer  in  the  last  clause  not  unhke  that  with 
which  the  same  psalm  opens.  With  the  other  petition,  be  not  silent,  com- 
pare that  at  the  beginning  of  Ps.  xxviii.,-  and  with  the  first  words,  thou  hast 
seen,  those  of  ver.  17  above. 

23.  Arotcse  (thee)  and  awake  for  my  right  (or  judgment),  my  God  and 
my  Lord,  for  my  cause.  "  Put  an  end  to  this  inaction  and  apparent  indif- 
ference, and  manifest  thy  presence,  as  my  sovereign  and  my  covenant- 
keeping  God,  for  the  vindication  of  my  innocence  against  false  accusers  and 
unrighteous  judges."  The  same  petition,  clothed  in  nearly  the  same  words, 
occurs  above  in  Ps.  vii.  7,  9  (6,  8).     See  also  Ps.  ix.  5  (4),  xvii. 

24.  Judge  me  according  to  thy  righteousness,  Jehovah,  my  God,  and  let 
them  not  rejoice  respecting  me.  "Do  me  justice,  clear  me  from  aspersion, 
grant  an  attestation  of  my  innocence,  in  the  exercise  and  exhibition  of  thine 
own  essential  rectitude,  and  in  accordance  with  that  covenant  relation 
which  exists  between  us ;  and  thus,  in  the  most  efiectual  manner,  take  away 
from  my  malignant  enemies  all  pretext  and  occasion  for  exulting  in  my 
overthrow,  or  otherwise  triumphing  at  my  expense."  With  the  last  clause 
compare  Ps.  xxx.  2  (1)  above,  where  he  thanks  God  for  the  very  favour 
which  he  here  asks.  The  verb  in  this  clause  may  be  referred  to  men  in 
general,  or  with  still  greater  probabihty  to  the  enemies  described  in  the 
preceding  context. 

25.  Let  them  not  say  in  their  heart,  Aha,  our  soul  (or  our  heart's  desire)  ! 
Let  them  not  say,  We  have  swallowed  him  up  !  In  their  heart,  not  secretly^ 
but  cordially,  not  as  opposed  to  saying  so  to  others,  but  to  mere  profession. 
—Our  heart's  desire!  an  abbreviated  exclamation  prompted  by  strong  feeling. 
*'  This  is  precisely  what  we  have  so  long  and  so  intensely  wished  for !  "  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  12.  Let  them  not  say,  let  them  not  have  occasion  so  to 
say ;  let  not  the  events  yhich  befall  me  justify  them  in  so  saying. — Swallowed 
him  up,  utterly  destroyed  him.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxi.  10  (9),  and  com- 
pare Lam.  ii.  16,  where  the  form  of  expression  is  no  doubt  copied  from  the 
verse  before  us. 

26.  Let  theni  be  ashamed  and  blush  together — the  rejoiceis  in  my  evil ;  let 
them  put  on  shame  and  contempt  the  (men)  magnifying  against  me  (their 
•words,  or  their  deeds,  or  themselves) !  The  relative  construction,  who 
rejoice  in  my  hurt,  who  magnify  against  me,  gives  the  sense,  but  in  an  EngHsh 
rather  than  a  Hebrew  form. — Ashamed,  disappointed  and  defeated.  See 
above,  on  ver.  4. — Blush,  be  confused  or  confounded. — My  evil,  i.  e.  evil 
fortune,  injury,  including  the  idea  of  injustice,  as  the  antithetical  term  in 
ver.  27  is  righteousness  or  justification. — Put  on,  as  a  dress,  and  wear  it,  or 
be  covered  with  it.  See  below,  on  Ps.  cix.  18  (17),  and  compare  Job  viii. 
22. — Contetnpt,  disgrace,  ignominy. — Making  great,  &c.,  their  mouth  or 
words,  i.  e.  speaking  proudly,  Obad.  12,  Ezek.  xxxv.  13 ;  or  still  more  pro- 
bably and  agreeably  to  usage,  acting  proudly,  as  in  Ps.  Iv.  13  (12),  and 
elsewhere.     The  complete  expression  may  be  that  used  in  Joel  ii.  20. 

27.  Let  them  shout  (or  siyig)  and  rejoice — the  desirers  of  my  righteousness 
— and  let  them  always  say,  Great  is  (or  be)  Jehovah,  the  (God)  willing  (or 
desiring)  the  peace  of  his  servant !  The  sentence  may  be  brought  into  closer 
conformity  to  our  idiom  by  adopting  a  relative  construction.  "  Let  them 
rejoice  who  desire  my  righteousness,"  i.e.  my  justification,  who  desire  to 


Psalm  36:1  163 

see  me  practically  justified  by  God's  providential  dealings  with  me. — Let 
them  always  say,  i.  e.  always  have  occasion  -so  to  do,  which  is  virtually  wish- 
ing that  the  peace  or  prosperity  of  Jehovah's  servant  may  be  perpetual.  The 
verbal  adjective  in  both  these  clauses  means  desiring,  with  a  strong  implica- 
tion of  complacency  or  satisfaction  in  the  object,  and  therefore  really  includes 
the  two  ideas  of  desire  and  delight. — The  righteousness  or  justification  of  the 
first  clause  is  an  obvious  antithesis  to  the  evil,  hurt,  or  injury  of  ver.  26, 
and  no  less  obviously  identical,  or  at  least  coincident,  with  the  peace  or 
welfare  of  the  last  clause  here. 

28.  And  my  tongue  shall  utter  thy  righteousness — all  the  day  (long)  thxj 
praise.  The  and  connects  the  verse  with  what  precedes,  as  the  efi'ect  with 
its  occasion  or  its  cause.  This  connection  may  be  made  clear  in  our  idiom 
by  the  use  of  a  more  definite  particle,  such  as  then  or  so. — The  verb  used 
in  this  verse  is  applied  elsewhere  both  to  articulate  and  inarticulate  animal 
sounds.  The  nearest  equivalent  in  English  is  to  utter.  For  a  secondary 
or  derived  sense  of  the  same  verb,  see  above,  on  Ps.  i.  2. — All  the  day  long, 
or  every  day,  common  expressions  for  continually,  always. — The  righteous- 
ness of  the  first  clause  is  the  object  of  the  praise  in  the  second.  The  right- 
eousness of  Grod  here  mentioned  has  reference  to  the  Psalmist's  righteousness 
in  ver.  27.  By  vindicating  this,  the  divine  justice  or  fidelity  acquires,  as  it 
were,  a  new  claim  to  the  praises  of  the  justified  sinner,  which  he  here  declares 
himself  resolved  to  pay. 


Psalm  36 

This  remarkable  psalm  consists  of  three  distinguishable  parts,  besides 
the  title,  ver.  1.  The  first  contains  a  strong  description  of 'human  depra\ity, 
ver.  2-5  (1-4).  The  second  contrasts  with  this  the  divine  excellence,  ver. 
6-10  (5-9).  In  the  third,  the  Psalmist  prays  to  be  delivered  firom  the 
first,  and  made  a  partaker  of  the  second,  with  a  strong  assurance  that  his 
desire  will  be  fulfilled,  ver.  11-13  (10-12). 

The  first  part  diflers  from  the  rest,  in  form  as  well  as  substance,  being 
much  more  obscure  and  difiicult. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  By  a  Servant  of  Jehovah.  By  David.  This 
peculiar  collocation  of  the  words,  which  occurs  only  here  and  in  the  title  of 
the  eighteenth  psalm,  seems  to  imply  something  more  than  would  have  been 
conveyed  by  the  description,  David,  a  servant  of  Jehovah.  The  difference 
intended  may  be  this,  that  servant  of  Jehovah  is  not  added  to  the  name  as 
a  descriptive  epithet,  but  is  itself  the  sahent  point  of  the  inscription,  the 
name  being  added  merely  to  identify  the  person.  This  would  seem  to  shew 
that,  for  some  reason  founded  in  the  psalm  itself,  it  is  important  that  it  be 
regarded  as  the  work  of  a  servant  of  Jehovah,  one  inspired  by  him,  perhaps 
in  opposition  to  the  inspiration  of  depravity  referred  to  in  the  next  verse. 

2  (1).  Thus  saith  depravity  to  the  -wicked  (one)  in  the  midst  of  my  heart, 
there  is  no  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes.  This  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  and 
doubtful  verses  in  the  whole  book  of  Psalms.  The  first  word  in  Hebi'ew 
(Dh^J)  is  a  passive  participle  used  as  a  noun,  like  the  Latin  dictum,  and 

employed  as  a  standing  formula  in  prophecy  to  indicate  the  person  speaking. 
The  usual  combination  is   {TtitX*  DW)   a  dictum  of  Jehovah,    commonly 

translated  in  our  Bible,  saith  (or  thus  saith)  the  Lord.    Instead  of  the  divine 
name,  that  of  David  is  substituted  in  2  Sam.  xxiii.  1  (Tn  DS3)  and  the  man 


164  Psalm  36:2 

there  and  also  in  Prov.  xxx.  1  (")23rT  Di^i),  both  which  appear  to  be  copied 

from  the  words  of  Balaam  in  Num.  xxiv,  15,  The  constant  use  of  this 
formula  to  introduce  prophetic  dicta  seems  to  require  an  analogous  inter- 
pretation of  it  here,  as  meaning  something  more  than  the  mere  act  of  speak- 
ing, and  suggesting  the  idea  of  an  authoritative  dictum  or  oracular  response, 
proceeding  not  from  God  nor  from  his  prophets,  but  from  sin  {^^B))  which 

here  supplies  their  place.  A  dictum  of  depravity,  or,  copying  the  para- 
phrastic but  famihar  version  of  nirT"  D^?2  in  the  English  Bible,  thus  saith 

transgression  or  corruption. — The  meaning  of  the  next  phrase  (yt£>l7)  is 

determined  by  the  analogy  of  Ps.  ex.  1,  where  the  same  preposition,  after 
rhUV  0^2,  can  only  indicate  the  obiect  of  address,  the  saying  of  Jehovah 

(or  thus  saith  Jehovah)  to  my  Lord.  So  here,  the  true  construction  is  not, 
the  transgression  of  the  wicked,  which  indeed  is  ungrammatical,  but  thus  saith 
transgression  to  the  wicked.  The  only  possible  modification  of  this  sytitax, 
at  all  justified  by  usage,  is  to  make  ^^^"17  denote  the  subject,  not  the  object 

of  the  dictum — thus  saith  depravity  (as)  to  the  wicked — this  is  the  testimony 
which  it  bears  against  him.  This  explanation,  although  not  supported  by 
Ps.  ex.  1,  is  consistent  with  the  frequent  use  of  7  to  denote  the  subject,  and 
affords  a  good  sense,  namely,  that  depravity  itself  bore  witness  against  the 
wicked,  in  the  Psalmist's  mind,  that  there  was  no  fear  of  God  before  his 
eyes.     If,  on  the  other  hand,  ^ti^l7  indicates  the  object  of  address,  the 

first  clause  may  be  the  words  of  the  wicked  man  himself,  and  the  last  clause 
the  comment  of  the  Psalmist  on  them.  "  Thus  saith  depravity  to  (me)  the 
wicked  man,  in  the  midst  of  my  heart.''  There  is  no  fear  of  God  before  his 
eyes.  That  is  to  say,  the  wicked  man  makes  sin  his  god,  and  its  suggestions 
his  prophetic  oracles,  and  thereby  shews  that  there  is  no  fear  of  God  before 
his  eyes.  By  a  diflerent  interpunction,  this  sense  may  be  put  upon  the 
sentence.  Thus  saith  depravity  to  the  wicked  man  :  "In  the  midst  of  my 
heart  there  is  no  fear' of  God  hefore  his  eyes,''  or  even  in  his  presence.  But 
as  this  interpretation  would  make  sin  speak  of  its  own  heart  in  addressing 
the  sinner,  and  as  the  reference  of  his  eyes  to  God  is  somewhat  forced,  the 
choice  seems  to  lie  between  the  other  two  constructions  before  stated,  one 
of  which  yields  the  same  sense  that  appears  to  be  intended  in  the  common 
version,  the  transgression  of  the  wicked  saith  within  my  heart  that  there  is 
no  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes,  and  that  of  the  Prayer  Book,  my  heart  sheweth 
me  the  wickedness  of  the  ungodly  that  there  is,  &c.  Amidst  these  various 
and  doubtful  explanations,  one  thing  is  certain,  that  the  wicked  man  is  here 
described  as  one  who  fears  not  God,  just  as  the  fear  of  God  is  elsewhere 
put  for  godliness  or  piety. 

3  (2).  For  he  has  flattered  himself  in  his  oivn  eyes,  as  to  [God's)  finding 
his  iniquity  (and)  hating  (it).  The  obscurity  of  the  original  may  be  shewn 
by  a  bald  translation.  For  he  has  made  smooth  to  him  in  his  eyes,  to  find 
his  iniquity  to  hate.  To  make  smooth,  here  and  in  Prov.  xxix.  5,  is  an 
eUiptical  expression  for  making  smooth  the  words  or  the  actions,  i.e. 
speaking  or  acting  in  a  flattering  manner.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  10  (9). 
As  there  is  ap  reflexive  pronoun  in  Hebrew,  the  personal  pronouns  are 
occasionally  so  used,  him  for  himself,  his  for  his  own,  &c.  In  this  case, 
however,  it  is  possible  to  give  them  their  strict  meaning  by  referring  them 
to  God.  He  (the  wicked  man)  has  made  (his  words  or  actions)  smooth  to 
him  (i.e.  to  God),  in  his  eyes  (the  eyes  of  God).     In  other  words  he  has 


Psalm  36:3 -6  165 

endeavoured  to  deceive  him  by  a  specious  appearance.  But  this  construc- 
tion is  less  natural,  because  it  makes  the  phrase  in  his  eyes  still  more  re- 
dundant; because  it  represents  the  sinner  as  a  hypocrite,  rather  than  a 
bold,  self-confident  transgressor ;  and  because  it  makes  the  last  clause 
more  obscure  and  difficult.  To  find  iniquity,  i.  e.  to  detect  and  punish  it, 
is  an  expression  borrowed  from  Gen.  xliv.  16.  The  unfavourable  meaning 
of  the  phrase  is  determined  by  the  addition  of  the  words  to  hate.  The 
reference  of  this  clause  to  the  sinner's  own  feelings  is  at  variance  with 
usage.  With  the  whole  verse  compare  Deut.  xxix.  18  (19),  and  see  above, 
on  Ps.  X.  6. 

4  (3).  The  words  of  his  mouth  (are)  falsehood  and  fraud,  he  has  ceased  to 
act  wisely,  to  act  well.  The  use  of  the  abstract  for  the  concrete,  falsehood 
and  deceit  for  fabe  and  deceitful,  adds  to  the  strength  of  the  expression. 
What  he  says  is  not  merely  false,  but  falsity  itself.  For  the  precise 
meaning  of  the  Hebrew  words,  see  above,  onPs.  v.  6,  7  (5,  6).  The  verbs 
of  the  last  clause  are  in  the  causative  form,  which  always  has  an 
active  meaning.  To  he  wise  is  therefore  an  inadequate  translation,  and  to 
do  good  an  ambiguous  one,  as  this  English  phrase  is  specially  appUed  to 
acts  of  beneficence  or  practical  utility.  The  true  sense  of  the  last  verb  is 
to  do  well  or  right,  in  opposition  to  doing  wrong.  See  below,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  3. 
Instead  of  ceasing  from  his  sins,  the  sinner  has  abandoned  even  the  appear- 
ance of  well-doing.     The  form  of  expression  is  like  that  in  Isa.  i.  16. 

5  (4).  Falsehood  he  will  meditate  upon  his  bed;  he  will  take  his  stand 
upon  a  way  not  good  ;  evil  he  will  not  abjure.     The  first  word  (l')^<),  both  in 

this  and  the  preceding  verse,  does  not  mean  mere  false  speaking,  but  a 
false  character,  one  not  according  to  the  truth,  of  which  the  divine  will  is 
the  standard.  It  is  therefore  nearly  equivalent  to  wickedness.  The  futures 
express  present  habit  and  a  settled  purpose  of  continuance.  While  he  con- 
tinues what  he  is,  he  will  continue  thus  to  act.  On  his  bed,  by  night,  the 
natural  season  of  reflection.  Or  the  idea  may  be,  that  instead  of  sleeping 
he  spends  the  hours  of  rest  in  meditating  evil,  or  contriving  mischief. — The 
verb  to  set  himself,  or  take  his  stand,  is  the  snme  that  occurred  before  in  Ps. 
ii.  2,  and  implies  both  a  settled  purpose  and  the  commencement  of  its  exe- 
cution.— A  way  not  good  is  an  example  of  the  figure  called  meiosis,  in 
which  more  is  meant  than  is  expressed,  although  suggested  by  the  context. 
The  idea  really  conveyed  to  every  reader  is  that  of  an  extremely  bad  way,  or 
the  worst  way  possible. — The  last  verb  means  to  reject  or  renounce  with 
contempt  and  abhorrence.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xv.  4. 

6  (5).  0  Jehovah,  in  the  heavens  (is)  thy  mercy,  and  thy  faithfulness  unto 
the  clouds.  From  the  odious  image  of  the  sinner  just  presented  he  now 
turns  away  to  contemplate  the  divine  perfections.  The  parallelism  of  the 
clauses  seems  to  shew  that  in  the  heavens  means  in  heaven  as  well  as  on 
earth,  i.  e.  reaching  from  the  one  to  the  other,  which  idea  is  then  literally 
expressed,  as  far  as,  even  to,  or  up  to,  the  clouds,  which  last  is  simply  an 
equivalent  to  heavens. — Mercy  and  faithfulness  are  also  parallels,  the  latter 
meaning  God's  fidelity  or  truth  in  the  fulfilment  of  his  promises,  even  to  the 
undeserving.     See  below,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  3. 

7  (6).  Thy  righteousness  (is)  like  the  hills  of  the  Almighty;  thy  judgments 
(are)  a  great  deep ;  man  and  beast  thou  wilt  save,  (0)  Jehovah  !  Kighteous- 
ness  here  means  rectitude  in  its  widest  sense,  including  the  veracity  and 
faithfulness  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  verse.  Judgments  is  an  idiomatic 
synonyme,  the  plural  being  either  used  to  give  it  an  abstract  meaning,  as 
in  (D**"!!)  life,  or  to  denote  particular  acts  of  righteousness.     This  attribute 


166  Psalm  36:7 -10 

is  here  described  as  infinite,  by  a  comparison  with  natural  emblems  of  im- 
mensity. The  first  mentioned  are  the  mountains  of  God,  or  of  the  mighty 
(God),  the  divine  name  here  used  being  that  which  properly  denotes  omni- 
potence. See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  5  (4).  By  explaining  this  word  as  an 
abstract,  we  obtain  the  sense,  mxjuntains  of  strength,  i.  e.  strong  mountains  ; 
but  the  constant  usage  of  the  term  as  a  divine  name  seems  decisive  in 
favour  of  the  sense,  hiUs  produced  by  the  almighty  power  of  God  and 
therefore  proving  it. — The  great  deep,  the  ocean,  as  in  Gen.  vii.  11. 
(Compare  Gen.  i.  2).  The  idea  conveyed  is  not  so  much  that  of  depth 
and  mystery  as  that  of  vastness  and  immensity.  The  comprehensiveness 
of  God's  protecting  care  is  further  indicated  by  the  combination  man  and 
beast  (or  brute).  To  save  includes  the  acts  of  helping,  protecting  and  pro- 
viding. 

8  (7).  How  precioiis  (is)  thy  mercy,  (0)  God,  and  the  sons  of  man  in  the 
shadow  of  thy  wings  may  trust  (or  take  refuge).  The  richness  of  God's 
mercy  is  apparent  from  the  very  fact  that  it  afibrds  protection  to  mankind, 
meaning  of  course  only  those  to  whom  it  has  been  promised.  The  figure 
of  overspreading  wings  is  carried  out  more  fully  in  Deut.  xxxii.  11,  and 
Mat.  xxiii.  37. — For  the  meaning  of  the  verb  used  in  this  verse,  see  above, 
on  Ps.  ii.  12. 

9  (8).  They  shall  be  drenched  with  the  abundance  of  thy  house  ;  [with)  the 
stream  of  thy  pleasures  thou  tdlt  water  them  (or  give  them  drink).  They,  i.  e. 
such  of  the  children  of  men  as  are  permitted  to  take  refuge  under  God's 
protection. — Shall  drink  abundantly,  or  to  satiety,  be  soaked  or  drenched. 
The  derivative  noun  occurs  above,  in  Ps.  xxiii.  5. — Abundance,  literally  fat 
or  fatness,  put  for  the  richest  food.  Thy  house,  thy  household,  with  or 
without  allusion  to  the  tabernacle,  not  as  a  place  of  worship  merely,  but 
as  the  earthly  residence  of  God.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiii.  6,  xxvii.  4.  In 
the  second  clause  there  is  a  beautiful  allusion  to  the  river  which  watered 
the  garden  of  Eden  (Gen.  ii.  10).  This  allusion,  although  lost  in  a  trans- 
lation, is  marked  in  <Jie  original  by  the  use  of  the  word  eden  in  the  plural 
number  to  mean  pleasures  or  delights.  The  verb  to  water  or  make  drink  is 
also  the  one  used  in  Gen.  ii.  10,  which  shews  that  it  is  not  a  mere  fortui- 
tous coincidence. 

10  (9).  For  with  thee  is  a  fountain  of  life ;  in  thy  light  shall  we  see  light. 
They  shall  derive  all  this  from  thee,  because  in  thee  alone  is  the  exhaust- 
less  source  of  all  these  blessings. — With  thee,  in  thy  presence,  in  union  and 
communion  with  thee. — The  well-spring,  fountain-head,  or  som-ce  of  life,  a 
summary  expression  for  all  enjoyments  and  advantages.  The  same  idea  is 
then  clothed  in  another  figurative  dress.  In  thy  light  we  shall  see  light.  It 
is  only  by  the  light  of  God's  countenance  that  man  can  see  any  good.  It 
is  only  in  God's  favour  that  he  can  be  happy.  The  only  bliss  attainable 
or  desirable  is  that  which  is  bestowed  by  God  and  resides  in  him.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  iv.  7  (6). 

11  (10).  Continue  thy  mercy  to  those  knowing  thee,  and  thy  righteousness 
to  the  upright  in  heart.  To  his  glowing  description  of  the  blessedness 
resident  in  God  and  flowing  from  his  favour,  he  now  adds  a  prayer  that  it 
may  be  extended  to  the  class,  of  which  he  claims  to  be  a  member.  The 
first  verb  Hterally  means  to  draw  out  or  protract,  and  is  the  same  that  is 
used  in  different  applications  in  Ps.  x.  9,  xxviiL  3,  above. — Those  knowing 
thee,  and  as  a  necessary  consequenjce  loving  thee,  since  genuine  knowledge 
of  the  true  God  is  inseparable  from  right  afiections  towards  him. — Thy 
righteousness,  thy  true  and  faithful  dealings  with  those  trusting  in  thy  mercy, 


Psalm  37:1  167 

here  and  often  elsewhere  represented  as  the  upright  or  straightforward  in 
heart  as  well  as  in  behaviour, 

12  (11).  Suffer  not  to  come  (upon)  me  foot  of  pride,  and  let  not  hand  of 
wicked  ones  expel  me.  What  he  had  just  asked  for  the  upright  in  general, 
he  now  asks  for  himself  in  particular,  plainly  implying  that  the  view  which 
he  had  taken  of  human  depravity  in  ver.  2-5  (1-4),  was  suggested  by  his 
own  sufferings,  or  fear  of  suffering,  at  the  hand  of  wicked  enemies. — The 
verb  in  the  first  clause  does  not  merely  mean  to  come  against,  invade  or 
threaten,  but  to  come  upon,  implying  actual  and  violent  assault.  See 
above,  Ps.  xxxv.  8.  The  mention  of  the ybo^  suggests  the  ideas  of  spuming 
trampling,  and  crushing  ;  that  of  the  hand  the  more  general  idea  of  exerted 
strength  or  violence.  The  last  verb  is  a  causative,  and  strictly  means  to 
put  to  flight,  cause  to  wander,  or  send  into  exile.  Compare  its  use  in 
2  Kings  xxi.  8.  The  general  idea  of  the  verse  is,  do  not  give  me  up  to  the 
power  of  my  enemies. 

13  (12).  There  are  the  doers  of  iniquity  fallen  ;  they  are  struck  doivn  and 
cannot  rise  (or  stand).  The  prayer  is  followed  by  a  sudden  assurance  of 
its  being  answered,  in  the  strength  of  which  the  Psalmist  speaks  of  his 
desire  as  aheady  accompHshed.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xx.  7  (6). — There  has 
very  much  the  same  sense  as  in  common  parlance,  v/hen  uttered  as  a  sudden 
exclamation.  There  !  they  have  fallen  {already).  Strictly  explained,  it 
means  on  the  very  spot  and  in  the  very  midst  of  their  anticipated  triumph. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  5,  where  the  same  use  of  the  particle  occurs,  and 
compare  Ps.  cxxxii.  17,  and  Judges  v.  11,  in  all  which  places  it  is  better 
to  retain  the  local  sense  of  there  than  to  exchange  it  for  the  supposititious 
one  of  then,  which  never  occurs  elsewhere. — Iniquity,  vanity  or  falsehood, 
in  the  sense  explained  above,  on  ver.  5  (4). — Struck,  or  smitten  doum,  a 
stronger  phrase  than  cast  down.  See  above,  Ps.  xxxv.  5. — The  last  words 
may  either  mean,  they  carmot  stand  their  ground,  save  themselves  from 
falling,  or  they  cannot  rise  again  when  fallen.  See  above,  Ps.  i.  5,  xviii. 
39  (38),  and  compare  Prov.  xxiv.  16. 

Psalm  37 

This  is  an  alphabetical  psalm,  and,  hke  others  of  the  same  kind  (see 
above,  on  Ps.  xxv.),  consists  of  variations  on  the  theme  propounded  in  the 
two  first  verses,  namely,  the  idea,  that  the  sinner  is  a  self- destroyer,  and 
therefore  not  an  object  of  envy  or  revenge  to  the  righteous,  who  may  safely 
leave  the  punishment  of  his  enemies,  and  the  vindication  of  his  own  cause, 
in  the  hands  of  God.  The  whole  psalm  seems  to  have  reference  to  David's 
own  experience  in  the  case  of,  Saul,  Nabal,  Absalom,  Ahithophel,  and 
others.  See  especially  1  Sam.  xxv.  89.  The  psalm,  from  its  aphoristic 
form,  bears  a  very  strong  resemblance  to  the  book  of  Proverbs,  and  may 
have  been  the  model  on  which  it  was  constructed.  The  alphabetical 
arrangement,  as  in  other  cases  of  the  same  kind,  is  not  perfect.  Most  of 
the  letters  have  two  verses  each,  but  one  has  three,  three  have  only  one, 
and  the  letter  y  is  omitted. 

1 .  Fret  not  thyself  at  evil-doers  ;  he  not  envious  at  workers  of  iniquity. 
The  first  Hebrew  verb  is  a  reflexive  form,  and  strictly  means  to  heat  one's 
selfmih.  anger.  It  occurs  only  here  and  in  Prov.  xxiv.  19,  where  there  is 
obvious  allusion  to  this  verse,  as  there  is  also  in  ver.  1  of  the  same  chapter, 
and  in  chap.  iii.  81,  xxiii.  17  of  the  same  book. — Be  not  envious  at,  do  not 


168  Psalm  37:2 -5 

envy,  the  original  verb  being  abnost  always  construed  witb  a  preposition. 
Evil-doers  in  the  Hebrew  is  a  participle,  and  literally  means  those  making 
evil,  i.  e.  making  their  own  conduct  so.  Workers,  or  more  simply,  doers 
of  iniquity.  The  last  noim,  according  to  its  etymology,  denotes  perversion, 
depravation,  or  depravity. 

2.  For  like  the  grass  (in)  haste  shall  they  be  mourn,  and  like  the  green 
herb  shall  they  fade  (or  wither).  This  verse  assigns  the  reason  of  the 
exhortation  in  the  one  before  it.  Why  should  we  vex  ourselves  or  indulge 
an  envious  feeling  towards  that  which  is  so  soon  to  perish,  and  is  therefore 
rather  an  object  of  compassion  ?  These  two  verses  contain  the  theme,  of 
which  the  rest  is  a  protracted  variation. — In  haste,  soon,  quickly.  The 
preposition  is  expressed  before  the  same  noun  in  Eccles.  iv.  12,  but  sup- 
pressed as  here,  in  many  other  places,  e.  g.  Num.  xvii.  11,  (xvi.  46),  Deut. 

xi.  17. The  green  herb,  Uterally  greenness  of  herbage,  the  second  noun 

denoting  the  young  tender  grass,  or  the  first  growth  of  other  plants.  See 
above  on  Ps.  xxiii.  2.  The  verb  at  the  end  of  the  sentence  is  the  same 
with  that  in  Ps.  i.  3. 

3.  Trust  in  Jehovah  and  do  good  ;  inhabit  the  land  and  feed  (on)  truth. 
The  leading  verb  of  each  clause  suggests  the  idea  of  security,  the  first 
sometimes  meaning  to  be  safe  (Prov.  xi.  15),  and  the  second  to  repose 
(Deut.  xxxiii.  20,  Ps.  Iv.  7).  Trust  securely,  dwell  at  ease  or  in  safety. 
To  do  good  is  not  merely  to  perform  acts  of  kindness  and  promote  the 
happiness  of  others,  but  in  a  wider  sense,  to  do  what  is  morally  good  or 
right.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  4  (3).  The  land  is  the  land  of  promise, 
a  secure  abode  in  which  is  often  used  as  a  comprehensive  expression  for 
all  the  covenanted  blessings  of  the  chosen  people.  See  Prov.  ii.  21,  x.  30. 
The  \erb  feed,  in  Hebrew  as  in  English,  is  used  both  transitively,  and  in- 
transitively, to  denote  the  act  of  the  shepherd  and  his  flock  respectively. 
Here  it  means  to  feed  upon  anything  with  delight,  as  in  Hosea  xii.  2  (1), 
Isa.  xliv.  20.  The  truth  thus  fed  upon  is  God's  truth  and  faithfulness  in 
the  performance  of  his  promise.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  6  (5).  This 
last  clause  has  the  force,  though  not  the  form,  of  a  promise,  and  is  so 
paraphrased  in  many  versions.  A  less  excusable  departure  from  the  form 
of  the  original  is  the   explanation  of  ^J!)D^<  as  an  adverb  (verily),  thus 

depriving  the  verb  of  its  object  and  the  clause  of  its  chief  emphasis,  which 
lies  in  representing  the  veracity  of  God,  or  the  certain  fulfilment  of  his 
promise,  as  the  very  food  by  which  the  beUever  is  sustained  and  his  hope 
nourished. 

4.  And  delight  thyself  in  Jehovah,  and  he  will  give  thee  the  reqii,ests  of 
thy  heart.  Here  too  the  command  implies  a  promise,  which  is  afterwards 
expressed.  Delight  thyself  seek  and  find  thy  happiness,  in  Jehovah,  Uterally 
upon  him,  the  form  of  expression  suggesting  the  idea  of  dependence  and 
rehance  as  well  as  that  of  union  and  communion.  Requests,  not  mere 
desires,  but  askings,  prayers.     Compare  Ps.  xx.  6  (5),  xxi.  3  (2). 

5.  Roll  upon  Jehovah  thy  way,  and  trust  upon  him,  and  he  will  do  {it). 
This  last  expression  shews  that  the  way  is  something  to  be  done,  and 
accordingly  we  find  in  Prov.  xvi.  3,  the  explanatory  variation,  roll  to  (or  on) 
the  Lord  thy  works,  i.  e.  what  thou  hast  to  do  but  canst  not  do  it,  meta- 
phorically represented  as  a  burden  too  heavy  for  the  person  bearing  it,  and 
therefore  rolled  upon  the  shoulders  of  another.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  9  (8), 
and  below,  on  Ps.  Iv.  23  (22),  and  compare  1  Peter  v.  7. — Trust  upon  him, 
a  phrase  more  suggestive  of  dependence  than  trust  in  him.     See  above,  on 


Psalm  37:6 -12  169 

ver.  4. — He  will  do  what  thou  canst  not  do,  or  whatever  must  be  done. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  32  (31). 

6.  And  (will)  bring  out  thy  right  like  the  light,  and  thy  cause  like  the 
noon.  He  will  espouse  thy  cause,  and  make  it  triumph  in  the  sight  of  all 
men.  The  figure  of  hght  suggests  the  double  idea  of  rehef  from  suflfering 
and  clear  revelation  after  long  concealment.  Compare  Job  xi.  17,  Isa. 
Iviii.  8,  Mic.  vii.  9. — The  Hebrew  word  for  noon  is  of  the  dual  form,  and 
properly  denotes  twofold  or  double  Hght,  i.  e.  the  brightest,  the  most 
intense. 

7.  Be  silent  la  Jehovah,  await  in  silence  what  he  is  about  to  do,  without 
impatient  clamour  or  presumptuous  interference.  Compare  Exod.  xiv.  13, 
2  Chron.  xx.  17.  And  wait  for  him,  allow  him  time  to  act,  instead. of 
attempting  to  act  for  him.  Fret  not  thyself,  as  in  ver.  1,  heat  not  thyself 
with  anger,  at  {one)  prospering  his  way,  making  his  way  prosperous,  i.  e. 
succeeding  in  his  course  of  Hfe.  See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  1,  3.  At  a  man 
doing,  i.  e.  practising  or  executing,  plans  or  plots,  as  the  Hebrew  word  has 
constantly  a  bad  sense.  Let  no  success  or  prosperity  of  sinners  tempt  thee 
to  anticipate  God's  righteous  judgments. 

8.  Cease  from  anger,  and  forsake  wrath  ;  fret  not  thyself  only  to  do  evil. 
Do  not  indulge  a  passion  which  can  only  make  thee  a  partaker  in  the  guilt 
of  those  who  are  its  objects. 

9.  For  evil-doers  shall  be  cut  off.  This  is  a  twofold  reason  for  obeying 
the  injunction  of  the  preceding  verse  :  first,  because  the  certain  destruction 
of  the  wicked  made  such  anger  unnecessary  as  well  as  uncharitable ; 
secondly,  because  the  same  destruction  would  befall  the  servant  of  the 
Lord,  if  he  indulged  an  anger  tending  only  to  evil.  And  (those)  waiting  for 
Jehovah,  patiently  expecting  the  fulfilment  of  his  promises  and  threatenings. 
As  for  them,  they,  with  emphasis  on  the  pronoun,  shall  inherit  the  land,  the 
land  of  promise,  the  common  formula  for  covenanted  blessings.  See  above, 
on  ver.  3,  and  on  Ps.  xxv   13. 

10.  And  yet  a  little,  i.e.  ere  long,  soon — bear  and  forbear  a  little  longer 
— and  the  tvicked  is  not,  or  there  is  no  wicked,  there  is  no  such  person  as 
the  wicked  man  who  seemed  so  prosperous — and  thou  shalt  gaze,  or  look 
attentively,  upon  his  place,  the  place  which  he  now  occupies,  and  it  is  not, 
his  very  place  has  disappeared — or  referring  the  pronoun  to  the  person,  he 
is  not,  he  is  no  more.  Why  then  be  discomposed,  and  even  tempted  into 
sin,  by  the  sight  of  what  is  so  soon  to  vanish  ? 

11.  And  the  humble,  or,  as  we  should  say  in  our  idiom,  but  the  humble, 
on  the  other  hand,  on  their  part,  as  contrasted  both  vrith  the  presumptuous 
sinner  and  the  impatient  querulous  believer.  The  humble,  here  put  for  the 
whole  class  of  submissive  waiters  upon  God.  For  the  true  meaning  of 
the  Hebrew  word,  see  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  13  (12). — Shall  inherit  the  land, 
possess  it  by  a  fihal  right,  be  heirs  to  all  the  blessings  of  the  covenant. 
See  above,  on  ver.  3,  9. — And  delight  themselves,  enjoy  themselves,  be 
happy,  as  in  ver.  4,  above. — In  abundance,  or  increase,  the  infinitive  of  a 
verb  which  means  to  be  increased  or  multipHed,  and  which  occurs  above, 
in  Ps.  iii.  2  (1). — Of  peace,  in  the  wide  sense  of  prosperity,  well-being,  as 
opposed  to  want  and  sufiering,  and  not  merely  of  repose  or  quiet,  as  opposed 
to  strife  and  perturbation. 

12.  Plotting,  habitually  meditating  evil,  (is  the)  wicked  (man),  as  to  (or 
against)  the  righteous,  and  gnashing  at  him  (or  upon  him)  vnth  his  teeth, 
gnashing  his  teeth  at  him,  as  a  natural  token  of  bestial  malignity.  This 
is  a  kind  of  concession,  that  the  wicked  man  deserves  no  forbearance  on 


170  Psalm  37:13  -  16 

the  part  of  the  righteous,  who  is  not,  however,  therefore  at  liberty  to  anti- 
cipate God's  judgments,  for  the  reason  given  in  the  next  verse. 

13.  The  Lord,  the  sovereign  of  the  universe,  as  well  as  the  protector  of 
his  people,  laughs,  or  will  laugh,  at  him,  with  derisive  pity.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  ii.  4. — For,  because,  he  sees,  he  has  already  seen,  as  something 
fixed  and  certain,  that  his  day,  his  own  appointed  day  of  vengeance,  or 
more  probably,  the  sinner's  day  of  punishment,  vnll  come,  is  coming. 
However  long  it  may  be  put  off,  God  knows  that  it  will  come  at  last,  a 
fearful  intimation  of  the  certainty  of  future  retribution.  Compare  Eccles. 
Tiii.  11,  2  Pet.  iii.  4,  Heb.  x.  37. 

14.  The  sword,  put  for  all  offensive  weapons,  and  indeed  for  all  destruc- 
tive agents.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  21  (20). — They  have  opened,  i.e. 
loosened  or  uncovered,  drawn. — The  tvicked,  the  whole  class  of  evil-doers, 
whose  destruction  he  had  just  foretold. — And  have  trodden,  i.e.  bent  by 
treading  on  it.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  13  (12). — T/ieir  how,  often  coupled 
with  the  sword,  both  in  prose,  as  being  literally  the  other  most  familiar 
implement  of  ancient  warfare,  and  in  poetry,  as  a  parallel  figure  for  destruc- 
tive hostility. — To  make  fall,  cast  down,  overthrow,  the  sufferer,  the  afflicted. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  13  (12). — And  the  poor,  the  destitute  or  needy  one, 
a  more  specific  term,  often  added  to  the  generic  one,  which  here  precedes 
it.  In  all  such  cases,  it  is  implied  that  the  sufferers  are  the  suffering 
righteous,  the  afflicted  people  of  Jehovah. — To  slay,  or  slaughter.  The 
■original  expression  is  a  very  strong  one,  being  properly  applied  to  the 
slaughtering  of  cattle.  See  Exod.  xxi.  37,  xxii.  1,  1  Sam.  xxv.  11.  So 
in  EngUsh  a  sanguinary  battle  is  described  as  a  great  slaughter. — 2%e 
straight,  straightforward,  upright,  or  sincere,  (in)  way,  a  common  figure 
for  the  course  of  life  or  the  habitual  conduct.  See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  1. 
The  mention  of  this  moral  quality  confirms  the  explanation  just  given  of 
the  suffering  ,and  needy,  not  as  such  considered,  but  as  sufferers  in  the  cause 
of  truth  and  righteousness,  as  suffering  for  God  and  fi-om  the  maHce  of  his 
enemies. 

15.  Their  sword,  the  sword  of  these  malignant  foes,  shall  go  into  their 
heart,  their  own  heart.  They  shall  be  destroyed  by  the  very  means  which 
they  prepared  for  the  destruction  of  their  betters.  This  idea  of  a  provi- 
dential lex  talionis' is  one  repeatedly  expressed  under  various  figurative 
forms.  See  above,  Ps.  vii.  16,  17  (15,  16),  ix.  16,  17  (15, 16),  and  below, 
Ps.  Ivii.  7  (6),  and  compare  the  imitation  in  Prov.  xxvi.  27,  and  the  histori- 
cal example  afforded  by  the  case  of  Haman,  Esther  vii.  10. — And  their  bows, 
tile  parallel  expression,  as  in  ver.  14,  for  their  implements  of  warfare  and 
destruction,  shall  be  broken,  rendered  useless.  The  substitution  of  the 
plural  for  the  singular,  and  of  a  single  verb  for  the  expected  repetition  of 
the  first  clause,  adds  greatly  to  the  force  and  beauty  of  the  passage. 

16.  Good  is  a  little  to  the  righteous,  which,  in  our  idiom,  means,  better 
is  a  little  that  the  righteous  has.  This  clause  exemplifies  two  remarkable 
deficiencies  of  the  Hebrew  language,  the  want  of  a  distinct  form  fbr  the 
comparative  degree,  which  can  only  be  suggested  by  construction  or  the 
context,  and  the  want  of  the  verb  have,  which  is  common  to  the  whole 
Semitic  family  of  languages. — Than  the  noise,  tumult,  turmoil,  which  attends 
the  acquisition  and  the  care  of  great  possessions.  That  the  Hebrew  word 
(pon)  denotes  this  incident  of  wealth  rather  than  wealth  itself,  may  be 

inferred,  not  only  fi-om  its  etymology  and  its  use  iu  1  Sam,  iv.  14,  xiv.  19, 
1  Kings  xviii.  41,  &c.,  but  fi*om  the  analogy  of  Ps.  xxxix.  7  (6),  and  Prov. 
XV.  16. — 0/  many  wicked,  whose  noisy  and  vexatious  wealth  is  here  con- 


Psalm  37:17 -20  171 

trasted  with  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  one  righteous  man,  not  only  with  respect 
to  present  ease  of  mind,  but  also  to  their  future  destiny,  as  stated  in  the 
next  verse. 

17.  For  the  arms  of  the  wicked  shall  he  hroJcen.  The  ambiguity  of  our 
word  arms  has  nothing  corresponding  to  it  in  the  Hebrew,  where  the  only 
possible  sense  is  that  of  arms  as  members  of  the  body.  Not  only  their 
weapons,  but  their  arms,  not  only  their  implements  of  death,  but  the 
strength  with  which  they  wielded  them,  is  broken,  weakened,  rendered  use- 
less.— And,  or,  as  our  idiom  requires  an  adversative  in  such  connections, 
hut  sustaining  the  righteous,  their  habitual  supporter,  [is)  Jehovah,  the 
divine  name  being  placed  emphatically  at  the  close,  a  feature  copied  in  the 
ancient  versions,  but  obliterated  in  most  modem  ones. 

18.  Knowing,  habitually,  always  knowing,  (is)  Jehovah,  i.e.  Jehovah 
knows. — The  days,  the  life,  including  both  duration  and  events.  Compare 
Ps.  xxxi.  16  (15). — 0/  perfect  (men),  those  free  from  essential  defect  or 
obhquity  of  character.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  24  (23).  The  epithet  is 
evidently  used  as  an  equivalent  to  the  righteous  in  ver.  17.  God  knows 
their  days,  how  long  they  are  to  live,  and  what  is  to  befall  them,  with  an 
implication  that  he  knows  they  will  be  numerous  and  good  days.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  i.  6.  The  same  idea  is  then  stated  more  distinctly  in  the 
last  clause.  And  their  heritage,  their  portion,  their  condition,  as  God's 
heirs,  to  eternity  shall  be,  or  shall  continue.  While  this  expression  would 
perhaps  suggest  to  a  contemporary  reader  nothing  more  than  an  undisturbed 
possession,  on  the  part  of  the  righteous,  as  contrasted  with  the  short-lived 
prosperity  of  sinners,  it  necessarily  conveys  to  our  minds  the  idea  of  a  Hte- 
rally  everlasting,  indefeasible  inheritance.     See  1  Pet.  i.  4. 

19.  IViey  shall  not  be  ashamed,  disappointed,  or  deceived  in  their  expec- 
tations. See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  11  (10),  xxii.  6  (5). — In  an  evil  time,  or, 
in  a  time  of  evil,  i.  e.  of  calamity  or  danger.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  10  (9), 
X.  1.  At  such  a  time,  their  expectation  of  dehverance  and  safety  shall  not 
be  frustrated. — And  in  days  of  famine,  a  specification  of  the  general  descrip- 
tion, evil  time,  or  time  of  evil,  not  unhke  that  of  the  general  term,  suffering 
or  afflicted,  by  the  specific  one,  poor  or  needy,  in  ver  14  above. — They  shall 
he  satisfied^  or  filled,  but  only  in  a  good  sense,  without  any  imphcation  of 
satiety  or  surfeit.  Compare  Mat.  v.  6,  Luke  vi.  21.  The  promise  of  this 
clause  is  not  only  specific  but  positive,  whereas  that  of  the  first  is  both 
generic  and  negative.     Compare  Ps.  xxxiii.  19. 

20.  This  verse  shews  how  the  truth  of  the  foregoing  promises  can  be 
consistent  with  the  actual  prosperity  of  wicked  men.  Do  not  doubt  the 
truth  of  these  assurances  because  the  wicked  now  seem  happy,  or  because 
they  now  prevent  yom*  being  so,  by  their  oppressions  and  hostilities.  For 
all  this  is  soon  to  cease.  The  wicked  shall  perish,  are  to  perish,  and  the 
enemies  of  Jehovah,  another  description  of  the  same  class,  shewing  that 
these  judgments  awaited  them,  not  merely  as  the  foes  of  the  Psahnist,  or  of 
righteous  men  in  general,  but  of  God  himself.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  5  (4). 
— Like  the  precious  (part)  of  lambs,  i.  e.  the  sacrificial  fat,  which  was  burnt 
upon  the  altar,  they  have  consumed ;  in  smoke,  or  into  smoke,  they  have  con- 
sumed (or  vanished).  The  preterite  form  of  the  verb  represents  the  pre- 
dicted consummation  as  already  past  in  the  perceptions  of  the  writer.  Some 
understand  by  0^21  "1|5^^  the  delight  of  lambs,  i.  e.  their  pasture,  and  sup- 
pose an  allusion  to  the  short-lived  verdure  of  the  fields,  a  common  figure  for 
the  brevity  of  human  hfe,  which  occurs  near  the  beginning  of  tlus  very 


172  Psalm  37:21 -24 

psalm  (ver,  2),     Others  obtain  the  same  sense  by  explaining  D''l3  itself  to 

media  pastures,  as  it  seems  to  do  in  Isa.  xxx.  23,  and  perhaps  in  Ps.  Ixv. 
14  (13).  It  is  best,  however,  to  retain  the  usual  and  certain  sense  of 
lamhs,  whether  the  reference  be  to  their  pasture  or  their  fat,  which  last  is 
recommended  by  the  mention  of  smohe  in  the  same  connection.  This  may 
indeed  be  an  independent  figure,  but  it  is  much  more  natural  to  connect  it 
with  the  lambs,  and  understand  it  to  denote  the  smoke  ascending  from  the 
altar  upon  which  they  were  consumed  in  sacrifice.  In  either  case,  however, 
and  on  any  exegetical  hypothesis  whatever,  the  essential  meaning  of  the 
figures  is  the  same,  to  wit,  that  the  prosperity  of  sinners  is  but  short-Hved, 
and  that  they  themselves  will  vanish  speedily  and  wholly,  and  are  therefore 
in  the  mean  time  not  a  proper  object  of  envious  dissatisfaction  or  a  legiti- 
mate occasion  of  sceptical  misgiving  to  the  righteous. 

21.  Borrowing,  a  habitual  borrower,  (is)  the  wicked,  and  he  will  not  pay, 
i.  e.  he  cannot,  because  he  is  reduced  to  poverty,  whereas  the  righteous, 
under  the  divine  blessing  on  his  outward  condition,  is  continually  shewing 
mercy,  doing  acts  of  kindness,  and  particularly  giving,  supplying  the  neces- 
sities of  others.  This  description  of  the  difierence  between  the  two  condi- 
tions is  derived  from  the  promise  in  the  Law  to  the  true  Israel.  "•"  For  the 
Lord  thy  God  hath  blessed  thee  as  he  said  to  thee,  and  thou  shalt  lend  to 
many  nations  and  thou  shalt  not  borrow,  and  thou  shalt  rule  over  many 
nations,  and  over  thee  they  shall  not  rule."  Deut.  xv.  6,  xxviii.  12,  44. 
Compare  Prov.  xxii.  7.  This  proverbial  use  of  borrowing  and  lending  as 
a  sign  of  poverty  and  wealth,  shews  that  the  verse  before  us  does  not  relate 
to  willingness  but  to  ability  to  lend  or  give.  It  is  not  the  moral  but  the 
material  difierence  of  the  two  men,  or  the  classes  which  they  represent, 
that  is  here  brought  directly  into  view,  although  the  one  is  really  dependent 
on  the  other,  as  appears  from  the  next  verse. 

22.  For  his  blessed  ones,  those  blessed  by  him,  i.  e.  by  God,  shall  inherit 
the  land,  in  the  same  sense  as  before,  and  so  be  able  not  only  to  lend  but 
to  give  away,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  or  hit,  his  cursed  ones,  those  cursed 
by  him,  shall  not  only  be  unable  to  do  either  and  dependent  on  the  charity 
of  others,  but  shall  he  cut  off,  destroyed,  exterminated,  with  allusion  no 
doubt  to  the  use  of  the  same  Hebrew  verb  in  reference  to  excision  from  the 
communion  and  the  privileges  of  the  chosen  people.  See  Gen.  xvii.  14, 
Exod.  xii.  15,  Lev.  vii.  20,  21 ;  Num.  xv.  30,  &c.,  but  especially  Lev.  xvii. 
14,  XX.  17,  where  the  verb  is  absolutely  used  in  this  sense  as  in  the  case 
before  us.  Thus  understood,  the  verse  assigns  the  blessing  and  the  curse 
of  God  as  a  reason  for  the  di^erence  of  condition  mentioned  in  the  verse 
preceding,  whereas  no  such  reason  could  be  given  for  the  difference  of  moral 
character,  and  the  for  in  that  case  would  be  either  out  of  place  or  unmeaning. 

23.  From  Jehovah,  by  him,  or  by  a  power  proceeding  from  him,  the  steps 
of  a  man,  his  course  of  life,  all  that  befalls  him,  have  been  settled,  fixed,  or 
ordered,  and  in  his  way,  a  parallel  expression .  to  his  steps,  will  he  delight, 
i.  e.  he  will  deUght  to  execute  the  plan  thus  formed.  Although  this  is  in 
form  a  general  proposition,  it  is  obviously  meant  to  be  applied  specifically 
to  the  righteous  as  the  objects  of  God's  favour,  and  to  account  for  their 
superior  prosperity,  if  not  at  present,  yet  hereafter. 

24.  For  he  will  faU;  in  this  life  fluctuatipns  and  reverses  are  to  be  ex- 
pected, and  it  forms  no  part  of  the  divine  plan  to  prevent  them.  (But)  he 
shall  not  be  thrown  down,  prostrated  wholly  or  for  ever.  The  contrast  of  a 
mere  fall  and  a  permanent  prostration  is  intended  to  express  that  between 


Psalm  37:25 -28  173 

occasional  misfortunes  and  utter  ruin.  This  clause  may  also  be  translated, 
when  (or  if)  he  falls  he  shall  not  he  thrown  down  ;  but  the  construction  is 
less  simple,  and  the  sense  given  to  the  particle  more  doubtful  and  unusual. 
And  although  the  essential  meaning  of  the  sentence  is  the  same  in  either 
case,  it  is  weakened  by  losing  the  concession,  that  even  the  righteous  must 
expect  to  suffer,  but  not  to  perish  like  the  wicked.  For  Jehovah  (is)  hold- 
ing up  his  hand,  or  holding  him  up  by  his  hand.  See  below,  on  Ps.  Ixxiii. 
23.  The  participle,  as  usual,  denotes  continued  action.  God  not  only 
sustains  him  in  particular  emergencies,  but  is  his  habitual  upholder.  See 
above,  on  ver,  12,  18,  21. 

25.  A  boy,  a  child,  or  more  indefinitely,  young  have  I  been ;  I  have  also 
been  old,  am  now  become  old  ;  and  yet,  throughout  this  long  life,  I  have  not 
seen  a  righteous  {man)  forsaken  {of  God),  i.  e.  finally  and  utterly,  and  his 
seed,  his  children  or  his  more  remote  descendants,  begging  bread,  subsisting 
on  the  charity  of  others.  This  is  not  to  be  absolutely  understood,  but  as 
a  general  proposition,  and  with  due  regard  to  the  peculiar  state  of  things 
under  the  law  of  Moses,  which  made  ample  provision  for  the  temporal  com- 
fort of  every  individual  who  acknowledged  its  authority  and  obeyed  its 
precepts,  so  that  entire  destitution  might  more  justly  be  regarded  as  a  token 
of  divine  displeasure  than  it  can  be  among  us. 

26.  On  the  contrary,  he  has  enough,  not  only  for  himself,  but  for  his 
poorer  neighbours.  All  the  day  (long),  i.e.  continually,  as  a  habitual 
employment,  {he  is)  shewing  mercy,  doing  acts  of  kindness,  and  lending,  as 
an  act  of  charity,  not  as  a  commercial  operation,  which  was  unknown  among 
the  ancient  Hebrews.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xv.  5. — And  his  seed  {is)  for  a 
hlessing,  i.  e.  happy  themselves  and  a  source  of  happiness  to  others.  The 
form  of  expression  seems  to  be  borrowed  from  the  promise  to  Abraham  in 
Gen.  xii.  2. 

27.  Depart  from  evil,  and  do  good,  and  dxoellfor  evermore.  This  is  the 
practical  application  of  the  foregoing  lessons.  Evil  and  good  are  correla- 
tive and  coextensive  terms.  As  evil  includes  all  that  is  morally  wrong, 
good  includes  all  that  is  morally  right,  and  to  do  good  is  to  do  well  or  act 
rightly.  See  above,  on  ver.  3. — Dwell,  i.  e.  dwell  securely,  as  in  ver.  3, 
where  as  here  the  exhortation  or  command  involves  a  promise.  For  ever, 
literally  to  eternity  or  perpetuity.  As  to  the  idea  which  these  expressions 
would  convey  to  Jewish  and  to  Christian  readers,  see  above,  on  ver.  18. 

28.  For  Jehovah  {is)  loving,  he  habitually  loves,  judgment,  i.  e.  justice 
actually  exercised,  the  doing  of  justice.  The  for  assigns  a  reason  for  the 
strong  assurance  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  verse.  No  one  need  fear  to 
lay  hold  of  the  promise  in  its  widest  sense ;  for  it  is  not  an  arbitrary  one, 
but  a  spontaneous  expression  of  God's  natural  essential  love  of  moral  rec- 
titude. And,  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  this,  he  will  not  forsake  his 
gracious  ones,  the  objects  of  his  grace  or  favour.  For  the  true  sense  of 
the  Hebrew  word,  see  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  4  (3),  xii.  2  (1),  xviii.  26  (25), 
XXX.  5  (4),  xxxi.  24  (23.)  Those  whom  he  once  favours  he  will  not  forsake. 
For  ever,  to  eternity,  they  are  kept,  kept  safe,  preserved.  The  past  tense 
of  the  verb  is  peculiarly  appropriate  to  describe  their  preservation  as  already 
secured.  So  certain  is  it,  that  he  seems  to  look  back  upon  the  future  as 
already  past,  and  says,  they  have  been  kept  for  ever.  Here  again,  although 
a  Jewish  reader  might  have  be^n  inclined  to  put  a  lower  sense  upon/or  ever, 
as  denoting  nothing  more  than  permanency  in  contrast' with  the  fluctuations 
of  secular  prosperity,  it  is  neither  right  nor  possible  for  us  to  give  it  any 
but  its  strongest  and  its  most  extensive  apphcation.     (See  above,  on  ver.  18, 


174  Psalm  37:29 -36 

and  compare  1  Peter  i.  5. — Equally  certain  is  the  fate  of  the  ungodlji 
And  the  seed  of  vncked  men  [is)  cut  off,  has  already  been  cut  off,  in  the 
divine  prescience  and  purpose,  from  all  participation  in  the  blessings  of  the 
righteous.     See  above,  on  ver.  22. 

29.  The  righteous  shall  inherit  the  land,  possess  the  land  of  promise  by 
a  fihal  right,  and  dwell,  securely  and  in  peace,  for  ever,  to  eternity,  upon  it. 
See  the  same  expressions  used  and  explained  above,  on  ver.  3,  9,  18,  22. 

30.  The  mouth  of  the  righteous  will  utter  wisdom.  Lest  the  foregoing 
promises  should  be  appropriated  by  the  wicked,  he  lays  down  a  test  of 
character  by  which  the  righteous  man  may  be  distinguished.  He  is  one 
whose  mouth  utters  wisdom,  in  the  high  religious  sense.  For  the  meaning 
of  the  verb,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  28. — And  his  tongue  will  speak  judg- 
ment, i.  e.  justice,  rectitude,  here  used  as  an  equivalent  to  wisdom,  both 
denoting  true  religion,  in  its  iatellectual  and  moral  aspects,  with  particular 
reference  to  its  effects  upon  the  speech  or  conversation  of  its  subjects. 

31.  The  Law  of  his  God  is  in  his  heart,  not  merely  on  his  lips,  and  may 
therefore  be  expected  to  keep  him  in  the  right  way.  Eis  steps  shall  not 
swerve  from  the  straight  path,  or  waver  in  it.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii. 
87  (36). 

32.  Watching,  ever  watching,  (is)  the  wicked  for  the  righteous,  for  means 
and  opportunities  of  injury,  and  seeking  to  kill  him.  The  enemies  of  God, 
as  all  the  wicked  are,  must  needs  be  the  enemies  of  his  people  also. 

33.  Jehovah  will  not  leave  him  in  his  hand,  will  not  abandon  the  righteous 
to  the  power  of  the  wicked,  and  will  not  make  him  guilty,  a  forensic  term  of 
the  Mosaic  Law,  meaning  to  regard  or  treat  as  guilty,  to  condemn  (Exod.  xxii. 
8,  9,  Deut.  XXV.  1),  in  his  heing  judged,  when  he  is  tried.  The  image  here 
presented  may  be  that  of  a  judicial  process  between  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked  at  the  bar  of  Xzod,  who  will  not  and  cannot  condemn  the  innocent. 

84.  Wait  thou  for  Jehovah,  for  the  manifestation  of  his  presence  and  his 
will,  as  in  ver.  7  above.  And  keep  his  way,  adhere  to  the  path  which  he 
has  marked  out  for  thee.  And  he  will  raise  thee,  lift  thee  up,  exalt  thee,, 
from  thy  present  low  condition  to  inherit  the  land,  to  enjoy  the  benefits 
and  blessings  of  his  covenant.  See  above  on  ver.  3,9,  11,  30.  In  the  ex- 
cision of  the  vncked,  when  the  wicked  are  cut  off  from  all  connection  with 
God's  people  and  participation  in  their  privileges,  thou  shalt  see  (it).  Or 
as  the  verb  to  see,  when  construed  with  this  preposition  (^),  often  means 
to  see  with  pleasure,  this  clause  may  be  translated,  at  the  excision  of  the 
vncked  thou  shalt  gaze,  as  a  pleased  and  wondering  spectator. 

86.  I  saw  a  wicked  (man).  The  issue  just  predicted  is  now  made  the 
subject  of  a  picture,  as  if  present  to  the  senses.  The  Hebrew  word  which 
follows    (y^^y)  means  terrible,  especially  from  one's  extraordinary  strength 

or  power,  with  an  implication  sometimes  of  its  violent  exertion.  /  saur 
(such)  a  wicked  man,  a  terrible  one,  and  spreading  himself  like  a  native 
(tree)  i.  e.  one  which  has  never  been  transplanted,  green  and  flourishing. 
•The  word  translated  native  is  always  elsewhere  used  of  human  subjects, 
but  is  here  applied,  by  a  bold  personification,  to  a  vigorous  tree,  rooted  in 
its  native  soil,  and  seemingly  immoveable 

86.  And  he  passed  (away),  and  lo  !  an  expression  always  implying 
something  unexpected,  he  was  not,  he  wafe  no  more,  there  was  no  longer 
such  a  person.  See  above,  on  ver.  10.  And  I  sought  him.  I  looked 
round  as  if  to  see  what  was  become  of  him,  and  he  vjas  not  found,  or  as  we 
might  say,  to  be  found.  This  verse  may  be  referred  to  the  tree,  it  passed 
away,  I  looked  for  it,  and  it  could  not  be  found.     But  as  the  tree  is  only 


Psalm  37:37 -40  175 

introduced  in  the  preceding  verse  as  a  comparison,  it  is  better  to  regard  the 
wicked  man  as  the  subject  of  both  sentences. 

37.  Mark  the  perfect  {man),  observe  him  closely,  and  behold  the  upright, 
or  straightforward.  He  appeals  to  general  experience  and  calls  upon  his 
hearers  or  readers  to  judge  for  themselves.  For  an  end,  a  future  state, 
and  by  implication  a  happy  one,  (is)  to  the  man  of  peace,  who  instead  of 
undertaking  to  avenge  himself,  patiently  waits  for  the  divine  interposition. 
The  cormnon  version  [for  the  end  of  that  man  is  peace)  is  forbidden  not 
only  by  the  accents,  but  by  the  impossibility  of  making  tt^^^<7  mean  of  that 

man,  without  a  violation  of  all  usage  and  analogy. 

38.  And  the  rebels  against  God,  those  who  revolt  from  his  authority,  and 
cast  off  their  allegiance  to  their  rightful  sovereign,  a  common  scriptural 
description  of  the  wicked,  are  destroyed  together,  or  at  once.  See  the  use 
of  the  same  adverb  in  Ps.  iv.  9  (8).  This  certain  issue  is  referred  to,  as 
already  past  or  present.  See  above,  on  ver.  28.  The  end,  futurity,  or 
hope,  of  the  wicked  is  cut  off.  The  futurity  meant  is  one  of  happiness,  as 
in  ver.  37,  the  true  sense  of  which  is  thus  determined.  The  contrast  pre- 
sented is,  that  one  has  an  end  or  a  futurity,  the  other  none. 

39.  And  the  salvation  of  the  righteous,  far  from  being  wTOUght  out  hj 
themselves,  (is)  from  Jehovah,  comes  from  him  as  its  author  and  source. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  9  (8).  (He  is)  tlieir  strength,  or  stronghold,  fortress, 
place  of  refuge  and  defence,  as  in  Ps.  xxvii.  1,  xxviii.  8,  xxxi.  3,  5  (2,  4). 
In  time  of  trouble,  or  distress.     See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  10  (9),  x.  1. 

40.  And  Jehovah  has  helped  them.  It  is  not  in  name  or  in  profession 
merely  that  he  is  their  stronghold  and  protector.  Jehovah  has  helped  them 
and  delivered  them.  And  what  he  has  done  he  will  still  do.  He  will  deliver 
them  from  the  wicked.  The  mention  of  this  specific  evil  brings  us  back  to 
the  point  from  which  we  started,  the  temptation  to  repine  at  the  prosperity 
of  sinners  and  resent  their  evil  treatment.  But  the  true  wisdom  of  the 
righteous  is  to  wait,  to  wait  for  God.  He  will  deliver  them,  from  the  uicked, 
and  will  save  them  from  all  evil,  as  this  verb  when  absolutely  used  imports, 
not  because  of  any  merit  upon  their  part,  but  because  they  have  trusted,  taken 
refuge,  sought  for  shelter,  in  him,  not  only  under  his  protection,  but  in 
intimate  union  and  communion  with  him.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  12,  v.. 
12  (11),  vii.  2  (1),  XXV.  20,  xxxi.  2  (1). 


Psalm  38 

A  SUFFERER,  in  sorc  distress  of  mind  and  body,  aggravated  by  the  neglect 
of  friends  and  the  spite  of  wicked  enemies,  acknowledges  all  to  be  the  fruit 
of  his  own  sins,  and  prays  that  the  effect  may  cease  by  the  removal  of  the 
cause. 

The  psalm  contains  three  distinct  complaints,  or  descriptions  of  his  suf- 
fering, separated  by  two  appeals  to  God,  with  a  prayer  at  the  beginning 
and  the  end  of  the  whole  Psalm.  After  the  title,  ver.  1,  comes  the  first 
prayer,  ver.  2  (1) ;  then  the  first  complaint,  ver.  3-9  (2-8);  then  an  appeal 
to  the  divine  omniscience,  ver.  10  (9) ;  then  the  second  complaint,  ver. 
11-15  (10-14);  then  an  expression  of  hope  and  confidence  in  God,  ver. 
16  (15);  then  the  third  complaint,  ver.  17-21  (16-20);  and  then  the 
closing  prayer,  ver.  22,  23  (21,  22). 

1.     A  Psalm.     By  David.     To  remind,  or  bring  to  remembrance,  i.e. 


176  Psalm  38:1 -6 

to  remind  God  of  the  sufferer,  whom  he  seems  to  have  forgotten,  with 
allusion  no  doubt  to  the  frequent  use  of  the  same  verb  in  reference  to 
penitent  self-recollection  on  the  part  of  sinners.  See  1  Kings  xvii.  18,  Ezek. 
xxi.  29  (24),  xxix.  16,  Num.  v.  15. 

2  (1).  Jehovah,  do  not,  in  thy  wrath,  rebuke  me,  and  in  thy  heat  (or  hot 
displeasure)  chasten  me.  The  force  of  the  negative  extends  to  both  clauses. 
Rebuke,  not  in  word  merely,  but  in  deed,  corresponding  to  chasten,  chastise, 
punish,  in  the  other  clause.  He  does  not  pray,  as  some  suppose,  for  mo- 
derate punishment,  or  for  loving  as  opposed  to  angry  chastisement,  but  for 
dehverance  from  any  punishment  whatever,  which  is  always  indicative  of 
God's  displeasure.     See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  2  (1). 

3  (2).  For  thine  arrows  are  sunk  into  me,  and  thy  hand  has  sunk  upon  me. 
This  verse  assigns  the  reason  of  the  prayer  in  that  before  it.  Arrows,  sharp 
inflictions,  as  in  Deut.  xxxii.  23,  Job  vi.  4.  The  verbs  of  the  two  clauses 
are  active  and  passive  forms  from  the  same  root.  Sunk  into,  penetrated, 
and  by  implication,  stuck  fast,  although  this  specific  idea  is  not  expressed. 
Sunk  upon,  heavily  descended,  or,  as  the  English  version  has  it,  presseth 
me  sore.     Compare  Ps.  xxxii.  4,  xxxix.  11  (10). 

4  (3).  There  is  no  sound  place  in  my  flesh  because  of  thine  anger;  there  is 
no  peace  in  my  bones  because  of  my  sin.  Here  begins  a  more  particular  de- 
scription of  the  sufferings  indica'ted  by  the  general  terms  of  the  preceding 
verse.  The  first  thing  mentioned  is  his  bodily  suffering,  as  a  token  of  God's 
wrath  and  an  effect  of  his  own  sin,  by  which  that  wrath  had  been  provoked. 
Flesh  and  bones  are  put  for  the  whole  bodily  frame.  The  word  translated 
sound  place  is  a  local  noun,  as  indicated  by  its  form,  and  not  an  abstract 
(soundness).  It  occurs  only  in  this  passage  and  in  Isaiah's  imitation  of  it 
(Isa.  i.  6).  There,  as  here,  the  body  is  represented  as  one  bruise,  in  which 
there  is  no  sound  flace,  i.  e.  no  spot  free  from  pain  or  soreness. — Because  of, 
literally  from  the  face  of,  from  the  presence  of,  from  before,  the  phrase  being 
primarily  used  to  denote  fear  or  flight  before  an  enemy.  Peace  may  be 
taken  in  the  wide  sense  of  well-being,  good  condition,  health  (see  above,  on 
Ps.  xxxvii.  11);  but  it  more  probably  denotes  peace  in  the  strict  sense,  i.e. 
rest  or  freedom  from  the  disquietude  produced  by  pain. 

5  (4).  For  my  iniquities  are  gone  over  my  head ;  as  u  heavy  burden,  they 
are  too  heavy  for  me.  This  is  an  amplification  of  the  last  words  of  the 
verse  preceding.  "  I  say  my  sin,  because  the  sense  of  my  iniquities  has  now 
become  intolerable."  Gone  over,  literally ^asserf,  i.e.  surpassed,  exceeded, 
or  transcended.  Too  heavy  for  me,  or  heavier  than  I,  i.e.  heavier  than  I 
can  bear.  The  reference  is  not  merely  to  the  effects  of  sin,  but  to  the  sense 
of  sin  itself,  the  consciousness  of  guilt,  which  he  now  associates  with  all  his 
sufferings.  As  the  preterite  of  the  first  clause  represents  the  overwhelming 
sense  of  guilt  as  something  experienced  already,  so  the  future  of  the  second 
speaks  of  its  excessive  weight  as  something  likely  to  continue. 

6  (5).  My  stripes  have  putrefied  and  are  corrupted  because  of  my  foolish- 
ness. The  first  noun  does  not  denote  wounds  in  general,  but  the  swelling 
produced  by  stripes.  Compare  Isa.  i.  6.  The  two  verbs  both  denote  sup- 
puration, the  first  in  reference  to  the  offensive  smell,  the  second  to  the 
running  or  discharge  of  matter.  This  may  be  hterally  understood  as  denot- 
ing a  particular  form  of  bodily  distress ;  but  it  seems  more  natural  to  explain 
it  as  a  figurative  representation  of  extreme  suffering,  not  unmingled  with 
disgrace.  All  this  he  refers  to  his  oy/n  foolishness  or  folly,  in  the  strong 
sense  of  criminal  blindness  and  irrationality.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  1. 

7  (6).  /  have  writhed,  I  have  bowed  down  greatly;  all  the  day  mourning  I 


Psalm  38:7 -10  177 

have  gone.  The  first  word  is  a  passive,  meaning  strictly  to  be  twisted  or 
distorted,  elsewhere  metaphorically  applied  to  moral  obliquity  or  perverse- 
ness  (Prov.  xii.  8,  1  Sam.  xx.  30),  but  here  used  in  its  proper  sense  to 
signify  the  distortion  of  the  body  by  extreme  pain,  as  in  Isa.  xxi.  8.  The 
bowing  or  bending  down  may  be  from  the  same  cause,  or  as  a  customary 
sign  of  grief.  Indeed,  the  two  ideas  of  sorrow  and  bodily  pain  run  into  each 
other  throughout  this  passage.  The  word  translated  mourning  properly 
means  black,  or  more  specifically,  black  with  dirt,  begrimmed,  or  squalid,  in 
allusion  to  the  ancient  oriental  custom  of  sitting  in  the  dust  and  putting 
ashes  on  the  head,  as  signs  of  mourning.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  14. 
Greatly.  The  Hebrew  phrase  means  until  very  much,  or  unto  extremity. 
TJ^D  is  originally  a  noim  meaning  strength,  but  except  in  the  formula,  with 

all  thy  strength,  is  generally  used  as  an  adverb  answering  to  very,  greatly, 
or  exceedingly,  in  English.  Z  have  gone.  The  Hebrew  verb  is  an  intensive 
form,  nearly  equivalent  to  gone  about  in  English.  For  a  still  stronger  in- 
tensive from  the  same  root,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxvi.  3,  xxxv.  14,  in  the  last 
of  which  places  we  have  also  the  words  here  translated  bov)ed  down  and 
moiirning. 

8  (7).  For  my  loins  are  filled  with  parching,  and  there  is  no  sound  place 
in  my  fiesh.  The  loins,  instead  of  being  covered  with  fat  (Job  xv.  27),  are 
filled  with  dryness,  Uterally  (something)  parched  or  dried  up  with  extreme 
heat.  To  a  Hebrew  reader  this  word  would  necessarily  suggest  the  addi- 
tional idea  of  despised,  contemptible,  which  the  same  form  often  conveys 
elsewhere  {e.g.  1  Sam.  xviii.  23,  Prov.  xii.  9,  Isa.  iii.  5).  Indeed,  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  this  is  not  the  only  sense  intended  here,  as  that  of 
parched  is  always  expressed  elsewhere  by  a  different  participial  form  (Lev. 
li.  14,  Josh.  V.  11).  On  either  supposition,  the  meaning  given  in  the  English 
version  (a  loathsome  disease)  is  implied,  if  not  expressed.  The  repetition 
in  the  last  clause  from  ver.  4  (3)  above  brings  him  back  to  the  point  from 
which  he  started. 

9  (8).  /  am  benumbed  and  bruised  exceedingly  :  I  have  roared  from  the 
murmur  of  my  heart.  Benumbed,  especially  from  cold,  chilled,  frozen, 
torpid.  Bruised  or  broken.  The  same  verb  is  used  to  express  contrition 
or  brokenness  of  heart  in  Ps.  li.  18  (17)  below  ;  but  h6re  it  has  its  proper 
sense,  and  is  descriptive  of  a  bodily  condition.  See  above,  on  Ps.  x.  10. — 
Exceedingly,  the  same  phrase  as  in  ver.  7  (6)  above.  In  the  last  clause 
two  words  are  employed,  both  denoting  animal  sounds,  and  nearly  corres- 
ponding to  our  roar  and  growl.  In  Isa.  v.  29,  both  verbs  arej  applied  to 
the  Uon,  and  both  translated  roar  in  the  EngUsh  Bible.  For  the  use  of 
such  figures,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  2  (1).  The  idea  here  is  that  his 
audible  complaints  are  not  expressions  of  mere  bodily  distress,  but  of  mental 
and  spiritual  anguish.  The  roaring  of  his  voice  is  but  an  echo  of  the  mur- 
mur in  his  heart. 

10  (9).  Lord,  before  thee  (is)  all  my  desire,  and  my  sighing  (or  groaning) 
from  thee  is  not  hid.  This  is  at  once  an  asseveration  that  his  account  of 
his  own  sufferings  was  not  exaggerated  or  fictitious,  and  a  reason  why  it 
need  not  be  continued.  "  Thou  knowest,  0  Lord,  what  I  ask  and  what  I 
need,  the  depth  of  my  necessities  and  the  intensity  of  my  desires." 

11  (10).  My  heart  pants  (or  palpitates);  my  strength  has  left  [or  failed) 
me  ;  and  the  light  of  my  eyes — even  they  are  not  with  me.  Here  begins  his 
second  complaint  or  compassionate  description  of  his  sufferings,  in  which 
those  arising  from  the  conduct  of  others  ara  made  prominent.  In  this 
introductory  verse,  however,  he  describes  the  effiect  upon  his  own  feelings, 


178  Psalm  38:11, 12 

before  proceeding  to  declare  the  cause.  The  palpitation  of  the  hearty 
denoting  violent  agitation,  is  combined  with  loss  of  strength  and  that  dim- 
ness of  the  eyes,  so  often  mentioned  as  a  sign  of  extreme  weakness.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xiii.  4  (8),  and  compare  Ps.  vi.  8  (7),  xxxi.  10  (9),  xl.  13  (12). 
The  last  clause  admits  of  two  grammatical  constructions.  1.  "  My  strength 
has  failed  me,  and  (so  has)  the  Hght  of  my  eyes  ;  even  they  are  not  with 
me."  2.  "  (As  to)  the  light  of  my  eyes,  even  they  are  not  with  me."  The 
first  agrees  best  with  our  idiom,  and  the  last  with  the  masoretic  interpunc- 
tion,  which  separates  the  light  of  my  eyes  from  the  preceding  verb  and  noun 
by  a  pause  accent. — Even  they,  hterally,  they  too. — "  Not  only  is  my 
strength  gone,  but  my  eye-sight  likewise,  but  my  very  eyes." — Not  ivith  me, 
not  in  my  possession,  not  at  my  command,  gone  from  me.  For  a  similar 
expression,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xii.  5  (4). — The  preterites  in  the  first  clause 
represent  the  palpitation  and  debility  as  something  of  long  standing,  or  at 
least  as  fully  experienced  already. 

12  (11).  My  lovers  and  my  friends  au-ay  from  my  stroke  will  stand,  and 
my  neighbours  afar  off  have  stood.  He  now  gives  expression  to  the  anguish 
caused  by  human  unkindness,  and  first,  by  that  of  such  as  he  believed  to 
be  his  friends.  These  are  represented  as  standing  aloof,  literally  from 
before,  i.  e.  out  of  sight,  as  in  Gen.  xxi.  16,  and  Isa.  i.  16,  not  over  against, 
as  implying  opposition  or  hostility.  What  he  here  complains  of  is  indiffer- 
ence and  neglect,  as  appears  from  the  parallel  expression, /«r  off)  literally 
from  afar,  according  to  a  common  Hebrew  idiom  which  expresses  the  posi- 
tion of  an  object  in  terms  strictly  denoting  motion  or  direction.  See  for 
example  Gen.  ii.  8,  where  easticard  is  in  Hebrew  from  the  east,  and  the 
famihar  phrase /rom  the  right  or  left  hand,  where  we  say  at  or  on  it.  This 
usage  renders  it  unnecessary,  although  not  inadmissible,  in  the  case  before 
us,  to  supply  a  word,  "  they  stand  (looking)  from  afar."  The  word  trans- 
lated neighhours  means  those  near  one,  either  in  local  habitation  or  affinity, 
and  may  therefore  be  considered  as  including  the  idea  expressed  in  the 
EngUsh  Version,  kinsmen.  Unless  the  variation  of  the  tenses  in  this  sen- 
tence is  entirely  unmeaning,  which  is  highly  improbable,  both  in  itself  and 
from  analogy,  the  last  clause  may  be  understood  to  state  as  an  actual  reality, 
what  is  only  apprehended  in  the  first  as  probable  or  certain  but  still  future. 
As  if  he  had  said,  "  My  friends  will  no  doubt  stand  aloof  from  this  affliction  ; 
nay,  they  are  already  afar  off." — Stroke  is  here  put  for  a  providential  or 
divine  infliction  in  general,  not  for  sickness  exclusively,  much  less  for  a 
particular  disease,  such  as  the  leprosy,  which  Jerome  actually  introduces 
into  his  translation.  See  below,  on  Ps.  xxxix.  11  (10),  and  compare  Job 
xix.  21,  Isa.  liii.  4.  Some 'suppose  that  there  is  an  allusion  to  this  verse 
in  the  statement  made  by  one  of  the  evangeUsts,  that  the  women  who  had 
followed  Christ  from  Galilee,  and  all  his  acquaintances,  stood  afar  off,  gazing 
at  his  crucifixion.     See  Luke  xxiii.  49,  and  compare  Mark  xv.  40,  41. 

13  (12).  And  those  seeking  my  soui  (or  life)  have  laid  tcait  (or  laid 
snares)  for  me,  and  those  seeking  my  hurt  have  spoken  mischiefs,  and  deceits 
all  the  day  will  they  utter  (or  devise).  "While  his  friends  and  neighbours 
stand  aloof,  his  enemies  are  busy  in  attempting  to  destroy  him.  Seeking 
my  life,  as  in  Ps.  xxxv.  4,  and  Exod.  iv.  19.  This  phrase  is  particularly 
frequent  in  the  history  of  David's  persecutions.  See  1  Sam.  xx.  1.  xxii.  23, 
xxiii.  15,  2  Sam.  iv.  8,  xvi.  11.  The  idea  of  seeking  is  expressed  by  two 
entirely  different  verbs  in  Hebrew.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps. 
xxxvii.  32. — Mischiefs,  or  still  more  strongly,  crimes.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
V.  10  (9).     The  reference  may  be  either  to  malicious  consultation,  or  to 


Psalm  38:13 -17  179 

slander,  or  to  both.  The  last  verb  may  be  taken  in  either  of  its  senses 
(see  above,  on  Ps.  i.  2,  ii.  1,  xxxvii.  30),  both  which  are  appropriate  in 
this  connection.  All  the  day  (long),  continually.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xxxvii.  26. 

14  (13).  And  I,  as  a  deaf  (man),  will  not  hear,  and  as  a  dumb  {man) 
will  not  open  his  mouth.  This  is  at  the  same  time  an  aggravation  of  his 
sufferings  and  a  declaration  of  his  patience  under  them.  He  is  obliged  to 
hear  their  calumnies  and  blasphemies  as  though  he  heard  them  not,  being 
neither  able  to  silence  them  nor  willing  to  dispute  them.  The  same  two 
Hebrew  words  for  deaf  and  dumb  are  used  together  in  Exod.  iv.  11.  Not 
only  the  idea,  but  the  form  of  expression  in  this  sentence,  is  copied  by 
Isaiah  in  his  prophetical  description  of  Christ's  sufferings  (Isa.  liii.  7),  and 
seems  to  have  been  present  to  our  Saviour's  own  mind  when  he  "  held  his 
peace"  before  the  High  Priest  (Mat.  xxvi.  62,  63),  and  ''gave  no  answer" 
to  the  Roman  Governor  (John  xix.  9). 

15  (14).  And  I  was  as  a  man  who  does  not  hear,  and  there  are  not  in  his 
mouth  replies  (or  arguments).  The  same  thing  is  repeated,  to  make  stiU 
more  prominent  the  patience  and  forbearance  of  the  sufferer.  Does  not 
hear,  hterally  (is)  not  hearing.  In  our  idiom  the  last  clause  would  have 
been,  in  v:hose  mouth  there  are  no  replies.  The  meaning  rej^roofs  is  a 
secondary  one,  derived  from  that  of  'proofs  or  arguments.  See  Job  xiii.  6, 
xxiii.  4. — The  idea  in  both  verses  is,  that  he  endured  the  evil  speaking  of 
his  enemies,  as  one  who  had  nothing  to  say  for  himself  or  in  reply  to  their 
reproaches.  This,  while  it  mortified  his  pride,  and  thereby  added  to  his 
pain,  was  at  the  same  time  an  evidence  of  faith  and  patience,  and  thus 
prepares  the  way  for  the  profession  in  the  next  verse. 

16  (15).  Becaui^e  for  thee  1  waited;  thou  wilt  answer,  Lord,  my  God! 
His  silence  and  forbearance,  though  a  part  of  his  sore  trial,  did  not  spring 
from  weakness,  but  from  faith  in  God,  and  submission  to  his  precept. 
(See  above,  Ps.  xxxvii.  7.)  "  I  retorted  not  their  calumnies  and  taunts, 
because  I  waited  for  thee  to  vindicate  my  cause,  and  so  thou  wilt,  thou 
wilt  certainly  answer."  The  last  verb  does  not  mean  shalt  answer  for  me, 
as  the  Prayer-Book  version  has  it,  but  as  in  other  cases,  hear  or  answer  my 
petition  for  relief  and  vindication,  whether  silent  or  expressed.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  V.  2  (1),  and  compare  Ps.  iii.  5  (4),  iv.  2  (1),  xiii.  4  (3),  xvii.  6, 
xviii.  42  (41),  xx.  10  (9),  xxii.  3  (2),  xxvii.  7,  xxxiv.  5  (4). —  Lord,  not 
Jehovah,  but  Adhonai,  the  divine  name  which  properly  means  Lord  or 
Sovereign.  See  above,  Ps.  ii.  4,  xxii.  31  (30),  xxxv.  17,  22,  23,  xxxvii.  13. 
— My  God,  and  as  such  bound  by  covenant  to  hear  me. 

17  (16).  For  I  said,  Lest  they  rejoice  respecting  me ;  in  the  slipping  of 
my  foot  they  have  (already)  magnified  (themselves)  against  me.  His  tran- 
quillity did  not  arise  from  insensibility  to  danger,  but  from  confidence  in 
God.  He  was  not  without  fear  that  his  enemies  might  triumph  over  him, 
as  they  were  already  disposed  to  do,  when  he  merely  stumbled,  but  did 
not  actually  fall. 

18  (17).  Because  I  for  limping  {am)  ready,  and  my  grief  is  before  me 
always.  This  verse  assigns  a  reason  for  the  triumph  of  his  enemies,  to 
wit,  that  he  was  really  in  danger.  Ready  to  halt  or  limp,  i.  e.  constantly 
liable  to  some  interruption  of  his  even  prosperous  course.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxxv.  15.  The  form  of  expression  does  not  exclude  the  idea  of  his 
actually  halting,  but  rather  suggests  it.  As  if  he  had  said,  *'  The  slightest 
occasion  makes  me  halt  or  limp."  Grief  or  sorrow  seems  to  be  put  here 
for  that  which  causes  it.     I  am  always  in  full  view  of  my  worst  distress. 


180  Psalm  38:18 -22 

19  (18).  For  my  iniquity  I  will  declare,  I  will  he  anxious  on  account  of 
my  sin.  In  our  idiom  this  is  tantamount  to  saying,  I  must  confess  that  I 
am  guilty  ;  I  have  reason  to  be  anxious  on  account  of  my  sin. 

20  (19).  And  my  deadly  enemies  are  strong,  and  multiplied  are  those 
hating  me  falsely  (or  without  a  cause).  Instead  of  deadly  some  find  the 
opposite  idea,  lively,  here  expressed.  My  enemies  {are)  living  (or  alive), 
they  are  strong.  Or,  my  living  enemies  are  strong.  But  D^H  is  the  com- 
mon Hebrew  word  for  life,  and  as  Ip;^^  ""i^Jli^  means  my  enemies  of  false- 
hood, W^^n  0^^<  niay  mean  my  enemies  of  Ufe,  those  who  hate  my  life  and 
would  deprive  me  of  it.  Compare  U^S32  ''Il''K  in  Ps.  xvii.  9  above. — 
Hating  me  falsely.     Compare  Ps.  xxxv.  19,  Ixix.  5  (4). 

21  (20).  And  (those)  repaying  evil  for  good — they  will  oppose  me  for 
pursuing  good.  The  first  clause  seems  to  belong  to  the  preceding  sentence, 
and  to  complete  the  description  of  his  enemies,  "  those  hating  me  without 
cause,  and  repaying  evil  for  good."  Compare  Ps.  xxxv.  12-16.  Oppose 
me,  be  my  enemies.  The  Hebrew  verb  is  the  root  of  the  name  Satan,  the 
enemy  or  adversary  of  God  and  man.  From  its  etymology,  the  verb  would 
seem  to  denote  specifically  treacherous  hostility. — The  preposition  in  the 
last  clause  properly  means  under,  then  instead  of  and  more  rarely  in  return 
for,  which  is  the  sense  here.  In  return  for  my  pursuing  good,  i.  e.  ear- 
nestly and  eagerly  endeavouring  to  be  good  and  to  do  right.  This  was  of 
itself  sufficient  to  provoke  their  enmity. 

22  (21).  Leave  me  not  (0)  Jehovah !  (0)  my  God,  he  not  far  from 
me  !  Having  twice  described  his  urgent  need,  he  now  resumes  the  tone  of 
complaint  with  which  the  psalm  began.  The  petition  in  this  verse  is  one 
of  frequent  occurrence  in  the  Psalms.  See  above,  Ps.  x.  1,  xiii.  2  (1), 
xxii.  2  (1),  xxxv.  22.  The  most  striking  parallel,  however,  is  Ps.  xxii. 
20  (19). 

23  (22).  Hasten  to  help  me,  (0)  Lord,  my  salvation!  The  literal 
meaning  of  the  first  clause  is  hasten  to  (or  for)  my  help.  The  same  words 
form  the  last  clause  of  Ps.  xxii.  20  (19).  My  salvation,  my  deliverer,  my 
saviour.  This  form  of  address  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  prayer  in 
Ps.  xxxv.  3 :  Say  unto  my  soul,  I  am  thy  salvation. 


Psalm  39 

This  psalm  consists  of  two  parts,  in  the  first  of  which  the  Psalmist 
describes  his  feelings  and  his  conduct  at  a  former  period,  in  relation  to 
God's  providential  dealings,  ver.  2-7  (1-6),  while  in  the  second  he 
expresses  what  he  now  feels  and  believes  in  reference  to  the  same  subject, 
closing  with  an  earnest  appeal  to  the  divine  compassion,  ver.  8—14  (7-13). 

If  this  view  of  the  structure  of  the  psalm  is  just,  the  first  part  ought  not 
to  be  quoted  as  an  expression  of  pious  feeUng,  but  as  an  acknowledgment 
of  sin  and  error.  Some  interpreters  have  gone  so  far  as  to  affirm  this  of 
the  whole  psalm  ;  but  there  seems  to  be  an  obvious  change  of  tone  and 
spirit  in  ver.  8  (7).  There  is  no  impropriety  or  danger  in  admitting  that 
the  Psahns  contain  expressions  of  unhallowed  feeling,  if  the  admission  be 
restricted  to  those  cases  where  the  fact  is  indicated  in  the  psalm  itself,  and 
not  left  to  the  discretion  or  caprice  of  the  interpreter. 

1.  For  the  Chief  Musician.  For  Jeduthun  (or  Jedithun).  A  psalm. 
By  David.     The  masoretic  punctuation  requires  the  first  name  to  be  read 


Psalm  39:1 -3  181 

Jeduthun,  while  the  text  itself  presents  the  form  Jedithun.  The  same 
diversity  appears  in  Ps.  Ixxvii.  1,  1  Chron.  xvi.  38,  Neh.  xi.  17.  The  first 
form  stands  alone  in  1  Chron.  xvi.  41,  42,  xxv.  1,  3,  2  Chron.  v.  12.  In 
all  these  places,  it  is  the  name  of  one  of  David's  chief  musicians  or  levitical 
singers,  whose  descendants  held  the  same  employment,  as  appears  from 
Neh.  xi.  17.  The  personal  name  is  here  added  to  the  official  title,  perhaps 
for  the  purpose  of  doing  honour  to  the  individual,  by  connecting  his  name 
with  this  inspired  composition,  as  in  modern  dedications  and  inscriptions. 

2  (1).  /  said,  I  will  keep  my  wag,  from  sinning  with  my  tongue ;  I  will 
keep  for  my  mouth  a  muzzle,  while  the  ivicked  (is)  before  me.  Here  begins 
the  account  of  his  former  experience,  but  without  any  intimation  of  the 
time  which  had  elapsed  before  he  wrote.  The  two  states  of  mind  here 
described  may  have  followed  one  another  in  immediate  succession.  /  said 
to  myself,  implying  a  resolution,  although  this  is  not  the  meaning  of  the 
verb  itself,  as  some  allege.  The  idea  of  a  fixed  determination  is  moreover 
suggested  by  the  form  of  the  next  verb,  which  is  that  of  the  paragogic 
future.  /  ivill  keep,  guard,  preserve.  Take  heed  to,  although  not  incor- 
rect, is  an  inadequate  expression  of  the  meaning.  My  ways,  my  course 
of  conduct,  my  habitual  behaviour.  See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  1.  From 
sinning,  so  as  not  to  sin,  that  I  may  not  sin,  a  form  in  which  this  idea  is 
frequently  expressed  in  Hebrew.  The  word  translated  muzzle  occurs  only 
here,  but  its  verbal  root  is  used  in  Deut.  xxv.  4,  thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the 
ox  when  he  treadeth  out  the  corn,  and  in  Ezek.  xxxix.  11,  where  it  evidently 
means  to  stop,  either  the  nose  or  the  way.  The  noun  therefore  must  mean 
a  stopper  or  a  muzzle  rather  than  a  curb  or  bridle,  by  which  some  explain 
it.  While  the  vncked  is  before  me,  or  more  literally,  in  the  wicked's  {being) 
still  before  me.  If  this  referred  merely  to  his  personal  presence,  the  verse 
would  contain  a  resolution  to  avoid  unguarded  speeches  in  his  company  or 
hearing.  But  this  is  not  the  sin  to  which  the  Psalmist  afterwards  pleads 
guilty,  and  the  true  sense  of  the  clause  appears  to  be,  while  the  prosperity 
of  wicked  men  is  still  before  my  eyes,  instead  of  vanishing  at  once  as  I 
expected.  See  above,  Ps.  xxxvii.  10,  36. — For  my  mouth,  i.  e.  in  reserve 
for  it,  or  to  my  mouth,  i.  e.  in  actual  contact  with  it. 

3  (2).  /  was  silenced  (with)  dumbness ;  1  held  yny  peace  from  good,  and  my 
sorrow  icas  stirred.  The  first  clause  is  highly  idiomatic,  but  the  sense  is 
clear,  to  wit,  that  he  enjoined  the  strictest  silence  on  himself,  in  reference 
to  the  providential  mysteries  which  excited  his  envious  discontent.  The 
silence  meant  is  abstinence  from  murmurs  and  repining  against  God.  The 
second  clause  is  obscure.  From  good  is  understood  by  some  to  mean /row 
every  thing,  because  that  idea  is  elsewhere  expressed  by  the  idiomatic  com- 
bination, good  or  evil.  See  Gen.  xxxi.  24,  29,  2  Sam.  xiii.  22.  But  the 
antithesis  in  all  such  cases  is  essential,  and  the  omission  of  one  term  de- 
stroys the  meaning.     Others  give  from  a  negative  or  privative  sense,  away 

from  good,  without  good,  i.  e.  without  any  good  effect.  But  the  simplest 
construction  is  the  one  given  in  the  English  Bible,  even  from  good,  or  more 
fully  in  the  Prayer-Book  version,  yea,  even  from  good  words.  The  meaning 
then  is,  that  in  his  anxiety  to  avoid  the  language  of  complaint  against  God, 
he  was  silent  altogether,  and  suppressed  even  what  he  might  have  said 
•without  sin,  or  was  in  duty  bound  to  say.  The  natural  effect  was  that  his 
inward  grief,  instead  of  being  soothed,  was  roused,  excited,  and  exasperated. 

4  (3).  Hot  was  my  heart  ivithin  me;  while  I  muse  the  fire  is  kindling; 
(then)  spake  I  with  mg  tongue.  His  compulsory  silence  only  rendered  more 
intense  the  feelings  which  it  was  intended  to  conceal.     The  less  he  said  the 


182  Psalm  39:4 -6 

more  he  thought  and  felt,  until  at  last  it  burst  forth  with  more  violence 
than  if  expressed  at  first.  My  heart  glowed,  or  was  hot,  with  angry  discon- 
tent and  envious  repining.  Within  me,  literally  in  mij  inner  part,  or  inside, 
an  emphatic  phrase  referring  to  the  studied  absence  of  all  outward  indica- 
tions. Without,  all  seerded  calm  and  cool ;  within,  his  heart  was  in  a  glow 
on  fire.  While  I  muse,  literally  in  my  meditation.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
V.  2  (1).  The  future  verb  in  this  clause  marks  a  transition.  The  fire  will 
bnrn,  or  is  about  to  burn,  is  kindling.  The  gradation  is  completed  by  the 
laconic  phrase,  I  spajce.  "  I  did  what  I  had  fully  resolved  not  to  do."  The 
reference  to  ver.  2  is  made  more  obvious  by  the  additional  words,  with  my 
tongue,  which  would  else  be  unmeaning  and  superfluous.  "  That  very 
tongue,  with  which  I  had  determined  not  to  sin,  I  nevertheless  spake  with, 
in  an  unadvised  and  unbecoming  manner." 

5  (4).  Make  me  to  knovj,  (0)  Jehovah,  my  end,  and  the  measure  of  my 
days,  what  it  is ;  let  me  know  when  I  shall  cease.  According  to  the  view 
already  taken  of  the  first  part  of  the  psalm,  this  is  not  a  prayer  to  be  made 
duly  sensible  of  the  brevity  of  life,  which  would  have  been  superfluous,  but 
an  impatient  wish  to  know  how  soon  its  sufferings  are  to  cease.  The  same 
sentiment  is  amplified  in  Job  vi.  8-12,  vii.  7,  xiv.  13,  xvi.  21,  22.  The 
last  clause  may  also  be  translated,  let  me  know  how  ceasing,  i.  e.  frail  or  short- 
lived, I  {am).  But  the  general  drift  of  the  passage  favours  the  construc- 
tion, let  me  know  (at)  what  (point),  or  (at)  uhat  [time)  I  [am)  ceasing,  or 
about  to  cease.     The  indefinite  pronoun  (HD  has  then  the  same  sense  as 

in  the  compound  phrase  (HD'^y)  until  what  (point),  until  when,  how 
long  ?  The  verbal  adjective  (/in),  as  in  other  cases,  is  only  a  less  usual 
participial  form. 

6  (5).  Lo  (by)  spans,  or  (as)  hand-breadths,  hast  thou  given  my  days,  and 
my  life  (is)  as  nothing  before  me.  Only  all  vanity  is  every  man  constituted. 
Selah.  The  idea  of  the  first  clause  is,  that  God  had  dealt  out  life  to  him 
in  the  scantiest  measure.  Hence  the  verb  given  must  be  taken  in  its  proper 
sense,  and  not  in  that  of  placed  or  made,  which  it  sometimes  has.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  viii.  2  (1),  xxxiii.  7.  The  lo  or  behold,  at  the  beginning,  is 
expressive  of  surprise,  not  unmixed  with  indignation.  As  if  he  had  said, 
*'  See  how  short  a  space  thou  hast  allotted  me." — The  word  rendered 
life  is  not  the  common  one,  but  that  employed  in  Ps.  xvii.  14,  and  here 
used  in  its  primary  sense  oi  duration  or  continued  existence.  As  nothing, 
or  more  strictly,  non-existence,  nonentity.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  1.  "My 
duration  is  so  short  that  I  seem  scarcely  to  exist  at  all."  Before  thee,  not 
merely  in  thy  estimation,  but  by  thine  authority  or  sovereign  constitution. 
"  I  only  appear  in  thy  presence  long  enough  to  disappear."  Only  all 
vanity,  consisting  or  composed  of  nothing  else.  The  word  translated  vanity 
means  primarily  breath,  but  is  transferred,  by  a  natural  figure,  to  anything 
impalpable  and  evanescent.  The  whole  phrase  means  a  mere  breath.  Every 
man,  or  taking  the  Hebrew  noun  as  a  collective,  all  mankind.  The  parti- 
ciple at  the  end  means  fixed,  established,  constituted,  ordained,  and 
describes  the  brevity  of  life  as  something  not  fortuitous  but  comprehended 
in  the  divine  purpose.  The  melancholy  nature  of  the  fact  alleged,  and  per- 
haps the  reasonableness  of  the  complaint  founded  on  it,  are  indicated  by  a 
meditative  pause. 

7  (6).  Only  in  an  image  does  a  man  walk;  only  (for)  a  breath  do  they 
make  a  noise ;  he  hoards  up  and  he  knows  not  who  will  gather  them.  So 
short  and  transient  is  man's  life,  that  what  he  does,  and  what  befalls  him, 


Psalm  39:7,  8  183 

seems  to  be  not  so  much  a  reality  as  a  show,  a  picture,  a  phantasma,  an 
ideal  scene,  in  which  he  walks  about,  as  one  of  the  imaginary  actors.  For 
a  breath,  i.e.  the  time  spent  in  a  single  respiration,  an  instant,  a  moment. 
Or  as  a  breath,  i.  e.  something  intangible  and  momentary.  Or  as  vanity, 
vainly,  in  vain,  without  use  or  effect.  This  last  agrees  best  with  the  previ- 
ous use  of  ^Iiri;  and  its  frequent  usage  elsewhere,  in  the  sense  of  vanity. 

What  is  said  in  the  first  clause  of  the  individual  is  said  in  the  second  of 
the  species,  as  indicated  by  the  plural  verb.  The  noise  referred  to  is  the 
bustling  clamorous  activity  with  which  men 'seek  for  pleasure  and  especially 
for  wealth.  Hence  the  derivative  noun,  which  properly  means  noise,  has 
frequently  the  secondary  sense  of  wealth.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  16. 
Disquieted  is  too  weak,  as  denoting  passive  uneasiness  rather  than  tumultu- 
ous exertion.  In  the  last  clause  the  plural  is  again  exchanged  for  the 
singular,  a  clear  proof  that  they  both  relate  to  the  same  subject.  The  first 
verb  in  this  clause  is  applied  elsewhere  to  the  heaping  up  of  earth  (Hab. 
i.  10),  the  storing  away  of  corn  (Gen.  xU.  35),  and  the  hoarding  of  trea- 
sures (Job  xxvii.  16),  which  is  its  sense  here.  Who  will  gather  them,  i.  e. 
the  hoarded  treasures,  not  accumulate  them,  which  is  done  already,  but 
take  them  to  himself,  enjoy,  or  use  them.  The  future  verbs  describe  this 
as  a  process  which  may  be  expected  to  continue,  and  perhaps  to  last  for 
ever. 

8  (7).  And  now  what  have  I  waited  for?  Lord,  my  hope  is  in  thee. 
The  conclusion,  to  which  the  previous  complaints  seemed  to  tend,  was  that 
he  would  wait  no  longer,  but  abandon  the  hope  of  divine  favour  in  despair. 
But  this  result  did  not  ensue,  and  he  asks,  as  if  in  wonder  at  his  own  in- 
consistency, how  it  is  that  he  has  waited  after  all,  or  still  waits,  for  the 
good  which  seemed,  a  little  while  ago,  so  desperate.  The  answer  is  given 
in  the  other  clause.  His  hope  was,  from  the  first,  in  God,  and  although 
sorely  tried,  was  not  extinct.  At  this  point  it  revives,  and  recovers  its  as- 
cendancy, and  from  this  point  he  takes  a  new  and  more  believing  view  of 
those  very  inequalities  and  riddles,  which  before  so  severely  exercised  his 
faith.  This  may,  therefore,  be  regarded  as  the  turning-point  of  the  whole 
psalm,  the  transition  from  a  worse  to  a  better  state  of  feeUng.  And  now 
inay  be  strictly  understood,  in  opposition  to  past  time  and  to  a  previous  state 
of  mind.  At  the  same  time,  it  serves  as  a  term  of  logical  resumption  and 
connection,  as  in  Ps.  ii.  10.  Now,  i.  e.  since  this  is  the  case.  In  thee, 
hterally  to  (or  as  to)  thee,  the  Hebrew  particle  denoting  relation  in  the 
widest  sense ;  the  particular  relation  is  suggested  by  the  context.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  2  (1).  The  divine  name,  Adhonai,  Lord,  seems  to  be- 
long more  naturally  to  the  second  clause,  although  the  masoretic  interpunc- 
tion  joins  it  with  the  first.  And  now,  what  wait  1  for,  0  Lord?  The 
emphatic  pronoun  at  the  end  of  the  sentence  cannot  well  be  imitated  in 
translation.     [As  for)  my  hope,  in  thee  (is)  it. 

9  (8).  From  all  my  transgressions  free  me  ;  the  reproach  of  the  fool  do  not 
make  me.  The  first  clause  contains  an  imphcit  acknowledgment  that  his 
error  was  a  sinful  one.  Transgressions,  treasons,  or  apostasies,  committed 
against  God.  The  Hebrew  word  is  much  stronger  than  its  Enghsh  equiva- 
lent. In  asking  to  be  freed  from  his  transgressions,  he  asks  to  be  dehvered 
from  their  consequences,  one  of  which  is  then  particularly  mentioned.  A 
reproach,  an  object  of  derision  and  contempt.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  7 
(6).  The  fool,  by  way  of  eminence,  the  impious  imbeUever.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xiv.  1.  Do  not  make  me,  Uterally  place  (or  put)  me,  i.  e.  set  me  up, 
exhibit,  or  expose  me,  as  a  mark  for  their  invective  or  their  ridicule. 


184  Psalm  39:9 -12 

10  (9).  /  am.  silenced,  I  will  not  open  my  mouth,  because  thou  hast  done 
(it).  This  is  far  from  being  a  reiteration  of  the  statement  in  ver.  3  (2) 
above.  The  common  version  of  the  second  verb  (7  opened  not)  is  alto- 
gether arbitrary,  and  even  the  first,  although  a  preterite,  does  not  mean  I 
U'os  dumb,  i.  e.  at  some  former  time,  but  I  have  been  silenced  or  am  dumb, 
at  present.  There  is  obvious  allusion  to  the  similar  expressions  of  ver.  3  (2), 
but  rather  in  the  way  of  contrast  than  of  repetition.  As  before  he  was 
kept  silent  by  an  obstinate  suppression  of  the  rebelhous  feelings  which  he 
really  experienced,  so  now  he  is  kept  silent  by  a  fiUal  submission  to  his 
father's  chastisements.  I  will  not  open  my  mouth,  to  murmur  or  give 
utterance  to  undutiful  complaints.  Thou  hast  done  the  very  thing  at  which 
I  was  tempted  to  repine.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  32  (31).  The  pronoun 
is  emphatic  :  {it  is)  thou  (who)  hast  done  (it),  and  no  other.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  XXX.  7  (6),  xxxiii.  9. 

11  (10).  Remove  from  upon  me  thy  stroke  ;  from,  the  strife  of  thy  hand  I 
have  wasted  away  (or  consumed).  The  silence  vowed  in  the  preceding 
verse  had  reference  merely  to  repining  and  undutiful  complaint^  not  to 
prayer,  which  he  immediately  subjoins.  Remove,  or  retaining  the  form  of 
the  original,  cause  to  remove,  make  to  depart,  take  away,  withdraw,  not 
merely  from  me,  but  from  upon  me,  implying  previous  pressure.  Thy 
stroke,  thy  chastisement,  thy  punishment.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxviii.  12 
(11).  The  same  thing  is  intended  by  the  strife  of  thy  hand,  the  judgments 
of  God  bemg  sometimes  represented  as  a  controversy  or  contention  between 
him  and  the  afflicted  person.  See  Isa.  Ixvi.  16,  Ezek,  xxx^dii.  22.  The 
last  verb  is  not  a  passive  but  a  neuter,  as  in  Ps.  xxxvii.  20.  Here  again 
the  pronoun  is  emphatic.  I,  even  I,  and  not  merely  men  in  general,  know 
this  by  experience. 

12  (11).  With  rebukes  for  iniquity  iJiou  dost  chasten  mtin,  and  waste  like 
the  moth  what  he  desires.  Only  vanity  is  every  man  (or  all  mankind). 
Selah.  He  here  presents  his  new  and  more  correct  view  of  God's  provi- 
dential strokes  which  he  has  now  learned  to  regard  as  the  punishment  of 
sin.  The  emphasis  of  the  sentence  rests  upon  the  first  clause.  It  is  not 
with  cruel  and  vindictive  strokes,  it  is  not  with  random  and  unmeaning 
blows,  but  with  penal  visitations,  with  rebukes  (or  chastisements)  for  sin, 
that  thou  dost  chasten  man.  The  past  tense  of  the  verb  implies  that  what 
he  sufi"ers  is  but  one  link  in  a  long  chain  of  consistent  uniform  experiences. 
He  is  looking  not  at  what  has  happened  once  or  for  the  first  time,  but  at 
something  which  has  always  been  so.  It  is  God's  accustomed  mode  of 
dealing  with  his  sinful  creatures.     The  deduction  of  meanings  in  JinDhA 

is  first  argument,  then  conviction,  then  condenmation,  then  punishment. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxviii.  15  (14). — Waste,  literally  cause  to  melt  away. 
The  same  verbis  used  above,  Ps.  vi.  7(6),  and  below,  Ps.  cxlvii.  18. — Like 
the  moth,  not  as  the  moth  decays,  but  as  the  moth  consumes.  See  Job  iv. 
19,  xiii.  28. — What  he  desires,  literally  his  desired  or  desirable,  whatever  he 
delights  in.  Beauty  is  too  specific  and  confined  a  sense.  The  last  clause, 
with  the  selah  at  the  close,  announces  that  the  Psalmist  has  come  back  to 
the  pomt  from  which  he  started,  but,  as  we  have  seen,  with  an  extraordi- 
nary change  of  views  and  feelings. 

13  (12).  Hear  my  prayer,  0  Jehovah,  and  to  my  c?t/  (for  help)  give  ear  ; 
to  my  weeping  be  nnt  silent,  for  a  stranger  [am)  I  with  thee,  a  sojourner  like 
all  my  fathers.  The  word  translated  iveeping  properly  means  tear,  but  is 
always  used  collectively  for  tears.  Be  not  silent,  as  an  expression  of  indif- 
ference or  hostility,  not  to  be  moved  even  by  the  sight  of  tears.     A  stranger, 


Psalm  39:13  185 

and  by  implication  homeless  and  friendless,  wholly  dependent  on  thy  hos- 
pitable bounty.  To  a  Hebrew,  familiar  with  the  law  of  Moses,  which  con- 
tinually joins  the  stranger  with  the  widow  and  the  orphan,  as  legitimate 
objects  of  compassionate  regard,  this  description  must  have  been  pecuharly 
affecting.  With  thee,  under  thy  roof,  at  thy  fireside,  or  in  Scripture  phrase, 
within  thy  gates,  (Ex.  xx.  10),  i.  e.  at  thy  mercy,  and  dependent  on  thee. 
The  parallel  term  (^li^lD)  means  one  who  has  no  land  of  his  own,  but  is 

settled  upon  that  of  another,  as  a  tenant,  a  vassal,  or  a  beneficiary.  The 
same  description  is  applied  by  Abraham  to  himself  (Gen.  xxiii.  4),  by  Moses 
to  all  Israel,  considered  as  the  feudal  subjects  and  dependents  of  Jehovah 
(Lev.  XXV.  23),  and  by  David  to  himself  and  his  contemporaries  (1  Chron. 
xxix.  15),  on  a  different  occasion  from  the  one  before  us,  and  in  a  different 
connection,  thus  affording  a  striking  incidental  confirmation  of  the  truth  of 
the  inscription  which  makes  him  the  author  of  the  psalm.  See  above,  on 
ver.  1.  In  both  cases,  the  expression  like  our  fathers  shews  the  relation 
which  the  words  describe  to  be  not  merely  personal  but  national.  Another 
interesting  parallel  is  1  Kings  xix.  4,  where  Elijah,  in  a  state  of  feeling  not 
unlike  the  one  recorded  in  the  first  part  of  this  psalm,  "  requested  for  him- 
self that  he  might  die,  and  said,  It  is  enough ;  now,  0  Lord,  take  away  my 
life,  for  I  am  not  better  than  my  fathers." 

14  (13).  Look  aiu  ay  from  me,  and  let  me  cheer  upbefore  I  go  (hence),  and 
am  no  more.  Both  Hebrew  words  are  causatives,  and  seem  to  govern /ace 
understood.  "  Cause  thy  face,  thy  angry  countenance,  to  look  away  from 
me,  and  let  me  cheer  up  or  exhilarate  my  own  face."  The  last  clause  in 
Hebrew  is  exceedingly  laconic  ;  the  literal  translation  is,  before  I  go  and 
am  not.  It  has  been  justly  represented  as  remarkable,  that  all  the  words 
and  phrases  of  this  verse  occur  in  different  places  of  the  book  of  Job.  How 
long  wilt  thou  not  look  away  from  me  ?  (Job  vii.  19).  Look  away  from  him 
and  let  him  cease  (Job  xiv.  6).  Are  not  my  days  few?  Cease  then  and 
let  me  alone,  that  I  may  cheer  up  a  little  before  I  go  (hence)  and  return  no 
more  (Job.  x.  20,  21).  Thine  eyes  are  upon  me,  and  I  am  not  .  .  .  thou 
shalt  seek  me  in  the  morning  and  I  am  not,  or  I  shall  not  be  (Job  vii.  8, 
21).  These  repeated  coincidences,  not  in  common  but  comparatively  rare 
expressions,  together  with  the  analogies  already  mentioned  in  the  explana- 
tion of  ver.  6  (5^  above,  seem  to  shew,  not  only  that  the  writer  of  that 
book  was  acquainted  with  the  psalm  before  us,  but  that  the  germ  or  seminal 
idea  of  the  book  itself  is  really  included  in  this  psalm.  We  have  seen 
already  that  the  thirty- seventh  psalm  sustains  a  similar  relation  to  the  Book 
of  Proverbs.  See  above,  p.  159.  Thus  the  Psalter,  and  especially  the 
Psalms  of  David,  furnished  themes  and  models  to  the  inspired  writers  of  a 
later  date,  while  at  the  same  time  they  abound  themselves  with  allusions  to 
the  Pentateuch  and  imitations  of  it.  This  was  the  more  natural,  and  even 
unavoidable,  because  the  books  of  Moses  and  the  Psalms  were  especially 
familiar  to  all  pious  Jews  from  their  incessant  use  in  public  worship.  That 
the  Book  of  Job  is  not,  in  this  case,  the  original,  is  clear  from  the  number 
and  dispersion  of  the  passages  in  which  this  one  psalm  is  alluded  to  or 
copied. 

Psalm  40 

The  Psalmist  celebrates  delivering  grace,  already  experienced  by  himself 
and  others,  ver.  2-6  (1-5).     He  declares  his  resolution  to  attest  his  grati- 


186  Psalm  40:1 -4 

tude,  by  deed  as  well  as  word,  ver.  7-14  (6-13).  He  prays  that  God  will 
grant  him  new  occasion  of  thanksgiving,  by  delivering  him  from  present 
troubles,  ver.  15-18  (14-17).  This  psalm,  like  the  sixteenth,  twenty- 
second,  and  some  others,  seems  to  be  so  constructed  that  it  may  be  applied 
generically  to  the  whole  class  of  pious  sufferers,  but  specifically  to  its  head 
and  representative,  the  Messiah. 

The  reappearance  of  the  last  part  of  this  psalm  in  the  seventieth  will  be 
considered  in  the  exposition  of  the  latter. 

1.  For  the  Chief  Musician.  By  David.  A  Psalm.  This  title,  with  a 
slight  transposition,  is  the  same  with  that  of  Ps.  xiii.  xix.  xx.  xxi.  xxxi.  It 
shews  that  the  psalm  was  not,  as  might  have  been  supposed  from  its  con- 
tents, a  mere  expression  of  personal  feeling,  but  designed  for  permanent  and 
public  use. 

2  (1).  /  waited,  waited  for  Jehovah,  and  he  lowed  (or  inclined)  icnto  me, 
and  heard  my  cry.  The  psalm  opens  with  the  narrative  of  what  the  writer, 
or  ideal  speaker,  had  himself  experienced.  The  emphatic  repetition  of  the 
verb  implies  patient  perseverance,  and  is  perhaps  exclusive  of  all  other 
means.  "  I  simply  waited  ;  I  did  nothing  but  wait."  Bowed  himself  or 
the  heavens,  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  10  (9),  or  his  ear,  as  in  Ps.  xvii.  6,  xxxi.  3  (2), 
most  probably  the  last.  The  image  then  presented  is  that  of  one  leaning 
forward  to  catch  a  faint  or  distant  sound.  My  cry  for  help.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  V.  3  (2),  xviii.  7  (6),  xxxix.  13  (12). 

3  (2).  And  brought  me  up  from  a  pit  of  noise,  and  from  the  miry  clay, 
and  made  my  feet  stand  on  a  rock  ;  he  fixed  my  steps.  The  first  verb  in 
Hebrew  is  a  causative,  he  caused  me  to  ascend.  The  noise  referred  to  seems 
to  be  that  of  water  in  a  deep  place.  Miry  clay,  literally  clay  of  mire,  in 
which  there  can  be  no  firm  foothold,  as  there  is  upon  the  rock,  with  which 
it  is  contrasted.     Fixed,  established,  rendered  firm. 

4  (3).  And  put  in  my  mouth  a  new  song,  praise  to  our  God ;  many  shall 
see  and  shall  fear,  and  shall  truk  in  Jehovah.  In  this,  as  in  ver.  3  (2),  the 
construction  is  continued  from  the  foregoing  sentence.  Put,  literally  gave, 
gave  (to  me)  in  my  mouth.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  8  (7).  A  new  song, 
implying  a  new  subject  or  occasion.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiii.  3.  By  the 
new  song,  we  are  not  to  understand  this  psalm  exclusively,  but  fresh  praise, 
of  which  this  psalm  is  an  instance  or  particular  expression.  Our  God,  the 
God  of  Israel,  a  further  proof  that  this  is  not  an  expression  of  mere  personal 
feehng,  but  a  permanent  formula  of  public  praise.  The  efiect  of  it,  antici- 
pated in  the  last  clause,  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  xxii.  26-32  (25-31).  The 
original  exhibits  a  paronomasia,  which  is  lost  in  the  translation,  arising  from 
the  close  resemblance  of  the  verbs  see  and /ear  i^)Xy  and  •INl^'').     The /ear 

meant  is  that  reHgious  awe  or  reverence,  which  always  accompanies  true 
faith  or  trust  in  God. 

6  (4).  Happy  the  man  who  has  made  Jehovah  his  trust,  and  has  not  looked 
to  proud  (men)  and  {those)  swerving  to  falsehood.  From  his  own  experience 
he  draws  a  general  conclusion,  as  to  the  safety  and  prosperity  of  those  who 
trust  in  God.  The  first  phrase  is  properly  an  exclamation,  Oh  the  happi- 
nesses of  the  man,  as  in  Ps.  i.  1,  ii.  12,  xxxii.  1,  2,  xxxiii.  12.  The  next 
words  in  Hebrew  have  properly  a  local  sense.  Who  has  set  Jehovah  (as)  his 
place  of  security,  the  form  of  the  noun  being  one  which  has  commonly  a 
local  meaning.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  1.  The  verb  translated  looked 
means  strictly  turned  round  towards  an  object  for  the  purpose  of  looking  at 
it.  It  may  here  imply  confidence  or  trust,  as  cognate  verbs  do  in  Isaiah 
xvii.  7,  8.     Or  it  may  convey  the  additional  idea  of  taking  sides,  espousing 


Psalm  40:5, 6  187 

the  cause,  joining  the  party,  of  those  swerving,  turning  aside,  apostatising, 
from  the  way  of  truth  and  duty,  or  from  God  himself.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xiv.  3,  xviii.  22  (21). 

6  (5).  Many  (things)  hast  thou  done,  Jehovah,  my  God  ;  thy  wonders  and 
thy  thoughts  to  us  it  is  not  (possible)  to  state  unto  thee  ;  1  would  declare  and 
speak  (them ;  but)  they  are  too  many  to  be  numbered.  This  is  not  the  only 
instance  of  the  kind,  but  one  of  a  great  multitude.  Many  things,  i.  e.  many 
such  things.  My  God,  as  well  as  our  God,  i.  e.  in  personal  covenant  with 
me,  as  well  as  in  national  covenant  with  Israel.  See  above,  on  ver.  3  (2). 
The  combination  of  the  two  divine  names  suggests  that  Jehovah  was  not 
the  God  of  Israel  only,  but  the  Supreme  God.  The  word  translated  wonders 
is  properly  a  passive  participle,  meaning  (things)  made  wonderful  or  wonder- 
fully done,  and  therefore  constantly  used  absolutely  as  a  noun  in  the  sense 

of  wondrous  deeds  or  wonderful  works.  See  above,  Ps.  ix.  2  (1),  xxvi.  7. 
Tlxoughts,  purposes,  and  in  this  connection,  purposes  of  mercy.  To  us, 
towards  us,  respecting  us,  and  for  our  benefit.  The  next  words  may  also 
mean,  there  is  no  resemblance  (or  comparison)  to  thee,  i.  e.  none  to  be  com- 
pared with  thee.  See  below,  Ps.  Ixxxix.  7  (6),  and  compare  Isa.  xl.  18, 
Job  xxviii.  17,  19.  This  use  of  the  Hebrew  word  is  founded  on  its  primary 
sense  of  arranging,  putting  in  order,  with  particular  reference  to  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  offerings  and  other  sacred  objects  under  the  Mosaic  law.  Then 
it  was  used  to  signify  the  act  of  putting  things  together,  side  by  side,  and 
so  comparing  them.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  4  (3),  where  it  is  figuratively 
applied  to  the  presentation  of  a  prayer,  and  compare  its  similar  use  in  Isa. 
xliv.  7,  Job  xxxvii.  19,  xxxii.  14,  in  the  last  of  which  places  we  have  the 
phrase  to  order  or  present  words.  As  this  is  a  more  frequent  sense  than 
that  of  resembling  or  comparing,  and  in  this  case  agrees  better  with  the 
words  immediately  before  and  after,  it  is  safer  to  retain  it.  1  would  declare^ 
literally  I  will  declare,  the  form  of  the  verb  being  that  of  the  paragogic 
future,  which  expresses  in  the  first  person  strong  resolution.  This  is  more 
expressive  than  the  hypothetical  proposition,  "  I  would  declare  them,  if  I 
did  not  know  it  to  be  inlpossible."  The  idea  conveyed  by  the  original 
expression  is  that  of  an  actual  attempt  and  failure.  As  if  he  had  said  : 
"  Yes,  I  will  declare  and  tell  thy  wondrous  works  ;  but  no,  they  are  too 
many  to  be  numbered  or  recounted."  For  the  meaning  of  the  last  verb, 
see  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  7,  ix.  2,  15  (1,  14),  xix.  2  (1),  xxii.  18,  23  (17,  22), 
xxvi.  7. 

7  (6).  Sacrifice  and  offering  thou  ha^  not  desired ;  my  ears  thou  hast 
pierced.  Burnt-offering  and  sin-offcriny  thou  hast  not  asked.  Here  begins 
his  account  of  the  way  in  which  his  gratitude  should  be  expressed.  This 
is  first  negatively  stated — not  by  mere  oblations  or  other  ceremonial  rites^ 
To  express  this  idea  he  combines  four  technical  expressions  of  the  Law. 
The  first  two  are  the  usual  descriptions  of  animal  and  vegetable  offerings. 
The  first  means  anything  slaughtered  for  a  sacrificial  purpose.  The  second 
means  originally  any  gift,  but  is  appropriated,  in  the  Law,  to  those  secondary 
offerings  of  com,  oil,  wine,  and  incense,  which  accompanied  the  animal 
oblations.  In  the  English  version  of  the  Pentateuch,  it  is  rendered  meat- 
offering, a  version  which  no  longer  conveys  the  correct  meaning  to  the  com- 
mon reader,  since  these  were  precisely  the  offerings  from  which  meat,  in  the 
modern  sense  of  flesh,  was  entirely  excluded.  In  this  case,  however,  the 
Hebrew  word  is  joined  with  that  before  it  to  describe  the  two  great  kinds  of 
offering,  animnl  and  vegetable.  The  parallel  terms  in  the  last  clause  are 
those  denoting  the  general  expiatory  sacrifice  statedly  offered,  and  the  spe- 


188  Psalm  40:7 

cial  sacrifice  in  reference  to  particular  offences.  The  last  words  of  the  first 
clause  are  exceedingly  obscure.  The  Hebrew  verb  elsewhere  means  to  dig, 
and  is  so  used  in  Ps.  vii.  16  (15)  above.  It  may  be  naturally  used,  how- 
ever, to  denote  the  act  of  piercing,  perforating.  Some  suppose  it  to  mean 
opening  the  ear  or  causing  one  to  hear,  and  understand  the  whole  phrase 
as  meaning,  "  thou  hast  told  me  so,  or  hast  revealed  it  to  me."  This  is 
favoured  by  the  use  of  cognate  phrases  to  express  the  same  idea,  such  as 
opening,  uncovering,  awakening,  the  ear,  &c.  See  Isa.  1.  4,  5 ;  1  Sam. 
ix.  15,  XX.  2,  12 ;  xxii.  8.  It  is  more  probable,  however,  that  the  strong 
expression  here  used  was  intended  to  suggest  the  additional  idea  of  obeying 
or  rendering  obedient,  which  is  often  expressed  even  by  the  simple  verb  to 
hear.  The  peculiar  figurative  form  in  which  the  thought  is  clothed  may  be 
accounted  for,  by  supposing  an  allusion  to  the  ceremony  of  boring  a  slave's 
ear  with  an  awl,  as  a  symbol  of  perpetual  obedience.  See  Exod.  xxi.  6. 
The  whole  verse  may  then  be  paraphrased  as  follows  : — "  Thou  hast  not 
required  ceremonial  services,  but  obedience,  and  hast  pierced  my  ear,  as  a 
sign  that  I  will  hear  thee  and  obey  thee  for  ever."  The  Septuagint  version 
of  this  clause  (a  hody  hast  thou  prepared  me)  is  retained  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  an  unimportant  variation,  i.  e.  in  reference  to  the  writer's  purpose 
in  making  the  quotation,  and  perhaps  as  suggesting  that  the  incarnation  of 
the  Son  was  a  prerequisite  to  his  obedience.  The  contrast  intended  is 
between  ceremonial  rites  in  themselves  considered,  and  the  obedience,  of 
which  they  only  formed  a  part,  and  from  which  they  could  not  be  severed 
without  rendering  them  worthless.  There  is  obvious  allusion  to  1  Sam. 
XV.  22,  not  only  here  but  in  the  parallel  passages,  Ps.  li.  18,  19  (16,  17), 
Hos.  vi.  6,  Isa.  i.  12,  Jer.  vii.  22-24. 

8  (7).  Then  I  said,  Lo,  I  come,  in  the  volume  of  the  hooJc  it  is  written  of 
me.  The  first  word  refers  not  so  much  to  time  as  to  other  circumstances. 
Then,  in  these  circumstances,  this  being  the  case.  Seeing  and  knowing 
that  mere  ceremonial  services  are  worthless,  /  come,  I  bring  myself,  all  that 

1  have  and  am,  as  a  rational  or  spiritual  service.  (Rom.  xii.  1.)  The 
volume  of  the  hook,  or  the  roll  of  scripture.  The  second  noun  is  the  one  used 
in  Hebrew  to  denote  the  written  revelation  of  God's  will,  and  the  first  to 
describe  the  form  of  an  ancient  oriental  book,  not  unUke  that  of  a  modem 
map,  and  still  retained  in  the  manuscripts  used  in  the  synagogue  worship. 
The  reference  is  here  to  the  Law  of  Moses.  Written  qf  me  is  by  some  referred 
to  prophecy,  by  others  to  the  requisitions  of  the  law.  The  Uteral  meaning 
of  the  Hebrew  words  is  written  upon  me,  i.  e.  prescribed  to  me,  the  upon 
suggesting  the  idea  of  an  incumbent  obHgation.  "  Enjoined  upon  me  by  a 
wi'itten  precept."     This  is  clearly  the  meaning  of  the  same  phrase  in 

2  Kings  xxii.  13.  Thus  understood,  the  clause  before  us  may  be  para- 
phrased as  follows  : — "  Since  the  ceremonies  of  the  Law  are  worthless,  when 
divorced  from  habitual  obedience,  instead  of  offering  mere  sacrifice  I  offer 
myself,  to  do  whatever  is  prescribed  to  me  in  the  written  revelation  of  thy 
will."  This  is  the  spirit  of  every  true  believer,  and  is  therefore  perfectly 
appropriate  to  the  whole  class  to  whom  this  psalm  relates,  and  for  whom  it 
was  intended.  It  is  peculiarly  significant,  however,  when  appUed  to  Christ : 
firs  t,  because  he  alone  possessed  this  spirit  in  perfection  ;  secondly,  because 
he  sustained  a  pecuHar  relation  to  the  rites,  and  more  especially  the  sacri- 
fices, of  the  Law.  David,  or  any  other  individual  behever  under  the  old 
economy,  was  bound  to  bring  himself  as  an  oblation,  in  completion  or  in 
lieu  of  his  external  gifts ;  but  such  self-devotion  was  peculiarly  important 
upon  Christ's  part,  as  the  real  sacrifice,  of  which  those  rites  were  only 


Psalm  40:8 -10  189 

figures.  The  failure  of  any  individual  to  render  this  essential  offering 
insured  his  own  destruction.  But  if  Christ  had  failed  to  do  the  same,  all 
his  followers  must  have  perished.  It  is  not,  therefore,  an  accommodation 
of  the  passage  to  a  subject  altogether  different,  but  an  exposition  of  it  in  its 
highest  application,  that  is  given  in  Heb.  x.  5-10.  The  limitation  of  the 
words  to  Christ,  as  an  exclusive  Messianic  prophecy,  has  the  twofold  incon- 
venience of  forbidding  its  use  by  the  large  class  of  godly  sufferers,  for  whom 
it  seems  so  admirably  suited,  and  of  requiring  us  to  understand  even  the 
confession  of  sins  as  uttered  in  his  person.     See  below,  on  ver.  13  (12). 

9  (8).  To  do  thy  will,  my  God,  I  have  delighted  (or  desired)  and  thy  law 
(is)  in  the  midst  of  my  bowels.  The  self-devotion,  just  professed,  is  now 
described  as  a  cordial  and  spontaneous  act,  because  the  law  requiring  it  is 
not  regarded  as  a  mere  external  rule,  but  as  existing  in  the  heart  and  coin- 
ciding with  the  will.  This,  which  is  true,  in  measure,  of  all  genuine  obe- 
dience, is  pre-eminently  true  of  that  obedience  unto  death,  by  which  Christ 
magnified  the  law  and  honoured  it,  proved  his  own  zeal  for  God  and 
deference  to  his  will,  and  wrought  out  that  salvation  which  alone  can  render 
similar  obedience  upon  man's  part  possible.  With  the  last  clause  compare  Ps. 
xxxvii.  31,  Deut.  xx.  14,  Prov.  iii.  3,  vii.  3,  Isa.  li.  7.  This  verse,  together 
with  the  one  before  it,  on  which  it  is  a  kind  of  comment,  holds  up  to  view 
the  sincere  obedience  of  the  true  believer,  including  the  observance  of  com- 
manded rites,  in  contrast  with  the  formal  hypocritical  observance  of  the  rites 
alone,  and  at  the  same  time  the  perfect  obedience  and  self-sacrifice  of  Christ 
in  contrast  with  the  types  by  which  they  were  prefigured. 

10  (9).  I  have  proclaimed  righteousness  in  a  great  assembly.  Lo,  my  lips 
I  will  not  restrain  ;  Jehovah,  thou  Jcnowest  (or  hast  known).  The  first  verb 
is  the  nearest  Hebrew  equivalent  to  the  Greek  t\jayytki'(^o[iai,  to  announce 
good  news,  to  proclaim  glad  tidings.  The  righteousness  meant  is  that  of 
God.  The  great  congregation  or  assembly  is  his  church  or  people.  Re- 
strain, i.  e.  from  still  proclaiming  it.  The  past  tense,  in  the  first  clause, 
shews  this  to  be,  not  a  mere  engagement  or  a  promise,  but  a  statement  of 
what  has  been  already  done.  The  future  following  completes  the  statement, 
by  providing  also  for  the  time  to  come.  The  return  to  the  preterite  in  the 
last  clause  appeals  to  God's  omniscience  for  the  truth  of  what  was  first 
alleged,  as  well  as  of  the  promise  just  recorded.  "  Thou  hast  already  been 
a  witness  of  my  zeal  in  the  annunciation  of  thy  righteousness,  and  art  a 
witness,  at  this  moment,  of  the  sincerity  with  which  I  vow  that  it  shall  be 
continued." 

11  (10).  Thy  righteousness  I  have  not  hid  in  the  midst  of  my  heart  ;  thy 
faithfulness  and  thy  salvation  I  have  uttered  ;  I  have  not  concealed  thy 

mercy  and  thy  truth  from  the  great  congregation  (or  assembly).  The  same 
idea  is  again  expressed,  but  with  a  pointed  allusion  to  the  last  clauso  of 
ver.  9  (8),  as  if  to  guard  against  a  misconstruction  of  its  language.  In 
opposition  to  a  mere  external  formal  service,  he  had  there  said  that  the 
Law  of  God  was  in  his  heart.  But  now  he  hastens,  as  it  were,  to  add  that 
it  was  not  confined  there.  He  was  not  contented  with  his  own  impressions 
of  God's  righteousness,  derived  both  from  his  word  and  from  his  provi- 
dence. He  considered  himself  bound  to  make  it  known  to  the  whole  body 
of  God's  people,  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  comforting  and  edifying  them, 
and  of  promoting  the  divine  glory.  The  expression  of  the  same  thing, 
both  in  negative  and  positive  form,  is  a  natural  method  of  enforcing  what 
is  said,  which  is  common  to  all  languages,  although  particularly  frequent 
in  the  Hebrew. 


190  Psalm40:ll-16 

12  (11).  Thou,  Jehovah,  wilt  not  withhold  thy  compassions  from  me; 
thy  mercy  and  thy  truth  will  always  preserve  me.  This  is  not  a  prayer,  as 
it  seemg  to  be  in  the  common  version,  but  an  expression  of  strong  con- 
fidence, hke  that  in  Ps.  xxiii.  6.  As  if  he  had  said,  "  I  am  sure  that  thou 
■wilt  not  viithhold,"  &c.  Here,  again,  there  is  an  obvious  allusion  to  a  pre- 
vious expression.  As  he  had  said  in  ver.  10  (9),  my  lips  I  will  not  restrain, 
so  now  he  says,  and  thou,  0  Lord  (on  thy  part),  wilt  not  restrain  thy  mer- 
cies from  me.  The  phrase  supplied,  on  thy  part,  is  really  included  in  the 
pronoun  thou,  which,  being  unnecessary  to  the  sense,  must  be  emphatic. 
See  aTjove,  on  Ps.  ii.  6.  Thy  compassions,  tender  mercies,  warm  affections. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  6,  and  compare  Ps.  xviii.  2  (1).  Truth  means  the 
veracity  of  God's  engagements,  as  in  the  preceding  verse,  where  it  is  joined 
with  faithfulness,  fidelity.  Preserve  me  from  distresses,  dangers,  enemies. 
See  above,  Ps.  xii.  8  (7),  xxxi.  24  (23),  xxxii.  7. 

13  (12.)  For  upon  me  have  gathered  evils  till  there  is  no  number  ;  my 
sins  have  overtaJcen  me,  and  I  am  not  able  to  see  ;  they  are  more  than  the 
hairs  of  my  head,  and  my  heart  has  failed  me.  The  original  expression  in  the 
first  clause,  to  surround  upon,  is  a  strong  one,  to  denote  an  accumulation 
of  evils  from  all  quarters.  This  is  intended  to  account  for  the  necessity  of 
protection  and  deliverance,  implied  in  the  last  clause  of  the  verse  preced- 
ing. It  introduces  the  prayer  for  rehef  from  present  troubles,  founded  on 
previous  experience  of  God's  mercy,  and  forming  the  conclusion  of  the  psalm. 
Sins,  not  punishments,  although  the  experience  here  described  is  that  of 
their  effects.  Overtaken,  reached  after  long  delay  and  hope  of  escape.  See 
Deut.  xxviii.  15.  The  common  version,  cannot  look  up,  gives  a  meaning 
which  the  Hebrew  phrase  never  has  elsewhere.  It  always  denotes  dimness 
or  failure  of  sight,  arising  from  distress,  weakness,  or  old  age.  See  1  Sam. 
iii.  2,  iv.  15,  1  Kings  xiv.  4,  and  compare  Ps.  vi.  8  (7),  xiii.  4  (3),  xxxi. 
10  (9),  xxxviii.  11  (10).  More  than  the  hairs  of  my  head.  See  below, 
Ps.  Ixix.  5  (4).  My  heart  has  failed  me,  literally  left  me.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxxviii.  11  (10),  where  the  same  thing  is  said  of  his  strength.  This 
picture  of  complicated  sufferings,  produced  by  his  own  sins,  is  inappUcable 
to  the  Saviour,  who  neither  in  prophecy  nor  history  ever  calls  the  sins  for 
which  he  suffered  my  sins. 

14  (13).  Be  pleased,  (0)  Jehovah,  to  deliver  me ;  (0)  Jehovah,  to  my  help 
make  haste !  The  first  clause  contains  an  implied  acknowledgment  of  de- 
pendence on  God's  mercy.  In  the  second,  the  form  of  expression  is  the 
same  as  in  Ps.  xxii.  20  (19). 

15  (14).  Ashamed  and  confounded  together  shall  be  (those)  seeking  my  soul 
to  destroy  it ;  turned  back  and  disgraced  shall  be  [those)  desiring  (or  delight- 
ing in)  my  hurt.  Strictly  speaking,  this  is  not  so  much  the  expression  of 
a  wish  as  of  a  confident  expectation.  See  above,  on  ver.  12  (11).  But 
its  intimate  connection  with  the  foregoing  prayer  seems  to  give  it  the  force 
of  an  optative.     The  wish  implied  is  precisely  the  same  as  in  Ps.  xxxv.  4,  26. 

16  (15).  They  shall  be  desolate  on  account  of  their  shame — those  saying 
to  me,  Aha,  aha  !  The  common  version, /or  a  reiuard  of  their  shame,  seems 
to  make  their  shame  the  crime  for  which  they  were  to  be  punished.  The 
Hebrew  word  (^p^)  sometimes  means  wages  or  reward,  as  the  consequence 

of  labour.  See  Ps.  xix.  12  (11),  Prov.  xxii.  4.  But  the  general  meaning 
of  the  phrase,  in  consequence,  is  admissible,  and  quite  sufficient  here.  For 
the  meaning  of  the  last  clause,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  21,  25. 

17  (16).  They  shall  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  thee — all  (those)  seeking  thee. 
They  shall  say  always,  Great  be  Jehovah^— (those)  loving  thy  salvation.     The 


Psalm  41:1  191 

structure  of  the  clauses  is  alike,  each  beginning  with  the  action,  and  ending 
with  a  description  of  the  agent.  The  joy  and  praise  are  represented  as  the 
fruit  of  the  deUverance  here  prayed  for.  In  thee,  in  communion  with  thee, 
in  the  enjoyment  of  thy  favour.  Seeking  thee,  seeking  that  communion 
and  that  favour.  Great  is  Jehovah,  or  the  Lord  be  magnified,  i.  e.  recog- 
nised as  great  and  glorious.  Loving  thy  salvation,  not  merely  desiring  it 
for  themselves,  but  rejoicing  in  it  as  bestowed  on  others.  See  above,  Ps. 
XXXV.  27,  and  compare  xxii.  24  (23),  Ixix.  33  (32). 

18  (17)  And  I  {am)  afflicted  and  poor,  and  the  Lord  will  think  of  me 
{or  for  me).  My  help  and  my  deliverer  {art)  thou.  O  my  God,  do  not 
delay.  The  connection  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  ii.  6,  above.  "  And  (yet)  I 
am  a  sufferer,  and  poor  ;  and  (yet)  the  Lord  will  think,"  &c.  The  Hebrew 
phrase  (^7  ^ti^H^)  may  either  mean,  will  think  respecting  (or  concerning)  ine, 
i.  e.  remember  me,  attend  to  me — or  will  think  for  me,  i.  e.  plan,  provide, 
for  me.  My  help  art  thou,  and  therefore  canst  not  fail  to  help  me  ;  my 
deliverer,  and  therefore  must  deliver  me.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  4  (3). 
The  same  thing  is  implied  in  the  address,  my  God.  See  above,  on  ver. 
4,  6  (3,  5).     Do  not  tarry,  linger,  or  delay  to  grant  this  prayer. 

Psalm  41 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  A  Psalm  by  David.  This  psalm,  though 
intended,  like  all  the  rest,  for  permanent  and  public  use,  exhibits  very 
strong  marks  of  the  personal  experience  of  the  author.  He  first  states  a 
general  rule  of  the  divine  dispensations,  namely,  that  the  merciful  shall 
obtain  mercy,  ver.  2-4  (1-3).  He  then  claims  the  benefit  of  this  law  in 
his  own  case,  which  is  described  as  one  of  great  suffering  from  sickness  and 
the  spite  of  wicked  enemies,  ver.  5-10  (4-9j.  He  concludes  with  an  ear- 
nest prayer  to  God  for  succour,  and  expresses  a  strong  confidence  that  he 
shall  receive  it,  ver.  11-14  (10-13). 

The  juxtaposition  of  this  psalm  with  that  before  it  is  not  fortuitous,  but 
founded  on  their  common  resemblance  to  the  thirty-fifth,  and  on  their  mutual 
resemblance  as  generic  descriptions  of  the  sufferings  of  the  righteous,  with 
specific  reference  to  thos^  of  the  Messiah,  as  the  head  and  representative 
of  the  whole  class.  In  this,  as  in  the  fortieth  psalm,  the  exclusive  refer- 
ence to  Christ  is  forbidden,  by  its  obvious  adaptation  to  a  whole  class,  and 
by  the  explicit  confession  of  sin  in  ver.  6  (5). 

2(1).  Happy  {the  man]  acting  wisely  towards  the  poor  {man)  ;  in  the  day 
of  evil  Jehovah  will  deliver  him.  The  form  of  expression  at  the  beginning 
is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  i.  1,  xl.  5  (4).  As  the  first  verb  sometimes  has  the 
sense  of  attending  or  attentively  considering,  some  understand  it  to  mean 
here  considering  (or  attending  to)  the  poor.  But  its  proper  import  of  act- 
ing prudently  (or  wisely)  is  entirely  appropriate,  and  therefore  entitled  to 
the  preference.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  10,  xiv.  2.  What  is  meant  by  act- 
ing luisely  towards  the  poor,  may  be  gathered  from  the  parallel  passage,  Ps. 
XXXV.  13,  14.  The  principle  assumed  is  that  expressed  by  our  Saviour  in 
Mat.  V.  7.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  28.  Tlie  poor,  in  the  wide  sense  of 
the  EngUsh  word,  corresponding  very  nearly  to  that  of  the  Hebrew  71} 

which  means  poor  in  flesh  (Gen.  xli.  19),  and  poor  in  strength  (2  Sam. 
iii.  1),  as  well  as  poor  in  point  of  property  and  social  standing  (Exod. 
xxiii.  3).  It  here  includes  all  forms  of  want  and  suffering,  and  might  be 
translated  wretched.     This  is  not  a  mere  reflection  on  the  imkindness  of  his 


192  Psalm  41:2 -6 

own  acquaintances,  but  an  indirect  assertion  of  his  own  benevolence. 
**  Happy  the  man  acting  Avisely  towards  the  poor — as  I  have  done.  In  the 
day  of  evil,  of  his  ovm.  misfortune,  when  his  own  turn  comes  to  suffer,  the 
Lord  will  deliver  him — as  I  desire  and  expect  to  be  delivered." 

8  (2.)  Jehovah  will  keep  him  and  save  him  alive  ;  he  shall  be  2)rospered  in 
the  land;  and  do  not  thou  give  him  up  to  the  will  of  his  enemies.  What  he 
has  done  for  others  the  Lord  will  do  for  him.  Save  him  alive :  the  same 
verb  occurs  above  in  Ps.  xxii.  30  (29).  Prospered:  the  Hebrew  verb 
(")tyS^)  orignally  means  led  straight,  or  in,  a  straight  path.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxiii.  3.  But  here  it  has  the  same  sense  as  in  Prov.  iii.  18.  The  mar- 
ginal reading  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  (ll£^K1)  only  differs  from  the  text  by  in- 
troducing the  conjunction  and.  In  the  land,  i.  e.  the  land  of  promise. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  13,  xxxvii.  3,  9,  11,  22  29,  34.  These  are  gene- 
rally propositions,  but  are  evidently  meant  to  be  appUed  specifically  to  him- 
self. His  solicitude  respecting  the  event  is  betrayed  by  his  sudden  transi- 
tion from  prediction  to  petition.  Give  him  up  to  the  will,  literally  into  the 
sold,  here  put  for  the  desire  or  appetite.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  12,  and 
compare  Ps.  xvii.  9. 

4  (3.)  Jehovah  will  support  him.  on  the  couch  of  languor;  all  his  bed 
hast  thou  turned  in  his  sickness.  The  images  are  borrowed  from  the  usages 
of  real  life.  The  first  is  that  of  holding  a  sufferer  up,  sustaining  him,  in 
pain  and  weakness;  the  other  that  of  changing,  making,  or  adjusting  his 
bed.  The  parallelism  favours  this  interpretation  of  the  second  clause  much 
more  than  that  which  makes  it  mean  ""  thou  has  converted  all  his  sickness 
into  health."  The  words  translated  couch  and  languor  are  unusual  equi- 
valents to  bed  and  sickness  in  the  other  clause. 

5  (4).  I  have  said,  Jehovah,  have  mercy  upon  me;  heal  my  soul,  for  I  have 
sinned  against  thee.  The  pronoun  at  the  beguming  is  emphatic.  He  is 
here  applying  to  himself  the  doctrine  which  he  had  before  laid  down  in  general 
terms.  "  Knowing  this  to  be  the  rule  of  the  divine  administration,  I  my- 
self have  claimed  the  benefit  of  it ;  I  myself  have  said,"  &c.  There  is  no 
need  of  diluting  the  past  tense  into  a  present.  The  use  of  the  preterite  im- 
plies that  it  is  not  an  act  yet  to  be  performed,  but  one  that  has  been  done 
already.  The  same  emphasis,  though  not  required  by  the  form  of  the 
original,  may  be  supposed  to  rest  upon  the  me  and  the  my.  The  prayer  for 
the  heaUng  of  his  soul  may  be  considered  as  including  that  for  the  removal 
of  his  bodily  disease,  which  seems  to  be  referred  to  in  this  psalm  as  a  mere 
consequence  of  inward  agony.  And  this  is  itself  referred  to  sin  as  its  occa- 
sion in  the  last  clause  of  the  verse.  The  intimate  connection  between  sin 
and  suffering  is  continually  recognised  by  David.  See  above,  Ps.  xxxi. 
11  (10),  xxxii.  5,  xxxviii.  4,  5,  19  (3,  4,  18),  xl.  13  (12).  Against  thee^ 
literally  to  thee,  as  to  thee.  The  idea  of  direct  opposition  is  suggested  by 
the  context.     See  above,  onPs.  xxx.  2  (1),  xxxv.  19,  24,  xxxviii.  17  (16). 

6  (5.)  My  enemies  will  say  evil  to  (or  as  to)  me:  when  shall  he  die  and 
his  name  perish  ?  The  word  translated  evil  is  constantly  appUed  to  moral 
evil,  and  here  means  spite  or  malice.  "  The  ambiguous  phrase  to  me  seems 
to  include  the  two  ideas  of  speaking  of  him  and  in  his  hearing,  or  as  we  say  in 
familiar  Enghsh,  talking  at  him.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  3(2),  xi.  1.  The 
question  in  the  second  clause  imphes  impatience.  With  the  last  phrase 
compare  Ps.  ix.  7  (6). 

7  (6.)  And  if  he  come  to  see  me,  falsehood  he  will  speak;  {in)  his  heart 
he  is  gathering  mischief ;  he  will  go  out,  to  the  street  (or  out  of  doors)  he  will 
speak  (or  tell  it).     The  subject  of  the  sentence  is  his  enemy  viewed  as  an 


Psalm  41:7,  8  193 

ideal  person.  Compare  the  alternation  of  the  singular  and  plural  forms  in 
ver.  6  (5)  and  12(11).  If  he  come,  literally  has  come,  at  any  former  time  ; 
or  still  better,  if  he  has  come  now,  if  he  is  now  here,  the  scene  being  then 
described  as  actually  present  to  the  writer's  senses,  which  adds  greatly  to 
its  graphic  vividness  and  beauty.  To  see,  not  merely  to  see  me,  in  the  usual 
sense  of  visiting,  which  is  rather  an  English  than  a  Hebrew  idiom,  but 
to  see  for  himself,  to  observe,  to  play  the  spy,  to  watch  the  progress  of  the 
malady,  and  judge  how  soon  a  fatal  termination  may  be  looked  for.  False- 
hood, vanity,  in  the  strong  scriptural  sense  of  emptiness,  hypocrisy,  false 
professions  (in  this  case)  of  sympathy  and  friendly  interest.  He  will  speak: 
I  am  sure  that  he  will  do  so ;  I  Imow  him  too  well  to  doubt  it  for  a  moment. 
The  idea  thus  suggested  by  the  future  is  entirely  lost  by  exchanging  it  for 
the  present,  which  it  really  includes,  but  something  in  fiddition.  The  con- 
struction, his  heart  gathereth,  is  at  variance  with  the  Masoretic  accents,  and 
does  not  yield  so  good  a  sense  as  that  which  makes  his  heart  an  adverbial 
phrase,  a  Hebrew  idiom  of  perpetual  occurence.  In  our  idiom  it  will  then 
mean  in  (or  as  to)  his  heart,  as  opposed  to  the  outward  appearance  of  bene- 
volence and  friendship.  The  second  future  (y^p**)  may  be  either  construed 
like  the  first,  he  (certainly)  will  gather,  (I  know  that)  he  will  gather ;  or 
understood  to  signify  an  action  which  has  been  begun  but  is  not  finished, 
he  is  gathering.  To  gather  mischief  is,  in  this  connection,  to  collect  mate- 
rials for  calumnious  reports.  He  will  go  out,  he  will  speak,  or  as  we  should 
say  in  English,  ivhen  he  goes  out  he  will  speak.  The  Hebrew  verb  itself 
(i^T)  means  to  go  out.  The  additional  phrase  means  strictly  to  the  street, 
or  to  the  outside  of  the  house.  It  might  be  grammatically  construed  with 
the  verb  before  it,  he  will  go  out  to  the  street.  But  the  accents  connect  it 
with  the  verb  that  follows,  to  the  street  he  will  tell  {it),  or  to  the  outside,  i.  e. 
to  those  without,  who  are  perhaps  to  be  conceived  of,  as  impatiently  await- 
ing his  report. 

8  (7).  Together  against  me  they  will  whisper  all  (those)  hating  me;  against 
me  they  will  meditate — injury  to  me.  The  collocation  in  the  first  clause  is 
like  that  inPs.  xl.  15-17,  (14-16),  the  action  being  first  described,  and  then 
the  actors.  The  future  has  the  same  force  as  in  the  first  clause  of  ver. 
6,  7  (5,  6).  They  will  certainly  persist  in  doing  as  they  now  do.  The 
substitution  of  the  present  in  translation  conveys  only  half  of  this  idea.  The 
last  word  in  Hebrew  (>^)  is  omitted  in  most  versions,  though  expressed  in 

the  margin  of  the  English  Bible.  It  defines  the  evil  meditated,  not  as 
evil  in  the  abstract  or  in  general,  but  as  evil  to  the  sufferer,  i.  e.  injury, 
which  is  the  usual  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  (iTJ^I),  a  modified  form 

of  0^1),  the  one  used  in  ver.  6  (5)  to  denote  moral  evil;     The  last  words  are 

a  kind  of  after-thought. — Against  me  they  will  meditate  or  plot,  is  a  com- 
plete proposition  in  itself,  which  is  then  made  more  explicit  by  mention- 
ing the  obj'ect  of  their  plots,  namely,  evil  (or  injury)  to  me.  This  form  of 
the  sentence  may  have  been  adopted  to  render  the  resemblance  in  the 
structure  of  the  clauses  more  complete. 

9  (8).  A  word  of  Belial  is  poured  into  him,  and  he  who  lies  (there)  shall 
arise  no  more.  These  are  the  words  of  his  malignant  visitors,  either 
uttered  in  his  presence,  or  to  their  companions  after  leaving  him.  The 
literal  translation  of  the  first  clause  is  given,  to  shew  its  obscurity,  and 
enable  the  reader  to  understand  the  different  explanations  of  it  which  have 
been  proposed.  Some  give  word  its  not  unfi*equent  idiomatic  sense  oi 
thing,  affair  (1  Sam.  x.  2,  2  Sam.  xi.  18,  19,  Ps.  cv.  27),  and  Belial  that 


194  Psalm  4 1:9 

of  ruin  or  destruction,  which  they  suppose  it  to  have  in  Nah.  i.  11,  and 
Ps.  xviii.  5  (4)  above.  But  there,  as  elsewhere,  it  is  better  to  retain  its 
primary  meaning,  good  for  nothing,  worthless,  or  as  an  abstract,  worthless- 
ness,  a  strong  though  negative  expression  for  depravity.  The  whole  phrase 
will  then  mean  a  wicked  matter,  a  depraved  affair.  By  this  again  some 
understand  the  disease  with  which  he  was  afflicted,  and  which  is  then 
described  as  the  result  of  his  own  wickedness ;  others  the  plan  or  plot 
devised  by  the  speakers  for  the  ruin  of  the  sufferer.  But  this  would  hardly 
be  described  by  themselves  as  a  depraved  affair.  None  of  these  explana- 
tions seem  so  natural  or  so  exact,  as  that  which  gives  to  both  words  their 
customary  meaning,  and  understands  by  a  word  of  Belial  a  disgraceful 
charge  or  infamous  reproach,  which  is  then  represented  as  the  cause  of  his 
distress  and  his  approaching  death.  The  next  phrase  may  either  mean 
poured  into  his  mind  or  soul,  as  a  moral  poison,  producing  agony  and 
death ;  or  poured  upon  him,  so  as  to  submerge  or  overwhelm  him.  In 
Job  xli.  15,  16  (23,  24),  the  same  participle  (p^2i^)  seems  to  be  thrice  used 

in  the  sense  of  poured  out,  melted,  soldered,  firmly  fastened.  So  here  the 
English  Bible  renders  it  cleaveih  fast  unto  him,  and  the  same  meaning  is 
assumed  by  some  who  understand  by  the  preceding  words  a  wicked  plot  or 
a  destructive  visitation,  which  is  then  described  as  cleaving  fast  to  him  so 
that  he  cannot  shake  it  off  or  otherwise  escape  from  it.  The  common  ver- 
sion of  the  next  words,  now  that  he  lieth,  is  extremely  forced.  The  only 
natural  construction  of  the  relative  is  that  which  refers  it  to  the  sufferer 
himself.  He  who  has  lain  down  shall  not  add  to  rise,  the  common  Hebrew 
method  of  expressing  a  continued  or  repeated  action.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
X.  18.  The  expression  becomes  still  more  graphic  if  we  understand  it  to 
mean  he  who  is  lying  (here  before  you),  or  he  who  lies  there,  i.  e.  in  yonder 
house  or  chamber. 

10  (9).  Even  the  man  of  my  peace — whom  I  confided  in — eating  my 
bread — has  lifted  against  me  the  heel.  The  first  word  properly  means  also. 
Not  only  foes,  but  also  friends ;  not  only  strangers,  but  likewise  they  of  my 
own  household.  The  man  of  my  peace,  or  my  man  of  peace,  is  a  strong 
idiomatic  expression  for  the  man  with  whom  I  was  at  peace.  As  to  the 
construction,  see  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  6.  Eating  my  bread,  not  merely  as  a 
guest,  but  as  a  dependent.  Such  must  have  been  the  current  usage  of  the 
phrase  in  David's  time.  See  2  Sam.  ix.  11,  13,  xix.  29  (28),  and  compare 
1  Kings  xviii.  19.  Lifted,  literally  magnified  or  made  great.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  XXXV.  26,  xxxviii.  17  (16).  The  act  described  seems  to  be  one  of 
contemptuous  violence,  but  probably  with  an  implicit  allusion  to  supplant- 
ing as  an  act  of  treachery.  'Our  Lord  applies  this  verse  expressly  to  him- 
self and  Judas  (John  xiii.  18),  which  shews  that  he  was  really  included  in 
the  class  to  which  the  psalm  relates.  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  he 
only  quotes  the  second  of  the  three  descriptive  phrases,  eating  my  bread, 
enjoying  my  society  and  subsisting  on  my  bountj^  while  he  omits  the  other 
two,  because  these  would  have  represented  Judas  as  his  friend,  and  one  in 
whom  he  trusted.  But  he  knew  from  the  beginning  who  it  was  that  should 
betray  him  (John  vi.  64).  This  accurate  distinction  seems  to  confirm  the 
assumption  that  the  psalm  has  a  generic  meaning,  and  is  only  applicable 
to  our  Saviour  as  the  most  illustrious  representative  of  the  class  which  it 
describes.  The  allusion  to  Judas  would  be  still  more  striking  if,  as  some 
suppose,  the  phrase  man  of  my  peace  had  reference  to  the  customary  use 
of  the  word  peace  in  salutation.     He  who  was  wont  to  wish  me  peace  or  to 


Psalm41:10-12  195 

say,  Peace  be  with  thee.     Compare  Mat.  xxvi.  49.     But  this,  although 
ingenious,  is  by  no  means  an  obvious  or  natural  interpretation. 

11  (10).  And  thou,  Jehovah,  have  mercy  upon  me,  and  cause  me  to  arise, 
<ind  I  will  repay  them.  The  connection  between  this  verse  and  the  one 
before  it  can  be  fully  expressed  in  English  only  by  a  but  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sentence.  The  pronoun  is  emphatic,  thou,  on  thy  part,  as  distin- 
guished from  these  spitefal  enemies.  He  here  resumes  the  prayer  begun 
in  ver.  5  (4),  and  interrupted  by  th?  description  of  the  maUce  of  his  enemies. 
Make  me  to  rise,  help  me  up  from  thi^  bed  of  weakness  and  suflfering,  with 
obvious  allusion  to  their  having  said  that  he  would  never  rise  again,  ver.  9 
(8).  "  0  Lord,  do  what  they  pronounce  impossible."  The  last  words  of 
this  verse  seem  at  first  sight  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  doctrine  of 
forgiveness,  as  laid  down  in  Mat.  v.  39,  40,  Kom.  xii.  19.  (Compare 
1  Pet.  ii.  23.)  But  as  this  is  also  an  Old  Testament  doctrine  (see  Prov. 
XX.  22),  as  David  himself  recognised  the  principle,  Ps.  vii.  5  (4),  and  acted 
on  it,  as  appears  from  2  Sam.  xix.  24  (23),  the  disagreement  can  be  only 
an  apparent  one.  It  may  be  partially  removed  by  observing  that  the 
speaker  here  is  neither  Christ  nor  David  in  his  proper  person,  but  an  ideal 
character,  representing  the  whole  class  of  righteous  sufferers,  so  that  what  is 
here  said  really  amounts  to  httle  more  than  a  prediction  that  the  malignant 
persecutors  of  this  class  shall  be  requited.  In  the  next  place,  let  it  be 
observed  that  it  is  not  said  how  he  will  repay  them,  whether  by  punish- 
ment or  by  heaping  coals  of  fire  upon  their  heads,  according  to  Solomon's 
and  Paul's  directions.  (Prov.  xxv.  21,  22,  Kom.  xii.  20,  21.)  Lastly, 
the  rule  laid  down  by  Christ  himself  admits  of  righteous  retribution,  not 
only  on  the  part  of  magistrates  and  rulers,  but  of  private  persons,  where 
the  means  employed  are  lawful  in  themselves,  and  where  their  use  is 
prompted,  not  by  selfish  pride  or  a  revengeful  malice,  but  by  a  desire  to 
prevent  a  greater  evil,  to  assert  God's  honour,  and  even  to  benefit  the 
offender  himself. 

12  (11).  By  this  have  I  knoun  that  thou  hast  delighted  in  me,  because 
m,y  enemy  is  not  to  triumph  over  me.  This  implies  a  previous  divine  assur- 
ance that  his  enemy  should  not  so  triumph.  For  a  similar  intimation,  see 
above,  Ps.  xx.  7  (6).  The  certainty  thus  afforded  is  expressed  by  the  past 
tenses  of  the  two  first  verbs.  "  Since  thou  hast  assured  me  that  my 
enemy  is  not  to  triumph  over  me,  I  know  already  that  thou  hast  even  here- 
tofore regarded  me  with  favour."  The  original  expression  is  a  very  strong 
one,  and  denotes  not  only  preference  but  warm  and  tender  affection.  See 
Gen.  xxxiv.  19,  where  it  first  occurs.  The  last  verb  means  properly  to 
shout  or  make  a  noise  as  a  sign  of  exultation,  more  especially  in  war. 
See  1  Sam.  xvii.  20. 

13  (12).  And  as  for  me — in  my  integrity  thou  hast  held  me,  and  hast 
made  me  stand  before  thy  face  for  ever.  The  first  phrase  literally  means 
and  I,  as  if  agreeing  with  some  verb  suppressed,  or  as  if  the  construction 
had  been  suddenly  changed  from  /  have  been  held  to  thou  hast  held  me. 
The  integrity  here  claimed  is  not  absolute  or  sinless  perfection,  as  appears 
from  the  confession  in  ver.  5  (4),  but  freedom  from  essential  or  fatal  defect. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  21-25  (20-24).  In  my  integrity,  not  simply  on 
account  of  it,  which  is  rather  implied  than  expressed,  but  in  the  possession 
and  exercise  of  it.  Thou  hast  held  may  either  mean  held  fast  or  held  up, 
but  the  first  seems  to  be  the  essential  meaning  of  the  verb,  and  really  involves 
or  at  least  suggests  the  other.  "  Thou  hast  so  held  me  fast  as  to  hold 
me  up.     By  retaining  thy  hold  upon  me  thou  hast  sustained  me."     Setting 


196  Psalm  4 1:1 3 

before  the  face  seems  here  to  mean  making  one  the  object  of  attention, 
keeping  constantly  in  view.  The  reciprocal  act  of  man  towards  God  is 
spoken  of  in  Ps.  xvi.  8.  As  man  sets  God  before  him  as  an  object  of  trust, 
so  God  sets  man  before  him  as  an  object  of  protection.  That  this  is  not 
to  be  a  transient  but  a  permanent  relation,  is  implied  in  the  future  form 
of  the  verb,  and  expressed  in  the  adverbial  phrase  for  ever. 

14  (13).  Blessed  (be)  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel,  from  everlasting  and  to 
everlasting.  Amen  and  Amen.  In  such  connections,  blessed  is  nearly 
synonymous  with  praised  or  glorified.  In  the  sense  of  happy,  the  Hebrew 
word  can  only  be  applied  to  creatures.  From  the  'perpetuity  (already  past) 
and  even  to  the  perpetuity  (to  come),  is  a  paradoxical  but  strong  expression  for 
unlimited  duration.  Amen  is  a  Hebrew  verbal  adjective  meaning  yir»?,  sure, 
certain,  true.  It  is  used  as  an  expression  of  assent,  just  as  we  use  right, 
good,  and  tnie  itself,  for  the  same  purpose.  It  was  uttered  by  the  people 
as  an  audible  response,  not  only  in  the  time  of  Moses  (Num.  v.  22,  Deut. 
xxvii.  15-26),  and  of  David  (1  Chron.  xvi.  36),  but  after  the  return  from 
exile  (Neh.  v.  13,  viii.  6),  and  under  the  New  Testament  (1  Cor.  xiv.  16). 
Its  repetition  here  and  elsewhere  simply  makes  it  more  emphatic  and  ex- 
pressive of  a  stronger  and  more  cordial  acquiescence.  The  doxology  before 
us  marks  the  close  of  the  first  of  the  five  books  into  which  the  Psalter  is- 
divided.     See  below,  on  Ps.  Ixxii.  19,  Ixxxix.  53  (52),  cvi.  48. 


Psalm  42 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  Maschil.  To  the  Sons  of  Korah.  The 
obvious  reference  to  personal  experience  and  feelings  in  this  psalm  made  it 
the  more  necessary  to  designate  it  as  a  maschil  or  didactic  psalm,  intended 
for  permanent  and  public  use.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxii.  1.  The  experience 
described  is  evidently  that  of  David,  and  most  probably  at  the  time  of  his 
exclusion  from  the  sanctuary  in  consequence  of  Absalom's  rebellion.  See 
2  Sam.  XV.  25.  The  only  doubt  is  whether  the  psalm  was  composed  by 
him  or  by  the  Sons  of  Korah,  These  were  a  Le%dtical  family  of  singers, 
1  Chron.  vi.  1,  7,  16  (16,  22,  31),  ix.  19,  xxvi.  1,  who  still  continued  that 
employment  in  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat,  as  appears  from  2  Chron.  xx.  19. 
This  being  their  office,  it  would  seem  more  natural  to  regard  them  as  the 
performers  rather  than  the  authors  of  the  psalm.  It  seems  improbable, 
moreover,  that  the  composition  should  be  ascribed  to  a  whole  class  or 
family.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Sons  of  Korah  are  here  separated  from  the 
Chief  Musician,  and  occupy  precisely  that  place  where  we  usually  find  the 
author's  name.  It  is  also  remarkable  that  we  never  find  the  Sons  of  Korah 
named  with  David  or  any  other  individual  author  except  Heman,  who  was 
probably  one  of  themselves.  See  below,  on  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  1.  If  he,  or  any 
other  of  the  Sons  of  Korah,  be  regarded  as  the  author  of  the  psalm  before 
us,  he  must  be  supposed  to  have  composed  it  in  the  person  of  David,  i.  e. 
to  express  David's  feelings  at  a  particular  juncture  of  his  history.  It  is, 
of  course,  a  much  more  obvious  supposition,  that  David  himself  wrote  it 
for  this  purpose.  Nor  can  the  intrinsic  probability  of  this  supposition  be 
destroyed,  although  it  may  undoubtedly  be  weakened,  by  the  difficulty  of 
accounting  for  the  fact,  that  David's  name  is  never  mentioned  in  the  titles 
of  any  of  the  eleven  psalms  inscribed  to  the  Sons  of  Korah.  The  psalm 
before  us  is  divided  by  its  structure  into  two  parts,  mai'ked  by  the  burden, 
or  refrain  in  ver.  6, 12  (5,  11).     In  the  first,  he  laments  his  exclusion  from. 


Psalm  42:1 -4  197 

God's  presence,  ver.  2,  3  (1,  2),  aggravated  by  the  taunts  of  his  enemies, 
and  the  recollection  of  his  former  privileges,  ver.  4  (3),  but  confidently 
anticipates  their  restoration,  and  calls  upon  his  soul  to  hope  and  trust  in 
God,  ver.  5,  6  (4,  5).  In  the  second,  he  goes  over  the  same  ground, 
though  not  in  the  same  words,  ver.  7,  11  (6,  10),  and  closes  with  the  same 
expression  of  confidence  as  before,  ver.  12  (11). 

2  (1).  As  a  hart  panteth  after  streams  of  water,  so  panteth  my  soul  for 
thee,  (0)  God.  The  first  noun  is  masculine  but  the  verb  feminine,  so  that 
we  may  either  read  hart  or  hind.  The  verb  occurs  only  here  and  in  Joel 
i.  20,  which  is  evidently  copied  from  the  verse  before  us.  The  allusion 
may  be  either  to  the  exhaustion  caused  by  flight,  or  to  the  natural  effects 
of  drought.  See  below,  on  Ps.  Ixiii.  2  (1).  The  essential  idea  is  that  of 
intense  desire  and  an  overwhelming  sense  of  want.  Streams  of  water,  water- 
brooks.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  16  (15). 

3  (2).  Thirsted  has  my  soul  for  God,  for  the  living  God.  When  shall  I 
come  and  appear  before  God  ?  The  past  tense  of  the  first  verb  shews  that 
he  is  not  expressing  a  desire  just  conceived  for  the  first  time,  but  one  with 
which  he  is  already  familiar.  Of  the  two  divine  names  here  used,  one 
(Elohim)  describes  God  as  an  object  of  religious  worship,  the  other  (El)  as 
a  Being  of  infinite  power.  He  is  Living  and  Mighty,  as  distinguished  from 
imaginary  deities,  and  from  impotent  and  hfeless,  idols.  When  shall  I 
come  /  implies  a  local,  bodily  approach,  and  this  agrees  with  the  following 
phrase,  appear  before  God,  which  is  the  technical  expression  in  the  Law  for 
stated  appearance  at  the  sanctuary,  except  that  the  divine  name  Jehovah  is 
exchanged  for  Elohim,  which  occurs  ten  times  in  this  psalm,  and  Jehovah 
only  once. 

4  (3).  My  tears  have  been  my  bread  day  and  night,  in  (their)  saying  to  me 
all  the  day,  Where  {is)  thy  God  ?  The  word  translated  tears  is  the  collective 
term  used  in  Ps.  xxxix  13  (12).  The  Hebrew  verb  is  in  the  singular. 
"  My  weeping  has  been  my  bread,"  i.  e.  my  food.  "  Instead  of  eating  I 
have  wept."  See  below,  Ps.  cii.  5  (4),  and  compare  1  Sam.  i.  7,  Job 
iii.  24.  Day  and  night,  all  the  day,  are  strong  but  common  phrases  for  con- 
tinually, constantly.  See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  2.  In  saying,  i.  e.  in  the  time 
of  saying,  whUe  it  is  said.  Or  a  pronoun  may  be  supplied,  in  (their)  saying, 
while  they  say,  i.  e.  his  enemies.  Where  is  thy  God  /  The  very  question 
is  an  indirect  assertion  that  God  had  forsaken  him.  See  above,  Ps.  iii.  3  (2), 
xxii.  9  (8),  and  below,  Ps.  Ixxi.  11,  cxv.  2,  and  compare  Joelii.  17.  The 
words  of  Shimei  may  have  been  present  to  the  mind  of  David.  See  2  Sam. 
xvi.  7,  8. 

5  (4).  These  (things)  I  will  remember  and  will  pour  out  upon  me  my 
soul,  when  I  pass  in  the  crowd,  (when)  I  march  (vnth)  them  up  to  the  house 
of  God,  with  the'voice  of  joy  and  praise,  with  festive  noise  (or  tximult).  This 
is  the  only  construction  of  the  sentence  which  gives  the  future  forms  their 
proper  force  instead  of  converting  them  into  past  tenses,  which  is  wholly 
arbitrary,  and  therefore  ungrammatical.  If  the  last  clause  contained  a 
reminiscence  of  his  former  privileges,  there  was  nothing  whatever  to  prevent 
the  use  of  the  preterite  forms.  2'hese  things,  not  his  former  enjoyments, 
but  his  present  sufferings.  /  will  remember,  I  am  determined  so  to  do, 
this  idea  being  suggested  by  the  very  form  of  the  Hebrew  verb.  If  the 
verse  related  only  to  the  past,  this  strong  expression  would  be  out  of  place. 
The  act  of  reflection  or  self-introversion  is  expressed  by  the  stong  figure  of 
pouring  out  his  soul  upon  himself,  which  at  the  same  time  suggests  the 
idea  of  lively  emotion  ;  not  necessarily  of  grief,  as  in  Job.  xxx.  16,  but  of 


198  Psalm  42:5, 6 

mingled  joy  and  sadness  in  the  recollection  of  past  sufferings  and  deliver- 
ances, just  as  we  might  speak  of  a  man's  heart  being  melted,  either  with 
Borrow  or  gratitude,  or  both.  When  I  pass,  or  still  more  literally,  for  I 
shall  pass,  which  in  that  case  expresses  the  confident  expectation  of  a  favour- 
able issue.  Pass,  i.  e.  pass  along  in  solemn  procession.  The  crowd,  or 
throng,  the  Hebrew  word  suggesting,  by  its  etymological  affinities,  the  idea 
of  a  thicket,  and  then  of  a  confused  mass.  The  verb  translated  march 
occurs  only  here  and  in  Isa.  xxxviii.  15,  where  it  seems  to  be  borrowed 
from  the  place  before  us.  Its  construction  is  like  that  of  the  EngUsh  march,. 
which,  though  commonly  intransitive,  in  some  cases  governs  the  noun 
directly.  If  we  render  it  here,  I  shall  march  them,  it  conveys  the  additional 
idea  of  conducting  as  well  as  joining  the  procession.  Up  to,  a  stronger 
expression  than  to,  implying  actual  arrival  at  the  place  in  question.  The 
use  of  music  in  the  processions  to  the  temple  may  be  inferred  from  2  Sam. 
vi.  6.  The  word  translated  noise  or  tumult  may  also  mean  the  multitude 
by  whom  it  is  produced.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  16,  xxxix.  7  (6).  But 
the  other  is  the  primary  meaning  and  agrees  best  with  the  parallel  expres- 
sions. The  last  word  in  Hebrew  means  originally  dancing  (1  Sam.  xxx.  16), 
but  with  special  reference  to  its  ceremonial  use,  as  an  expression  of  rehgious 
joy  (2  Sam.  vi.  14). 

6  (5).  Why  art  thou  cast  dmvn,  (0)  my  soul,  and  why  art  thou  dis- 
quieted within'me  ?  Wait  thou  for  God,  for  I  shall  yet  thank  him  {for)  the 
salvations  of  his  face  (or  presence).  The  Psalmist's  faith  addresses  his  un- 
believing fear,  as  if  it  were  another  person.  The  question  involves  a 
reproof,  as  if  he  had  said,  thou  hast  no  reason  to  be  thus  dejected.  Why, 
literally  what,  i.  e.  for  what  cause,  or  on  what  account.  Art  thou,  literally 
wilt  thou  he  ?  Why  vrilt  thou  persevere  in  this  extreme  and  gratuitous  de- 
jection ?  The  form  of  the  Hebrew  verb  is  reflexive,  why  wilt  thou  deject 
thyself,  implying,  still  more  strongly  than  before,  that  the  dejection  was  a 
voluntary  one,  and  therefore  culpable.  Disquieted,  the  same  verb  that  is 
used  in  Ps.  xxxix.  7  (6),  and  the  root  of  the  noun  meaning  noise  or  multitude 
in  ver.  5  (4)  above.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  it  denotes,  not  mere  uneasiness, 
but  violent  agitation,  and  is  sometimes  appUed  to  the  commotion  of  the  sea. 
See  below,  on  Ps.  xlvi.  4  (3),  and  compare  Jer.  v.  22.  Within  me,  literally 
upon  me,  as  in  the  foregoing  verse.  Wait  for  God,  i.  e.  for  the  fulfilment 
of  his  promises,  implying  confidence  and  hope.  The  verb  translated  thank 
means  strictly  to  acknowledge,  and  is  applied  both  to  the  confession  of  sin 
and  to  the  thankful  acknowledgment  of  benefits  received.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxx.  5  (4),  xxxii.  5.  Salvations,  frequent  or  complete  dehverance.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  51  (50).  His  face,  his  propitious  countenance  or  aspect, 
with  allusion  to  the  benediction  in  Num.  vi.  25,  26.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
iv.  7  (6),  xvi.  11,  xvii.  15,  xxxi.  17  (16).  The  determination  to  thank 
God  for  his  goodness  implies  a  confident  expectation  that  it  will  be  exercised. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  8  (7). 

7  (6).  My  God,  upon  me  is  my  soul  cast  down.  Therefore  I  will  remem- 
ber thee  from  the  land  of  Jordan  and  the  Hermons,  from  the  hill  Mizar.  In 
spite  of  his  expostulations,  his  dejection  still  continues,  and  can  only  be  re- 
moved or  mitigated  by  a  more  direct  recollection  of  what  God  is,  and  has 
done  for  him,  and  of  the  mutual  relation  stiU  subsisting  between  them. 
Upon  me,  as  in  the  two  preceding  verses.  Here  perhaps  the  phrase  may 
be  intended  to  suggest,  that  reliance  on  himself  only  deepened  his  dejection, 
and  compelled  him  to  repose  his  trust  on  some  other  and  more  sure  found- 
ation.    Is  cast  down,  will  be  so,  unless  and  until  thou  hft  it  up.     From  the 


Psalm  42:7,  8  199 

land  implies  that  he  was  there  excluded  from  God's  presence  by  exclusion 
from  his  sanctuary.  The  indefinite  expression,  land  of  Jordan,  i.  e.  the 
tract  through  which  it  flows,  as  we  say  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  is 
referred  specially  to  the  eastern  side  by  the  mention  of  the  Hermons,  i.  e.  as 
some  suppose  mount  Hermon,  and  the  other  mountains  upon  that  side  of 
the  river,  just  as  Baalim  means  Baal,  and  other  idols  worshipped  with  him 
(1  Kings  xviii.  18),  or  more  probably  moimt  Hermon,  considered  not  as  a 
single  eminence,  but  a  chain  or  range  like  the  Alps,  the  AUeghanies,  &c. 
In  either  case  it  is  put  for  the  whole  region  east  of  Jordan,  which  did  not 
properly  belong  to  Canaan  or  the  Holy  Land.  (See  Josh.  xxii.  11).  In 
this  wide  sense  the  expression  might  be  used  by  David,  even  in  reference  to 
his  abode  at  Mahanaim,  north  of  the  Jabbok,  on  the  borders  of  Gad  and 
Manasseh  (2  Sam.  xvii.  24,  27,  1  Kings  ii.  8).  Mizar,  Httle  or  Uttleness. 
Whether  this  be  taken  as  a  proper  name,  of  which  there  is  no  trace  else- 
where, or  as  a  descriptive  epithet,  it  seems  to  be  contemptuous. 

8  (7).  Deep  unto  deep  (is)  calling  at  the  voice  of  thy  waterspouts  ;  all  thy 
allows  and  thy  waves  over  me  have  passed.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew  seems 
to  denote  strictly  a  great  body  of  water,  and  in  that  sense  is  apphed  to  the 
ocean — see  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  7  (6) — and  also  to  its  waves.  It  may  here 
mean  either  a  wave  of  a  flood.  The  participle  (calling)  represents  the 
scene  as  actually  passing.  The  idea  may  be  simply,  that  they  respond  to 
one  another's  noise,  or  more  emphatically,  that  each  wave  invites  or  sum- 
mons another  to  succeed  it.  For  a  somewhat  similar  expression  see  above, 
Ps.  xix.  3  (2).  Voice,  i.  e.  sound  or  noise.  The  Hebrew  word  is  less  re- 
stricted in  its  application  than  the  Enghsh,  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  even 
to  assume  a  personification.  The  next  word,  in  the  only  other  place  where 
it  occurs  (2  Sam.  v.  8),  has  the  hteral  meaning  of  a  water- spout  or  gutter. 
It  may  here  denote  the  continued  streams  of  rain  poured  upon  the  earth. 
The  sense  of  water-falls  or  cataracts,  although  supported  by  the  ancient 
versions,  has  no  foundation  in  etymology  or  usage.  The  idea  that  David 
here  alludes  to  the  water-falls  of  Lebanon,  by  which  he  was  surrounded, 
rests  on  a  false  interpretation  of  ver.  7  (6),  which,  as  we  have  seen,  con- 
tains a  general  description  of  the  country  east  of  Jordan,  called  in  later 
times  Perea.  Billows  and  waves,  Uterally  breakers  and  rollers,  i.  e.  masses 
of  water  rolling  towards  the  shore  and  broken  on  it.  Throughout  this  verse 
there  is  an  obvious  allusion  to  the  imiversal  deluge,  as  there  is  in  Ps. 
xxix.  11  (10),  xxxii.  6,  and  often  elsewhere. 

9  (8).  By  day  will  Jehovah  command  his  mercy,  and  by  night  his  song  with 
me,  a  jyrayer  to  the  God  of  my  life.  Notwithstanding  his  distresses  he  is 
still  convinced  that  God  has  not  forsaken  him.  By  day  and  night  some 
understand  prosperity  and  adversity  ;  but  they  are  probably  put  together  to 
denote  all  time,  the  opposition  between  song  and  prayer  being  merely  rhyth- 
mical, i.  e.  occasioned  by  the  parallelism.  Compare  Ps.  xcii.  3  (2).  Com- 
mand his  mercy,  i.  e.  exercise  it  authoritatively,  or  as  a  sovereign.  His  so7ig, 
a  song  of  praise  to  him,  implying  the  experience  of  his  goodness,  even  in  a 
season  of  distress.  Compare  Job  xxxv.  10.  These  words  may  be  governed 
by  the  verb  of  the  first  clause,  he  will  command  his  song  (to  be)  with  me,  he 
will  give  me  occasion  to  sing  his  praise,  or  construed  with  the  substantive 
verb  understood,  his  song  (shall  be)  with  me.  The  God  of  my  life  may  be 
explained  to  mean  my  God  of  life,  i.  e.  my  living  God.  Compare  the  hill  of 
my  holiness — my  bill  of  holiness — my  holy  hill,  Ps.  ii.  6.  It  is  more  natural, 
however,  to  understand  by  the  God  of  my  life  the  God  to  whom  my  life  be- 
longs, upon  whom  it  depends,  and  who  is  bound  to  protect  it.     "A  prayer 


200  Psalm  42:9-1] 

to  him  who  is  hy  creation  the  author,  and  by  covenant  the  preserver  of  my 
hfe." 

10  (9).  I  will  say  to  God,  my  rock,  uhy  hast  thou  forgotten  me  ?  Why 
go  I  mourning  in  the  oppression  of  the  enemy  ?  This  expostulation  may  be 
regarded  as  a  part  or  a  sample  of  the  prayer  which  God  enabled  him  to 
offer,  even  in  the  midst  of  his  afflictions.  The  divine  name  here  used  is 
(Vi<)  the  one  significant  of  strength.     My  rock,  my  refuge,  my  protector, 

and  the  foundation  of  my  hope.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  3  (2).  Why  go 
I?  more  exactly,  why  shall  or  must  I  go  ?  Mourning,  literally  squalid, 
dirty.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  14,  xxxviii.  7  (6).  In  the  oppression,  may 
either  mean  during  its  continuance,  or  in  consequence  of  it,  or  rather  both 
ideas  are  included. 

11  (10).  With  murder  in  my  hones,  my  enemies  have  taunted  me,  in  their 
saying  to  me  all  the  day,  ivJiere  is  thy  God?  The  strong  expression  in  the 
first  clause  is  intended  to  denote  excruciating  pain.  31y  enemies,  oppressors, 
or  persecutors,  as  the  Hebrew  word  denotes.  Taunted  me,  a  stronger  ex- 
pression than  reproach  or  reviled  me,  implying  scorn  as  well  as  anger  and 
hatred.  In  their  saying,  i.  e.  by  their  saying  and  while  they  say,  as  in  the 
foregoing  verse.  All  the  day,  continually.  See  above,  on  ver.  9  (8). 
Where  is  thy  God  ?     See  above,  on  ver.  4  (3). 

12  (11).  Why  art  thou, cast  down,  (0)  my  soul,  and  why  art  thou  dis- 
quieted within  one.  Hope  thou  in  God,  for  1  shall  yet  thank  him  (as)  the 
help  of  my  countenance  and  my  God.  As  usual  in  such  cases,  there  is  a 
slight  variation  in  the  burden  or  refrain  from  that  in  ver.  6  (5).  See 
above  on  Ps.  xxiv.  7-10.  Instead  of  the  salvations  of  his  face  we  have  here 
the  salvations  of  my  face.  The  attempt  to  assimilate  the  two  expressions, 
by  an  emendation  of  the  text,  is  not  only  destitute  of  all  authority  and 
evidence,  but  forbidden  by  the  general  practice  of  the  sacred  writers  in  re- 
peating the  expressions  either  of  themselves  or  others.  27ie  salvations  of 
m,y  face  is  a  bold  and  imusual  expression,  which  appears  to  mean  such  de- 
liverances or  such  abundant  help  as  clears  up  and  illuminates  the  counte- 
nance before  clouded  and  dejected.  And  my  God  is  not  an  unmeaning  or 
gratuitous  addition,  but  has  reference  to  the  taunting  question  in  the  pre- 
ceding verse.  Where  is  thy  God?  As  if  he  had  said,  "  Behold  him,  he  is 
here.  My  God  is  he  who  dissipates  my  clouds  and  animates  my  hopes, 
and  raises  me  superior  to  the  sneers  as  well  as  to  the  fury  of  my  enemies." 
While  this  variation  relieves  the  repetition  from  entire  sameness,  the  repe- 
tition itself  brings  the  second  strophe  and  the  whole  psalm  to  a  striking  and 
symmetrical  conclusion. 


Psalm  43 

A  SUFFERER  prays  to  be  delivered  from  unjust  and  treacherous  enemies, 
ver.  1-3,  expresses  a  confident  assurance  that  his  request  will  be  granted, 
ver.  4,  and  upbraids  himself  for  his  despondency  and  unbelief,  ver.  5. 

As  the  last  verse  is  identical  with  that  of  the  preceding  psalm,  and  the 
last  clause  of  ver.  2  nearly  so  with  that  of  Ps.  xlii.  10  (9),  some  have 
inferred  that  this  is  really  the  third  stanza  or  strophe  of  that  psalm, 
separated  from  it  by  mistake.  But  the  difficulty  of  accounting  for  such  a 
mistake,  a  difficulty  aggravated  by  the  resemblance  of  the  compositions, 
together  with  a  very  perceptible  difference  in  the  general  tone  of  the  two 


Psalm  43:1 -3  201 

psalms,  makes  it  far  more  probable  that  it  is  a  supplementary  psalm,  com- 
posed by  the  same  person,  or  in  imitation  of  him,  on  a  diflferent  occasion. 
The  union  of  the  two  in  more  than  thirty  Hebrew  manuscripts,  only  shews 
that  their  transcribers  drew  the  same  hasty  conclusion  that  has  since  been 
drawn  by  many  interpreters,  and  is  much  more  easily  explained  than  the 
division  of  the  psalms  in  all  the  other  copies,  on  the  contrary  hypothesis. 
Their  juxtaposition  in  the  Psalter  is  owing  not  merely  to  their  mutual  re- 
semblance, but  to  the  fact  that  one  was  actually  written  as  an  appendix  or 
continuation  of  the  other.  The  same  hypothesis  sufficiently  accounts  for 
the  absence  of  a  title  or  inscription  in  the  psahn  before  us. 

1.  Judge  me,  (0)  God,  i.  e.  do  me  justice,  vindicate  my  innocence,  exercise 
thy  righteousness  in  my  behalf.  See  above,  on  Ps.  x.  18,  xxvi.  1.  And 
2Jlead  my  cause,  literally  strive  my  strife,  but  with  particular  allusion  to  Hti- 
gious  or  forensic  contest.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  1.  Against  an  ungodly 
nation,  literally  from  one  ;  the  idea  of  deliverance,  as  the  necessary  con- 
sequence of  God's  being  his  advocate,  is  here  implied,  and  afterwards  ex- 
pressed.    The  word  nations  (D^iil)  being  constantly  applied  to  the  gentiles 

or  heathen,  the  use  of  the  singular  in  reference  to  Israel  always  conveys  an 
idea  of  reproach.  Compare  Isa.  i.  4.  Ungodly,  more  exactly  not  merci- 
ful, the  Hebrew  word  denoting  both  the  object  and  the  subject  of  benignant 
pity.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  28.  From  a  man  of  fraud.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  V.  7  (6).  And  iniquity,  or  more  precisely,  perverseness,  moral 
obUquity.  Thou  wilt  deliver  me.  This  is  strictly  an  expression  of  strong 
confidence,  but  really  includes  the  prayer,  deliver  thou  me. 

2.  For  thou  art  the  God  of  my  strength.  The  last  word  means  properly 
my  place  of  strength,  my  stronghold,  or  my  fortress.  See  above  on  Ps. 
xxvii.  1.  For  what  [cause)  hast  thou  cast  me  off,  renounced,  rejected  me  ? 
The  original  expression  is  a  very  strong  one,  and  imphes  disgust  or  loath- 
ing. Compare  Kev.  iii.  16.  {Why)  do  I  go,  or  more  exactly,  shalll,mmt 
I  go,  i.  e.  go  about,  in  diflerent  directions.  The  verb  is  an  intensive  form 
of  that  used  in  Ps.  xlii.  10  (9),  and  occurs  above,  in  Ps.  xxxv.  14,  in  the 
same  connection  as  here.  Mourning,  with  special  reference  to  the  neglect 
of  neatness,  both  in  dress  and  person,  as  a  customary  sign  of  grief.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  14,  xxxviii.  7  (6),  xlii.  10  (9).  In  {i.  e.  during  and 
because  of)  the  oppression  (persecution)  of  th6  enemy.  All  this  is  indirectly 
represented  as  inconsistent  with  the  covenant  relation  he  sustains  to  God. 

3.  Send,  i.  e.  send  forth  out  from  thy  presence.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv. 
7,  XX.  3  (2).  Thy  light,  the  light  of  thy  countenance,  thy  favourable 
aspect,  as  in  Ps.  iv.  7  (6),  or  more  generally,  light,  as  the  opposite  of 
darkness,  and  a  figure  for  relief  from  that  of  which  darkness  is  the  emblem, 
to  wit,  danger  and  distress.  And  thy  truth,  thy  veracity,  thy  faithfulness, 
the  certain  fulfilment  of  thy  promises.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  5,  xxvi.  3, 
XXX.  10  (9).  To  send  it  out  is  to  exercise  this  attribute,  to  manifest  it  in 
act,  by  performing  his  engagements.  They,  with  emphasis  on  the  pronoun, 
which  is  otherwise  superfluous  in  Hebrew,  they  and  no  other,  nothing  else. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiii.  4.  Shall  guide  (conduct  or  lead)  me,  or  giving  the 
future  an  optative  meaning,  which  is  certainly  implied  in  this  connection, 
let  them  lead  me.  They  shall  cause  me  to  come  (or  let  them  bring  me)  to  thy 
hill  of  holiness  [thy  holy  hill)  and  to  thy  dwellings,  or  thy  tabernacles,  as  the 
Hebrew  word  is  specially  applied  to  the  Mosaic  sanctuary  (Ex.  xxv.  9, 
Num.  i.  60).  This  petition  seems  to  imply  a  previous  exclusion  from  it, 
and  thereby  shews  that  the  historical  occasion  of  the  psalm,  if  not  the 
same,  was  similar  to  that  of  the  forty-second.     The  form  of  expression 


202  Psalm  4  3:4, 5 

seems  to  be  borrowed  from  Exod.  xv.  13.  The  mention  of  the  tabernacle 
and  the  holy  hill,  i.  e.  moimt  Zion,  shews  that  the  psalm  is  neither  earlier 
nor  later  than  the  times  of  David  and  Solomon,  before  whom  there  was  no 
holy  hill,  and  after  whom  there  was  no  tabernacle.  This  strengthens  the 
presumption  that  David  was  himself  the  author  of  both  psalms. 

4.  And  I  shall  come,  as  an  expression  of  strong  confidence  that  God  will 
save  him  from  his  present  troubles,  or  I  uill  come,  as  the  expression  of  a 
purpose,  amounting  to  a  vow  or  solemn  promise.  Both  these  ideas,  though 
requiring  a  slight  variation  of  expression  in  our  idiom,  would  be  necessarily 
suggested  to  a  Hebrew  reader  by  the  original  verb,  th^  paragogic  form  of 
which,  however,  shews  that  the  second  is  the  primary  idea.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xlii.  5  (4).  To  the  altar  of  God  (Elohim),  as  the  place  of  sacrifice 
here  put  for  the  whole  sanctuary.  To  God  (El)  the  gladness  of  my  joy,  my 
joyous  gladness,  the  author  and  the  object  of  my  highest  exultation.  And 
I  will  thank  thee,  praise  thee  for  thy  benefits,  uith  a  harp  ("1^32),  the  instru- 
ment on  which  David's  history  describes  him  as  excelling.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxxiii.  2,  and  compare  1  Sam.  xvi.  16,  23.  What  he  here  vows  is  not 
mere  private  praise,  but  participation  in  the  public  praises  of  the  sanctuary. 
God,  my  God.  Not  merely  God  in  general,  but  my  God  in  particular. 
Either  expression  by  itself  would  have  been  insuflicient  to  express  the  whole 
idea,  God  being  too  vague,  my  God  too  restricted,  whereas  the  combination 
of  the  two  implies  that  his  God  was  not  a  personal,  domestic,  or  national 
divinity,  but  the  supreme  God. 

5.  Why  crrt  thou  cast  doun,  literally  why  tcilt  thou  deject  thyself,  implying 
self-rebuke  for  an  unreasonable  and  untimely  sadness.  (0)  my  soul,  which 
is  really  equivalent  to  myself.  And  why  art  thou  disquieted,  why  wilt  thou 
be  agitated  by  these  anxious  doubts  and  groundless  fears  ?  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xlii.  6  (6).  Within  me,  literally  wpon  me,  as  if  his  unbelieving  fears 
weighed  upon  him  as  a  heavy  burden.  Hope  thou  in  God,  or  more  exactly, 
wait  thou  for  him,  for  his  appearance,  for  his  help,  for  the  fulfilment  of  his 
promise.  This,  he  is  confident,  will  come  at  last.  For  I  shall  yet  praise 
him,  thank  him,  or  acknowledge  his  kindness.  (As)  the  health  of  my  coun- 
tenance, or  more  exactly,  the  salvations  of  my  face,  the  salvations  which  are 
yet  to  cheer  my  clouded  aspect  and  lift  up  my  dejected  countenance.  The 
exact  coincidence  of  this  verse  with  the  last  of  the  preceding  psalm,  so  far 
from  proving  it  to  be  a  part  of  it,  rather  proves  the  contrary,  for  reasons 
which  have  been  already  stated  in  the  exposition  of  Ps.  xlii.  12  (11). 

Psalm  44 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  To  the  Sons  of  Korah.  Maschil.  The  same 
question  here  arises  as  in  Ps.  xlii.,  as  to  the  sense  in  which  the  psabn  is 
ascribed  to  the  Sons  of  Korah.  For  the  reasons  there  assigned,  it  is,  on 
the  whole,  most  probable  that  David  is  the  author,  however  difiicult  it  may 
be  to  accoimt  for  the  omission  of  his  name  in  the  inscription,  and  the  appear- 
ance of  the  sons  of  Korah  in  the  place  which  it  usually  occupies.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xHi.  1.  The  addition  of  Maschil,  i.  e.  a  didactic  psalm,  is  meant  to 
shew  that  though  occasioned  by  a  particular  event,  perhaps  the  same  as  in 
Ps.  Ix.,  it  was  composed  and  left  on  record  for  the  permanent  use  and  edifi- 
cation of  God's  people.  See  above,  onPs.  xxxii.  1.  The  train  of  thought 
is  marked  with  unusual  distinctness.  God  was,  in  ancient  times,  the  pro- 
tector and  deliverer  of  Israel,  ver.  2-5  (1-4).     He  is  still  their  national 


Psalm  44:1-4  203 

and  covenanted  God,  ver.  6-10  (5-9).  But  he  seems  to  have  given  them 
up  totheir  enemies,  ver.  11-18  (10-17).  Yet  Israel  still  cleaves  to  him 
and  suffers  for  his  sake,  ver.  19-23  (18-22).  He  is  therefore  importuned 
to  reappear  for  their  deliverance,  ver.  24-27  (23-26).  The  state  of  things 
described  and  the  sentiments  expressed  in  this  psalm,  do  not  afford  the 
slightest  reason  for  referring  it  to  any  later  period  than  that  of  David,  when 
the  same  occasions  of  complaint  and  importunity  were  in  existence, 
although  not  to  so  great  an  extent  as  afterwards. 

2  (1).  0  God,  with  our  ears  have  we  heard,  our  fathers  have  recounted  to 
us,  the  work  thou  didst  work  in  their  days,  in  the  days  of  old.  What  they 
had  heard  with  their  ears  is  tacitly  contrasted  with  the  very  different  things 
which  they  had  seen  with  their  eyes.  See  below,  Ps.  xlviii.  9  (8),  and 
compare  Judges  vi.  13,  2  Chron.  xx,  7,  Hab.  iii.  2.  Our  fathers  have  told  us, 
as  enjoined  or  predicted  in  Exod.  x.  2.  The  verb  means  properly  to  county 
and  then  to  recount  or  relate,  with  particular  reference  to  the  detailed  enu- 
meration of  particulars.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  7.  The  last  clause  may  be 
construed  as  a  separate  proposition.  A  work  thou  didst  work,  &c.  But 
this  leaves  the  active  verbs  of  the  first  clause  without  a  grammatical  object. 
The  emphatic  combination  of  the  verb  and  its  derivative  noun  is  greatly 
weakened  in  the  EngHsh  Bible,  what  work  thou  didst,  and  still  more  in  the 
Prayer-book  version,  what  thou  hast  done.  The  particular  work  meant,  as 
appears  from  what  follows,  is  the  conquest  of  Canaan  and  the  settlement  of 
Israel  in  it. 

3  (2).  Thou  (with)  thy  hand  didst  nations  dispossess  and  plant  them,  didst 
crush  peoples  and  extend  them.  This,  though  a  literal  translation,  is  obscure 
in  English,  because  the  pronoun  them  in  both  clauses  refers  to  Israel.  In 
the  second  clause  it  might  indeed  have  reference  to  the  Canaanites,  and  the 
verb  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  sending  out,  expelling,  as  in  Gen.  iii.  23, 
1  Kings  ix.  7,  Isa.  1.  1.  But  as  it  is  also  used  to  signify  the  sending  out 
of  shoots  or  branches  by  a  tree  or  vine,  Ps.  Ixxx.  12  (11),  Jer.  xvii.  8, 
Ezek.  xvii.  6,  7,  xxxi.  5,  the  parallelism  seems  decisive  in  favour  of  that 
meaning  here.  The  verb  translated  dispossess  means  properly  to  cause  to 
inherit,  but  is  sometimes  applied  to  the  substitution  of  one  heir  or  possessor 
for  another.  See  Exod.  xxxiv.  24,  Num.  xxxii.  21,  xxxiii.  52,  Deut.  iv.  38. 
The  verb  translated  crush  may  simply  mean  to  injure;  but  the  stronger 
sense  is  here  entitled  to  the  preference. 

4  (3).  For  not  with  (heir  suord  did  they  possess  the  land,  and  their  (own) 
arm  did  not  save  them;  for  (it  was)  thy  right  hand,  and  thy  arm,  and  the 
light  of  thy  countenance  ;  for  thou  didst  favour  them.  The /or  at  the  begin- 
ning introduces  the  proof  or  amplification  of  the  general  statement  in  the 
preceding  verse,  that  it  was  God  who  planted  and  settled  them.  Save  them, 
literally  to  or  for  them.  i.  e.  did  not  bring  deliverance  to  them,  or  work  out 
deliverance  for  them.     The  translation  of  the  second  ^3  by  hut  gives  the 

sense  but  not  the  form  of  the  original,  as  the  use  of  the  particle,  in  its  strict 
sense,  just  before  and  after,  forbids  our  taking  the  intermediate  one  in  any 
other.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Josh.  xxiv.  12  with  the  last  clause, 
Ps.  iv.  7  (6). 

5  (4).  Thou  art  He,  my  King,  (0)  God  I  Command  deliverances  for 
Jacob.  The  form  of  expression  in  the  first  clause  is  highly  idiomatic  and 
somewhat  obscure.  It  may  either  mean,  "  Thou  who  hast  done  aU  this 
art  still  my  king,"  or  "  Thou  art  he  who  is  my  king,"  which  last  may  be 
thus  resolved  into  the  English  idiom,  "  It  is  thou  who  art  my  king."  Com- 
pare 2  Sam.  vii.  28,  1  Chron.  xxi.  17.     The  church  here  claims  the  same 


204  Psalm44:5-10 

relation  to  Jehovah  that  was  sustained  by  the  former  generations  of  his 
people.  The  last  clause  may  also  be  translated,  order  the  salvations  of  Jacob, 
i.  e.  cause  them  to  take  place  and  regulate  them  by  thy  providence.  The 
personal  name  of  the  patriarch  is  poetically  substituted  for  his  official  title 
as  the  father  of  the  chosen  people.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  6. 

6  (5).  In  thee  our  adversaries  will  we  push;  in  thy  name  will  we  trample 
our  assailants.  The  hopes  of  Israel  still  rely  upon  that  power  which  expelled 
the  Canaanites.  The  word  translated  adversaries  properly  means  those  who 
press,  oppress,  or  persecute.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  2  (1),  and  compare  Ps, 
xiii.  5  (4),  xxvii.  2,  12.  Our  assailants,  literally  our  risers  up,  those 
rising  up  against  us.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  40  (39),  and  compare  Deut. 
xxxiii.  11.  The  verb  in  the  first  clause  means  specifically  to  push  with  the 
horns,  to  toss,  or  gore.  See  Exod.  xxi.  28-32,  and  compare  Deut.  xxxiii, 
17,  1  Kings  xxii.  11.  In  thy  name,  not  merely  by  thy  authority,  or  as  thy 
representatives,  but  in  thyself,  in  union  and  communion  with  thee.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11),  xviii.  30  (29).  The  meaning  of  the  future  verbs 
in  this  connection  is,  that  they  will  triumph,  if  at  all,  in  this  way.  They 
must  prevail  thus  or  be  vanquished. 

7  (6).  For  not  in  my  how  will  I  trust,  and  my  sword  will  (or  can)  not 
save  me.  "  What  was  true  of  my  fathers  is  equally  true  of  me.  As  they 
did  not  prevail  by  their  own  strength,  neither  can  I  hope  to  prevail  by 
mine." 

8  (7).  In  God  have  we  praised  all  the  day,  and  thy  name  unto  eternity 
will  we  acknowledge.  Selah.  The  construction  in  the  first  clause,  although 
foreign  from  our  idiom,  is  more  expressive  than  the  simple  phrase,  we  have 
praised  God.  It  names  God  first,  as  the  object  in  which  the  occasion  and 
the  theme  of  praise  had  been  sought  and  found.  "  It  is  in  God  that  we 
find  the  subject  of  our  praises."  The  common  version  (boasted)  confounds 
the  verb  here  used  with  another  derivative  of  the  same  root.  Thy  name, 
thy  manifested  nature.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11).  To  eternity,  or 
perpetuity,  for  ever.  All  the  day  (long),  i.  e.  always.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
XXV.  5,  xlii.  11  (10).  Acknowledge,  i.  e.  gratefully  give  thanks.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5). 

9  (8).  For  thou  hast  saved  us  from  our  adversaries,  and  our  haters  (or 
those  hating  us)  hast  shamed.  The  preterites  in  this  verse  are  explanatory 
of  the  futures  in  the  one  before  it.  "  We  will  not  rely  upon  ourselves 
hereafter,  because  it  is  thou  who  hast  helped  us  heretofore."  This  logical 
relation  of  the  verses  is  destroyed  by  confounding  the  preterites  and  futures 
with  each  other,  or  explaining  both  as  presents.  Shamed,  i.  e.  defeated, 
disappointed.     See  above,  on  Ps.  \i.  11  (10),  xiv.  6. 

10  (9).  Nay,  thou  hast  rejected  and  disgraced  us,  and  thou  wilt  not  go 
forth  with  our  hosts.     The  particle  at  the  beginning  (C]M)  implies  something 

more  than  a  negation  of  the  favours  just  described,  "  But  now  thou  dost 
not  so  deal  with  us  ;  nay  more,  thou  hast  rejected  us."  This  Hebrew  verb 
impUes  disgust  and  abhorrence.  See  above;  on  Ps,  xliii.  2.  The  other 
verb  means  to  put  to  shame,  to  cover  with  disgrace,  as  in  Ps.  xxxv.  4,  xl. 
15  (14).  The  past  tense  of  the  first  verbs  implies  that  the  rejection  was 
already  manifest ;  the  future  following  implies  an  apprehension  that  it  would 
continue.  Go  out  with  our  hosts,  as  a  guide,  a  commander,  and  an  ally. 
Compare  2  Sam,  v.  24. 

11  (10).  Thou  toilt  make  vs  turn  hack  from  the  adversary,  and  (already) 
those  hating  us  have  plundered  for  them,  i.  e.  for  themselves.  Two  of  the 
most  unwelcome  incidents  of  warfare  are  here  specified,  flight  and  spolia- 


Psalm44:ll-18  205 

tion.     Spoiled  for  tlicmselves,  not  merely  for  their  own  advantage,  but  at 
their  own  will  and  discretion.     Compare  1  Sam.  xiv.  48,  xxiii.  1. 

12  (11).  Thou  wilt  give  us  as  sheep  (for)  food,  and  among  the  nations 
hast  scattered  us.  The  consecution  of  the  tenses  is  the  same  as  in  the  pre- 
ceding verse.  Sheep  for  food,  or  flocks  of  food,  i.  e.  intended  and  accustomed 
to  be  eaten.  Give  may  either  mean  place,  render,  constitute,  or  give  up, 
abandon.  The  last  clause  has  by  some  been  understood  to  refer  to  the 
Babylonish  exile,  and  regarded  as  a  proof  of  later  date.  But  in  every  war 
with  the  surrounding  countries,  there  were  partial  deportations  and  disper- 
sions.    See  Joel  iv.  2,  Amos  i.  6,  9,  and  compare  1  Kings  viii.  46. 

13  (12).  Thou  wile  sell  thy  people  without  gain,  and  hast  not  increased  by 
their  price.  They  seemed  to  be  gratuitously  given  up,  i.  e.  without  necessity 
or  profit.  Without  gain,  literally  wealth  or  riches,  as  a  product  or  equivalent. 
The  same  noun  may  be  repeated  in  the  next  clause,  thou  hast  not  increased 
(thy  wealth),  just  as  the  verb  gain  is  absolutely  used  in  Enghsh.  Their 
price,  literally  their  prices,  perhaps  with  reference  to  the  individual  captives, 
or  to  repeated  sales  of  the  kind  here  mentioned.  Another  possible  but  far 
less  natural  construction,  treats  the  preposition  as  a  mere  connective,  and 
reads,  thou  hast  not  enhanced  their  price,  i.  e.  set  a  high  price  upon  them, 
implying  that  he  had,  on  the  contrary,  sold  them  for  too  little,  or  rather 
given  them  away  for  nothing.     Compare  Jer.  xv.  13. 

14  (13).  Thou  wilt  make  us  a  reproach  to  our  neighbours,  a  scoffs  and  a  jest 
to  those  around  us.  If  this  state  of  things  continues,  such  will  be  the  neces- 
sary issue.  Make  us,  literally  place  us,  set  us  up,  expose  us.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xxxix.  9  (8),  and  with  the  whole  verse  compare  Ps.  Ixxix.  4,  Ixxxix. 
42  (41). 

15  (14).  Thou  wilt  make  us  a  byword  among  the  nations,  a  shaking  of  the 
head  among  the  peoples.  A  byword,  literally  a  likeness  or  comparison,  a 
case  that  may  be  cited  as  a  memorable  instance  or  example.  The  expression 
is  borrowed  from  Deut.  xxviii.  37.  A  shaking  of  the  head,  i.e.  an  object  at 
which  men  will  shake  their  heads,  as  an  expression  of  contemptuous  pity. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  8  (7). 

16  (15).  All  the  day  my  disgrace  is  before  me,  and  shame  my  face  has 
covered.  It  is  before  me  so  that  I  cannot  fail  to  see  it  or  lose  sight  of  it. 
See  above,  Ps.  xxxviii.  18  (17).  Shame  is  here  represented  as  a  covering, 
as  in  Jer.  iii.  25,  but  perhaps  with  special  reference  to  the  suffusion  of  the 
face  with  blushes,  as  in  Ps.  Ixix.  8  (7). 

17  (16).  From  the  voice  of  slanderer  and  reviler,  from  the  face  of  enemy 
and  avenger.  The  preposition  indicates  the  source  or  the  occasion  of  the 
shame  described  in  the  preceding  verse.  Face  may  here  mean  either  pre- 
sence or  the  expression  of  the  countenance.  The  last  word  is  properly  a 
participle,  and  means  taking  vengeance  or  avenging  one's  self  Here,  as  in 
Ps.  viii.  3  (2),  it  denotes  a  spiteful  and  revengeful  enemy. 

18  (17).  All  this  has  come  upon  us,  and  we  have  not  forgotten  thee,  and 
have  not  been  false  to  thy  covenant.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Judges 
vi.  13.  Come  upon  us  :  the  construction  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  xxxv.  8. 
We  have  not  been  false,  or  acted  falsely.  The  same  verb  with  the  same  pre- 
position, in  Lev.  xix.  11,  has  the  sense  of  lying,  or  acting  fi-auduleutiy, 
towards  another.  See  also  Ps.  Ixxxix.  34  (33).  What  is  here  professed 
is  not  entire  exemption  from  all  acts  of  infidehty,  but  freedom  from  the 
deadly  sin  of  total  oblivion  and  apostasy.  In  spite  of  his  unfaithftdness, 
Israel  still  claimed  to  be  and  was  the  chosen  people  of  Jehovah. 

19  (18).  Our  heart  has  not  turned  back  and  our  steps  declined  from  thy 


206  Psalm  44: 19 -22 

path.  The  force  of  the  negative  extends  to  both  clauses,  as  in  Ps.  ix.  19  (18). 
Heart  and  steps  are  put  for  inward  affection  and  its  fruit,  external  action. 
Turned  hack  and  turned  aside  are  natural  and  common  figures  for  moral 
delinquency.     Thy  path,  the  way  of  thy  commandments. 

20  (19).  That  thou  hast  crushed  us  in  a  place  of  dragons,  and  hast  covered 
over  us  with  deathshade.  The  construction  is  continued  from  the  preceding 
sentence.  The  connection  may  be  thus  made  plain  in  our  idiom.  "  We 
have  been  guilty  of  no  such  infidelity  or  total  apostasy,  that  thou  shouldest 
deal  with  us  in  this  way."  Crushed,  bruised,  or  broken  in  pieces.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  x.  10,  and  below,  on  Ps.  li.  9  (8).  Dragons  may  here  be 
understood  as  meaning  wild  beasts  or  lonely  animals  in  general.  Whether 
the  Hebrew  word  specifically  signifies  wild-cats,  wolves,  or  jackals,  is  a 
question  of  little  exegetical  importance.  The  essential  meaning  of  the 
whole  phrase  is  a  place  inhabited  by  lonely  creatures,  i.  e.  a  wilderness  or 
desert.  Compare  Isa.  xiii.  22,  xxxiv.  13,  xliii.  20,  Jer.  ix.  10  (H),  x.  22, 
xlix.  33,  Ps.  Ixiii.  11  (10).  Covered  over,  i.e.  covered  up,  completely 
covered,  a  stronger  expression  than  the  simple  verb.  Deathshade,  or  the 
shadow  of  death,  a  strong  poetical  expression  for  the  profoundest  darkness. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiii.  4. 

21  (20).  If  we  have  forgotten  the  name  of  our  God,  and  spread  our  havds 
io  a  strange  God.  Some  regard  this  as  the  common  elliptical  formula  of 
swearing.  "(God  do  so  to  us  and  more  also)  if  we  have  forgotten,"  which 
is  equivalent  to  saying,  "  we  have  not  forgotten."  Another  method  of 
supplying  the  ellipsis  is  exemplified  in  Josh.  xxii.  22.  But  since  the  verse, 
conditionally  understood,  yields  a  good  sense  in  connection  with  the  next 
verse,  this,  as  being  the  more  obvious  construction,  is  entitled  to  the  pre- 
ference. The  act  of  holding  up  or  stretching  out  the  hands  is  often  men- 
tioned as  a  natural  gesture  of  entreaty.  See  Exod.  ix.  29,  33,  1  Kings 
viii.  88,  Isa.  i.  15.  The  word  God  in  the  version  represents  two  different 
divine  names  in  Hebrew,  Elohim  and  El.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xliii.  4.  A 
strange  God,  or  a  God  {tvho  is)  a  stranger,  i.e.  to  Jehovah  and  his  people. 
The  Hebrew  word  is  applied  by  Moses  both  to  men  (Exod.  xxx.  33)  and  idols 
(Deut.  xxxii.  16), 

22  (21).  Shall  not  God  search  this  out  f  For  he  knoweth  the  secrets  of 
the  heart.  This  is  the  apodosis  of  the  sentence  begun  in  the  preceding 
verse.  "  If  we  have  done  thus,  must  not  God  know  it  ?"  The  primary 
meaning  of  the  verb  translated  search  out  is  to  dig,  to  bring  to  light  what 
is  hidden  under  ground.  Thence,  by  a  natural  transition,  it  denotes  the 
investigation  and  disclosure  of  all  secrets.  The  interrogation  is  an  indirect 
but  strong  affirmation  of  the  fact  in  question.  The /or,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  last  clause,  does  not  indicate  the  reason  of  the  question,  but  of  the 
affirmative  answer  which  is  tacitly  implied.  He  (is)  knowing,  a  form  of 
expression  which  denotes  continued  and  habitual  knowledge.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  i.  6,  and  with  the  sentiment  compare  that  of  Ps.  vii.  10  (9). 

23  (22).  Because  for  thee  have  u'e  been  kilted  all  the  day  ;  toe  have  been 
reckoned  as  sheep  for  slaughter.  The  causal  particle  at  the  beginning  does 
not  refer  to  what  immediately  precedes,  but  to  the  remoter  context,  and 
adduces  a  proof  of  the  assertion,  that  the  church  had  not  forgotten  or  for- 
saken God.  This  proof  is  afibrded  by  the  fact  that  their  very  sufferings 
were  on  his  account.  For  thee,  for  thy  sake,  literally  oji  thee,  on  (account 
of)  thee,  on  thy  account.  The  preterite  form,  we  have  been  killed,  includes 
the  present,  we  are  killed,  but  with  the  additional  idea  that  the  sufferings 
in  question  were  not  new  or  altogether  recent,  but  had  long  been  experi- 


Psalm  44:23 -26  207 

enced.  Beckoned,  counted,  estimated,  i.  e.  by  our  enemies,  who  set  no 
higher  value  on  our  lives  than  on  those  of  sheep  for  the  slaughter,  literally 
a  flock  of  slaughter,  i.  e.  one  destined  or  accustomed  to  be  slaughtered. 
This  expression  corresponds  exactly  to  sheep  for  food,  or  flock  of  food,  in 
ver.  12  (11)  above.  The  whole  verse  is  a  strong  poetical  description  of 
severe  persecution  or  distress  arising  from  the  spite  of  enemies,  and  as  such 
is  applied  by  Paul  to  the  sufferings  of  the  church  of  Christ,  in  which  the 
ancient  Israel  continues  to  exist.     See  Rom.  viii.  36. 

24:  (23).  Arouse  thee!  Why  wilt  thou  sleep,  0  Lord?  Awake,  do  not 
cast  of  for  ever.  This  bold  apostrophe  implies  strong  faith,  as  well  as  warm 
atiection.  Such  an  address  would  not  be  made  to  an  inanimate  object,  or 
an  imaginary  being.  The  idea  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  iii.  8  (7),  to  wit,  that 
the  withholding  of  God's  help,  or  of  his  sensible  presence,  may  be  figura- 
tively described  as  a  state  of  inaction  or  of  sleep,  from  which  he  awakes  and 
arises  when  he  once  more  manifests  his  presence  and  affords  his  aid. 
Compare  Ps.  cxxi.  4,  Mat.  viii.  25.  The  verse  is  therefore  really  nothing 
more  than  an  importunate  petition  for  divine  assistance.  Cast  off,  reject  with 
loathing  and  contempt,  the  same  strong  expression  that  occurs  in  ver. 
10  (9),  above.  For  ever,  literally  to  perpetuity.  The  Hebrew  phrase  is  not 
the  same,  however,  that  occurs  in  ver.  9  (8).  above. 

25  (24).  Why  wilt  thou  hide  thy  face,  wilt  thou  forget  our  suffering  and 
our  persecution  (or  oppression)  ?  The  same  thing  which  had  just  been  re- 
presented by  the  figure  of  sleep  is  here  described  as  a  refusal  to  see  and  to 
remember.  Both  figures  are  employed  in  Ps.  xiii.  2  (1),  above,  in  refer- 
ence to  precisely  the  same  subject.  These  anthropomorphisms,  which 
would  be  unlawful  in  an  uninspired  writer,  are  perfectly  intelligible,  and 
exceedingly  expressive.  The  word  translated  suffering  (or  afflictiori)  is 
generic,  and  includes  all  forms  of  physical  evil,  one  of  which  is  then  speci- 
fied, to  wit,  the  suffering  caused  by  powerful  and  spiteful  enemies.  The 
same  word  denotes  oppression  or  persecution  at  the  hand  of  wicked  men,  in 
Ps.  xlii.  10  (9),  xliii.  2.  Why  wilt  thou  forget  is  evidently  more  than  why 
dost  th^u  forget,  for  it  conveys  the  additional  idea,  "  Why  wilt  thou  persist 
in  doing  as  thou  hast  done  heretofore,  and  art  doing  now?" 

26  (25).  For  bowed  (or  sunk)  to  the  dust  is  our  soul,  fixed  to  the  earth  is 
our  belly.  Both  Hebrew  verbs  are  active,  and  literally  mean,  our  soul  has 
bowed  down,  our  belly  has  adhered.  Belly  may  either  have  the  sense  of  body, 
as  opposed  to  soid,  as  in  Ps.  xxxi.  10  (9),  above,  or  be  taken  in  its  proper 
sense,  in  which  case  the  whole  clause  is  descriptive  of  the  deepest  degrada- 
tion, a  grovelling  on  the  earth,  without  the  capacity  or  wish  to  rise,  a  state 
like  that  of  the  lowest  reptiles,  or  the  one  denounced  upon  the  serpent  in 
Gen.  iii.  14.  Whatever  the  image  here  presented  may  be,  it  is  evidently 
meant  to  represent  a  state  of  deep  depression  and  debasement. 

27  (26).  Hise,  a  help  for  us,  and  redeem  us  for  the  sake  of  thy  mercy  ! 
This  is  the  conclusion  of  his  arguments,  and  the  sum  of  his  petitions. 
Arise,  from  this  state  of  apparent  inaction,  and  exert  thy  power.  Not 
merely  for  our  help,  as  in  Ps.  xxxviii.  23  (22),  but  as  our  help,  thou  who 
art  thyself  our  help,  its  source,  its  author,  a  much  stronger  expression  than 
our  helper,  though  essentially  synonymous.  See  above,  Ps.  xl.  18  (17), 
and  below,  Ps.  Ixiii.  8  (7).  Because  of  thy  mercy,  as  a  ground  or  reason; 
according  to  thy  mercy,  as  a  rule  or  measure  ;  for  the  sake  of  thy  mercy,  i.e, 
for  its  honour,  as  a  motive  and  an  cud  to  be  accomplished. 


208  Psalm  45:1 


Psalm  45 

The  intimate  relation  of  the  Messiah  to  the  chosen  people,  and  eventu- 
ally to  the  other  nations,  is  described  in  this  psalm  as  the  union  of  a  mighty 
king  with  foreign  princesses,  among  whom  one  is  represented  as  the  queen. 
This  kind  of  allegory  is  a  common  one  in  Scripture,  but  appears  to  have 
derived  its  peculiar  form  in  this  case  from  the  court  and  household  of  Solo- 
mon. After  a  title,  ver.  1,  the  Psalmist  announces  his  design  to  sing  the 
praises  of  the  King,  ver.  2  (1),  whom  he  then  describes  as  full  of  beauty, 
grace,  and  the  divine  blessing,  ver.  3  ('2),  as  a  conquering  hero  in  the  cause 
of  truth  and  righteousness,  ver.  4-6  (3-5),  as  a  divine,  perpetual,  and 
righteous  sovereign,  ver.  7  (6),  and  as  such  invested  with  peculiar  honours 
and  enjoyments,  ver.  8  (7),  clothed  in  royal,  festal,  and  nuptial  garments, 
ver.  9  (8),  surrounded  by  kings'  daughters,  with  a  queen  at  his  right  hand, 
ver.  10  (9).  The  Psalmist  then  addresses  her  directly  in  the  language  of 
congratulation  and  admonition,  ver.  11-13  (10-12),  and  describes  her 
apparel  and  her  marriage  procession,  ver.  14-16  (13-3  5).  In  conclusion, 
the  king  is  again  addressed,  with  the  assurance  of  a  numerous  posterity, 
ver.  17  (16),  and  endless  fame,  ver.  18  (17).  The  attempt  to  explain 
this  as  a  mere  epithalamium  in  honour  of  Solomon,  or  Ahab,  or  some 
later  king,  Jewish  or  Persian,  has  always  been  defeated  by  the  difficulty  of 
determining  the  subject,  and  the  impossibility  of  accounting  for  the  recep- 
tion of  such  a  poem  into  a  collection  of  devotional  songs,  intended  for  the 
permanent  use  of  the  ancient  church.  The  absence  of  any  analogous 
example  is  admitted  upon  all  hands.  The  allegorical  or  Messianic  sense  is 
given  by  the  oldest  interpreters,  both  Jewish  and  Christian.  The  allego- 
rical idea  of  this  psalm  is  carried  out  in  the  Song  of  Solomon,  to  which  it 
bears  the  same  relation  as  Ps.  xxxvii.  to  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  and  Ps. 
xxxix.  to  the  Book  of  Job. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  Upon  lilies.  To  the  Sons  of  Korah.  Mas- 
chil  A  song  of  loved  (ones').  The  unusual  accumulation  of  descriptive 
titles  in  this  verse  suggests  at  once  that  the  psalm  is  one  of  deep  and 
solemn  import,  and  thus  raises  a  presumption  against  its  being  a  mere 
epithalamium,  or  a  secular  poem  of  any  kind.  This  presumption  is  con- 
firmed by  the  inscription  to  the  Chief  Musician,  implying  that  the  psalm 
was  designed  for  permanent  and  public  use.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  1. 
This  description,  it  is  true,  might  be  applied  to  all  the  psalms  without 
exception ;  but  it  was  particularly  needed  in  the  case  of  those  which  seem, 
at  first  sight,  to  be  mere  expressions  of  individual  feeling,  and  still  more 
in  the  case  of  those  which,  to  a  superficial  reader,  seem  to  be  entirel}'  secu- 
lar in  theme  and  spirit.  The  same  thing  is  true,  in  substance,  of  the  next 
term,  maschil,  instruction.  The  psalm  before  us  is  among  the  last  which 
would  have  been  selected  by  a  modem  critic  as  didactic  in  its  character. 
But  since  it  is  so,  this  veiy  fact  affords  a  cogent  reason  for  so  designating 
it.  This  designation,  at  the  same  time,  corroborates  the  previous  pre- 
sumption, that  the  psalm  is  allegorical,  because  an  amatory  nuptial  song 
could  not,  in  any  sense,  be  called  a  maschil.  The  same  thing  is  rendered 
still  more  certain  by  the  ascription  to  the  Sons  of  Korah,  whether  as  authors 
or  performers,  since  in  either  character  their  function  was  a  sacred  one ; 
they  were  not  profane  bards  or  minstrels,  but  Levitical  precentors  in  the 
temple  worship.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  1.  As  this  employment  was  con- 
tinued in  the  family  for  many  generations,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  assum- 


Psalm  45:1  209 

ing  that  the  Sons  of  Korah  here  meant  were  contemporaries  of  Solomon, 
to  whose  regal  and  domestic  habits  the  psalm  contains  so  many  obvious 
allusions.  The  other  two  expressions  in  the  title  are  more  dubious.  Upon 
lilies  is  supposed  by  some  to  mean  on  instruments  of  that  shape.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  viii.  1.  Others  suppose  it  to  denote  a  mode  of  execution,  or 
an  air,  or  another  composition  upon  which  this  was  modelled.  Others 
more  plausibly  maintain  that  this  and  all  analogous  inscriptions  have  respect 
to  the  subjetit  or  contents,  and  that  lilies  are  a  natural  emblem  of  female 
beauty,  the  plural  form  implying  a  plurality  of  persons,  such  as  we  meet 
with  in  the  psalm  itself.  See  below,  ver.  10,  11,  16  (9,  10,  15).  A  soiuj 
of  loves  would  seem  to  mean  either  a  love-song  or  a  lovely  song.  But  the 
usage  of  the  Hebrew  word  requires  it  to  be  taken  in  the  concrete  sense  of 
loved  or  beloved,  the  plural  feminine  form  serving  to  identify  the  person 
thus  described  with  the  lilies  of  the  other  clause.  These  two  phrases, 
taken  together,  represent  the  subject  of  the  psalm  to  be  lovely  and  beloved 
women,  while  the  other  terms  of  the  description,  which  have  been  explained 
already,  shew  that  the  love  and  marriage  here  referred  to  are  not  natural, 
but  spiritual,  to  wit,  the  union  of  Messiah  with  his  people,  or  of  Christ 
with  his  church,  an  idea  running  through  both  testaments.  Compare  Isa. 
liv.  5,  Ixii.  4,  5,  Jer.  iii.  1,  Ezek.  xvi.  and  xxiii..  Mat.  ix.  15,  xxii.  2, 
XXV.  1,  John  iii.  29,  Rom.  vii.  4,  2  Cor.  xi.  2,  Eph.  v.  25-32,  Rev.  xix.  7, 
xxi.  2,  xxii.  17.  The  allegory  is  more  fully  carried  out  in  the  first  three 
chapters  of  Hosea,  but  in  these  and  all  other  passages  referred  to,  the  essen- 
tial idea  is  borrowed  from  the  Law,  in  which  the  national  unfaithfulness  to 
Jehovah  is  constantly  described  as  a  spiritual  adultery,  impljang  a  conjugal 
relation  between  him  and  his  people.  See  Exod.  xxxiv.  15,  16,  Lev.  xvii.  7, 
XX.  5,  6,  Num.  xiv.  33.  On  the  whole,  then,  this  psalm  appears  to  be  a 
description  of  Messiah  in  his  conjugal  relation  both  to  Israel  and  other 
nations,  composed  either  by  or  for  the  sons  of  Korah  in  the  reign  of  Solo- 
mon, from  which  the  imagery  seems  to  be  borrowed,  and  designed  for  the 
permanent  instruction  of  the  church,  by  being  used  as  a  vehicle  of  pious 
feeling  in  her  public  worship. 

2(1).  My  heart  has  overflowed — a  good  word  (am)  I  saying — my  works 
for  the  king — my  tongue  the  pen  of  a  rapid  writer.  The  whole  verse  is  a 
strong  metaphorical  description  of  the  way  in  which  his  thoughts  were 
engrossed,  and  his  words  suggested,  by  one  great  theme.  The  first  word 
properly  denotes  ebullition,  the  agitation  and  effervescence  of  a  boiling 
liquid,  or  the  similar  phenomena  presented  by  the  bubbhng  up  of  water  ih 
a  fountain.  It  is  here  used  to  express  the  spontaneous  gush  of  feehng, 
thought,  and  word,  in  the  inspired  writer.  This  first  clause  may  also  be 
connected  with  the  next,  as  indicated  by  the  accents.  My  heart  is  over- 
floiuing  (tvith)  a  good  word  (or  goodly  speech),  i.  e.  the  subject  upon  which 
he  is  about  to  speak.  The  next  words  may  then  be  rendered,  I  am  saying, 
(or  I  say),  my  works  to  the  king,  i.  e.  they  belong  to  him,  or  as  an  exclama- 
tion, "  let  them  be  his  !"  My  works,  all  that  I  do,  including  the  praise 
here  ofiered.  The  king  meant  is  the  ideal  and  expected  king  of  Israel,  the 
Messiah.  The  last  clause  may  also  be  an  exclamation.  (Be)  my  tongue  the 
pen  of  a  rapid  ivriter!  i.  e.  let  it  skilfully  and  promptly  give  expression  to 
my  thoughts  and  feelings.  It  is  probably  in  allusion  to  this  passage  that 
Ezra  is  described  as  a  ready  scribe  or  rapid  iiriter  (Ezra  vii.  6).  Although 
particular  expressions  in  this  verse  may  be  obscure,  its  general  import  is 
entirely  imambiguous,  as  an  animated  declaration  of  the  writer's  purpose, 
and  a  preface  to  his  praise  of  the  Messiah. 


210  Psalm  45:2 -4 

8  (2).  Beautiful,  beautiful,  art  thou  above  the  sons  of  man  ;  grace  is 
jpoured  into  thy  lips  ;  therefore  God  hath  blessed  thee  to  eternity.  The  first 
word  in  Hebrew  is  a  reduplicated  form,  expressing  the  idea  with  intensity 
and  emphasis.  He  is  not  praised  as  the  fairest  or  most  beautiful  of  men, 
but  as  fair  or  beautiful  beyond  all  human  standard  or  comparison.  This 
general  ascription  of  all  loveliness  is  followed  by  the  specification  of  a  single 
charm,  that  of  delightful  captivating  speech.  Orace,  in  Hebrew  as  in 
English,  denotes  both  a  cause  and  an  effect ;  in  this  case,  grace  or  beauty 
of  expression,  produced  by  the  divine  grace  or  favour,  and  reciprocally  tend- 
ing to  increase  it.  On  any  hypothesis,  except  the  Messianic  one,  this  verse 
is  unintelligible.  K  the  first  clause  were  intended  to  describe  a  mere  cor- 
poreal beauty,  how  could  this  be  followed  up  by  commending  the  grace  of 
the  hps,  or  either  be  recognised  as  the  ground  of  an  eternal  blessing  ?  It 
is  only  by  supposing  that  the  person  here  meant  is  the  chief  among  ten 
thousand  and  altogether  lovely,  that  the  beauty  predicated  of  him  includes 
€very  moral  and  spiritual  attraction,  and  that  the  grace  of  his  lips  has  refer- 
ence to  his  prophetic  character  and  office,  that  the  sentence  can  be  made 
to  seem  coherent,  and"  the  promise  at  its  close  appropriate.  The  type,  in 
this  allegorical  description,  may  have  been  furnished  by  him,  of  whom  the 
queen  of  Sheba  said  (1  Kings  x.  8),  "  Happy  thy  men,  happy  these  thy 
servants  who  stand  before  thee  always,  who  hear  thy  wisdom."  But  the 
glorious  antitype  was  He,  to  whom  "  all  bare  witness,  and  wondered  at  the 
woBDS  OF  GRACE  proceeding  out  of  his  mouth"  (Luke  iv.  22). 

4  (3).  Gird  thy  sword  on  thy  thigh,  Mighty  {One),  thy  honour  and  thy 
majesty.  Ai*m  thyself  for  battle  and  for  conquest.  Compare  1  Sam.  xxv.  13. 
As  the  act  of  girding  is  applied  both  to  weapons  and  to  clothing,  the  men- 
tion of  the  one  here  suggests  the  other.  "  Arm  thyself  with  strength  and 
clothe  thyself  with  majesty."  The  two  words  at  the  end  o(  the  sentence 
are  constantly  employed  to  denote  the  divine  majesty  (Ps.  xcvi.  6,  civ.  1, 
cxi.  8),  as  distinguished  from  that  of  mortals  (Job  i.  10),  or  as  bestowed 
Upon  them  by  a  special  divine  favour  (Ps.  xxi.  6).  The  first  of  the  two  is 
separately  used  to  signify  specifically  royal  dignity  (1  Chron.  xxix.  25,  Dan. 
xi.  21).  The  use  of  these  expressions,  together  with  the  epithet  of  Mighty 
or  Hero,  which  is  one  of  the  characteristic  titles  of  Messiah  in  prophecy 
(Isa.  ix.  6),  confirms  the  previous  conclusion  that  be  is  here  the  object  of 
address.  As  to  the  sword,  see  Rev.  i.  16,  ii.  12,  xx.  15,  21 ;  and  with 
the  whole  verse  compare  Ps.  ex.  5-7. 

6  (4).  And  (in)  thy  majesty,  pass  on,  ride  forth,  for  the  sake  of  truth  and 
humble  right ;  and  thy, right  hand  shall  guide  thee  (to)  terrible  deeds.  The 
first  words  may  also  be  explained,  without  supplying  in,  as  an  emphatic 
repetition  of  what  goes  before.  And  thy  majesty  (/  say).  The  first  verb 
may  be  rendered  prosper,  as  in  Isa.  Uii,  10 ;  but  it  seems  best  to  retain  its 
primary  sense,  which  is  to  pass  by  or  over,  to  advance,  or  as  we  say  fami- 
Uarly,  to  go  ahead.  By  riding  we  may  understand  the  act  of  riding  in  a 
chariot  of  war,  which  was  customary  with  the  ancient  kings.  See  the  same 
verb  so  used  in  2  Kings  ix.  16,  and  compare  1  Kings  xxii.  34,  35.  For 
the  sake,  literally  on  the  word,  which  may  possibly  denote  that  on  which  the 
conqueror  rides,  to  wit,  the  word  of  truth.  But  this  figure  would  not  be 
very  intelligible,  and  in  almost  every  other  case  where  the  Hebrew  phrase 
occm's,  it  is  evident  that  word  is  used  precisely  as  the  English  words 
account  and  sa^e  are  in  the  familiar  combm?ii\ons,  on  account  of ,  for  the 
sake  of.  See  above  on  Ps.  xviii.  1.  Thus  understood,  it  here  points  out 
the  object  of  Messiah's  conquests,  to  wit,  the  vindication  of  truth,  i.  e. 


Psalm  45:5,  6  211 

yeracity,  as  opposed  to  fraud,  and  humble  right,  as  opposed  to  proud 
iniquity.  In  this  last  phrase  both  the  Hebrew  words  are  nouns,  but  rather 
in  apposition  than  regimen,  so  that  the  literal  translation  would  be  humility- 
righteousness  ^  right  asserted  in  humility  against  a  wrong  maintained  by 
pride  and  selfishness.  Thy  right  hand,  as  the  seat  of  martial  strength, 
and  the  organ  of  aggressive  action.  Shall  guide,  or  point  the  way,  the 
proper  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  verb,  which,  like  other  verbs  expressing  or 
implying  motion,  may  be  followed  directly  by  a  noun,  where  our  idiom 
would  require  an  intervening  preposition.  Terrible  {things),  fearful  [deeds], 
literally  dreaded ;  but  the  Hebrew  passive  participle  frequently  includes  the 
idea  of  a  future  passive  participle  in  Latin.  The  insensible  transition  from 
the  imperative  to  the  future  shews  that  the  former  was  really  prophetic, 
and  that  the  prayer  of  this  and  the  preceding  verse  is  only  a  disguised 
prediction  of  Messiah's  triumphs,  as  one  going  forth  conquering  and  to 
conquer. 

6  (5).  Thine  arroios  are  sharp — nations  under  thee  shall  fall — in  the 
heart  of  the  king's  enemies.  The  word  translated  sharp  is  properly  a  par- 
ticiple meaning  sharpened,  like  acutus  from  acuo,  and  may  here  have  the 
same  sense  as  in  Isa.  v.  28,  whose  arrows  are  sharpened  and  all  his  bows 
bent,  i.  e.  all  his  weapons  of  war  ready  for  immediate  use.  Nations,  not 
merely  individuals,  nor  even  armies,  but  whole  nations,  a  description 
peculiarly,  though,  not  exclusively,  appropriate  to  a  superhuman  conqueror. 
In  order  to  remove  the  apparent  incoherence  of  the  second  and  third  mem- 
bers of  the  sentence,  some  give  heart  the  local  sense  of  midst.  "  Nations 
shall  fall  under  thee  in  the  midst  of  the  king's  enemies."  But  this  explana- 
tion of  heart  is  not  justified  by  usage,  and  the  king's  enemies  are  evidently 
the  nations  themselves.  Others  make  the  second  clause  a  vocative — thou 
under  whom  the  nations  fall — or  a  mere  parenthesis,  with  a  verb  supplied 
after  it — thy  sharp  arrows  (nations  fall  under  thee)  shall  penetrate  into  the 
heart  of  the  king's  enemies.  But  these  are  forced  if  not  ungi-ammatical 
constructions,  and  by  far  the  simplest  solution  is  to  repeat  the  first  clause 
before  the  third — thine  arrows  are  sharp — nations  fall  under  thee — [thine 
arrows  are  sharp)  in  the  heart  of  the  king's  enemies.  This  is  the  more 
natural,  as  the  falling  of  the  nations  is  supposed  to  be  produced  by  the 
arrows.  "  Thine  arrows  are  sharpened,  and  ready  for  the  conquest  of  the 
nations  ;  yes,  thine  arrows  are  already  sharp  in  the  heart  of  the  king's 
enemies."  This  last  expression  does  not  refer  to  a  difi'erent  person  from 
the  one  addressed,  but  is  merely  a  more  emphatic  way  of  saying,  "  thine 
enemies,  0  king  !" 

7  (6).  Tliy  throne,  (0)  God,  [is)  for  ever  and  ever  ;  a  sceptre  of  rectitude 
(is)  the  sceptre  of  thy  kingdom.  To  avoid  the  obvious  ascription  of  divinity 
contained  in  the  first  clause,  two  very  forced  constructions  have  been  pro- 
posed. 1.  Thy  throne  (is  the  throne  of)  God  for  ever  and  ever.  2.  Thy 
God-throne  (or  divine  throne)  is  for  ever.  But  even  admitting,  what  is 
very  doubtful,  that  a  few  examples  of  this  syntax  occur  elsewhere,  the  sense 
thus  obtained  is  unsatisfactory  and  obscure,  and  this  is  still  more  true  of 
that  afforded  by  the  only  obvious  or  natural  construction  besides  the  one 
first  given,  namely,  thy  throne  is  God  for  ever  and  ever.  The  explanation 
of  God  as  a  vocative  is  not  only  the  most  obvious,  and  sustained  by  the 
analogy  of  Ps.  xliii.  1,  xliv.  5  (4),  xlviii.  10,  11  (9,  10),  &c.,  but  is  found 
in  all  the  ancient  versions  and  adopted  in  the  New  Testament  (Heb.  i.  8), 
and  was  admitted  even  by  the  anti- Messianic  interpreters,  until  they  were 
obliged  to  abandon  the  position  that  Elohim  might  be  taken  in  a  lower 


212  Psalm  45:7,  8 

sense.  For  ever  and  ever,  literally  eternity  and  perpetuity .  See  above, 
^^.  .  ^'  ^^  0-^)'  ^^'  ^  (^)-  The  same  perpetuity  is  asserted  of  Jehovah's 
reign  in  Ps.  x.  16.  It  is  also  promised  to  the  royal  line  of  David,  ending 
and  eternised  in  Messiah.  See  the  original  promise  in  2  Sam.  vii.  13,  16, 
and  its  varied  repetition  in  Ps.  xxi.  5  (4),  xviii,  51  (50),  Ixxii.  5,  Ixxxix.  5, 
87,  38  (4,  36,  37),  ex.  4,  cxxxii.  12  (11),  Isa.  ix.  6  (7).  A  sceptre,  pro- 
perly a  staflf  or  rod,  particularly  as  a  badge  of  office  and  especially  of  royal 
digiiity-  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiii.  4.  Rectitude,  in  a  moral  or  figurative 
sense,  derived  from  the  physical  and  proper  one  of  straightness,  whether 
linear  or  superficial.  See  below,  Ps.  Ixvii.  5  (4),  and  compare  Isa.  xi.  4. 
Kingdom,  or  as  an  abstract,  royalty,  in  which  sense  it  may  qualify  the 
noun  before  it,  so  that  the  whole  phrase  will  express  the  idea  royal  sceptre. 

8  (7).  Thou  hast  loved  righteousness  and  hated  wickedness  ;  therefore  God, 
thy  God,  hath  anointed  thee  (with)  oil  of  joy  above  thy  fellows.  The  moral 
excellency  of  the  person  here  addressed  is  represented  as  the  meritorious 
ground  of  the  divine  favours  by  which  he  was  distinguished.  In  an  epi- 
thalamium,  or  an  amatory  poem,  this  would  be  ridiculous.  The  past 
tenses  represent  the  moral  quaHties  ascribed  to  him  as  ah-eady  manifested 
and  familiar.  The  substitution  of  the  present  greatly  weakens  the  expres- 
sion. Here,  as  in  the  verse  preceding,  God  may  be  a  vocative.  Thy  God,  0 
God,  hath  anointed  thee,  &c.  Compare  Ps.  xliii.4,  li.  15(14).  But  the  more 
obvious  construction  above  given  is  favoured  by  the  collocation  of  the  words 
and  the  analogy  of  Ps.  1.  7.  Oil  of  joy  (or  gladness)  is  a  figure  borrowed 
from  the  ancient  oriental  usage  of  anointing  the  head  on  festive  occasions. 
See  above,  onPs.  xxiii.  5.    The  expression  is  copied  in  Isa.  Ixi.  3.      Above  thy 

fellows,  more  than  thy  companions,  i.  e.  other  men,or  more  specifically,  other 
kings.     Compare  what  is  said  of  Solomon,  1  Kings  iii.  12,  13,  2  Chron.  i.  12. 

9  (8).  Myrrh  and  aloes  (and)  cassia  (are)  all  thy  garments,  from  palaces 
of  ivory,  from  (thence)  have  they  gladdened  thee.  The  figure  of  unction  in 
the  close  of  the  preceding  verse  suggests  the  idea  of  perfumes  and  aromatic 
substances,  several  of  which  are  specified,  as  samples  of  the  whole  class, 
which  makes  it  comparatively  unimportant,  though  by  no  means  difficult, 
to  identify  the  species.  His  dress  is  described  as  so  impregnated  with 
these  odours,  that  it  may  be  poetically  said  to  be  composed  of  them.  By 
another  natural  association,  these  perfumed  garments,  which  were  not 
usually  worn,  suggest  the  idea  of  some  rare  festivity,  and  especially  of  that 
which  is  most  joyous  in  all  countries.  It  is  from  marriage  feasts  in  splendid 
palaces  that  these  sweet  odours  and  these  joyful  feelings  have  been  brought 
away.  Why  more  than  one  such  celebration  is  referred  to,  will  appear 
below.  Palaces  of  ivory,  i.  e.  adorned  with  it,  like  that  of  Ahab  in 
1  Kings  xxii.  39,  and  that  of  Menelaus  in  the  Odyssey.  That  this  kind 
of  luxury  was  not  unknown  in  real  Ufe,  may  also  be  inferred  from  Amos 
iii.  15,  vi.  4,   Song  of  Sol.  vii.  5  (4).     The  next  word  (>3p)  is  by  some 

explained  as  a  contraction  of  (D''ilD),  a  word  meaning  strings,  and  then 
stringed  instruments  (Ps.  cl.  4).  From  palaces  of  ivory  stringed  instru- 
ments have  gladdened  thee.  But  as  this  breaks  the  connection  between 
verses  8  and  10  (7  and  9),  others  make  >^0  the  poetical  form  of  the  pre- 
position ]Q,  as  it  is  in  Ps.  xliv.  11,  19  (10,  18),lxviii.  32  (31).     See  alsa 

Judges  V.  14,  and  Isa.  xlvi.  3.  The  repetition  of  the  particle  without  the  noun 
IS  similar  to  that  in  Isa.  Ux.  18,  according  to  their  deeds,  according  to 
{them)  will  he  repay.     So  here,  from  palaces  of  ivory,  from  them  (or  thence) 


Psalm  45, 9, 10  213 

have  they  gladdened  thee.  The  plural  verb  may  be  construed  indefinitely, 
us  tantamount  to  saying,  thou  hast  been  gladdened,  or  referred  to  a  more 
definite  subject,  namely,  that  presented  in  the  next  verse. 

10  (9).  Daughters  of  kings  (are)  among  thy  precious  (ones);  stationed  is 
the  queen  at  thy  right  hand,  in  gold  of  Ophir.  The  idea  of  a  marriage-feast, 
suggested  in  the  foregoing  verse,  is  here  carried  out  by  a  description  of 
the  bride  or  brides.  These  are  represented  as  being  of  the  highest  rank 
and  splendid  in  appearance.  Precious,  dear,  not  in  the  sense  of  beloved, 
which  the  Hebrew  word  never  has,  but  in  that  of  costly,  valuable,  which  it 
always  has.  Stationed,  not  simply  stands,  but  placed  there,  as  the  post  of 
honour.  Compare  1  Kings  ii.  19.  The  word  translated  quee7i  means  pro- 
perly a  spouse  or  consort,  but  is  specially  applied  to  the  mves  of  kings, 
particularly  those  of  Babylonia  (Dan.  v.  2)  and  Persia  (Neh.  ii.  6).  It  is 
here  used  as  a  poetical  expression,  which  is  also  the  case  with  the  word 
translated  gold,  and  derived  firom  a  verb  meaning  to  conceal ;  it  may  there- 
fore denote  ore,  as  hidden  in  the  mine,  or  hoarded  treasure.  Here,  and  in 
Isa.  xiii.  12,  it  is  combined  with  Ophir,  one  of  the  places  to  which  Solo- 
mon's ships  traded  with  the  Phenicians  (1  Kings  ix.  28,  x.  11,  2  Chron. 
viii.  18,  ix.  10).  Its  situation  is  disputed,  and  of  no  exegetical  importance 
in  the  case  before  us.  Whether  it  was  in  India,  Arabia,  or  Africa,  it  is 
here  mentioned  only  as  an  El  Dorado,  with  the  very  name  of  which  the  idea 
of  gold  was  associated  in  the  mind  of  every  Israelite,  as  it  is  in  ours  with 
the  name  of  California.  In  gold  means,  of  course,  in  garments  decked 
with  gold,  or  golden  jewels.  The  image  here  presented  of  a  queen  sur- 
rounded by  inferior  princesses  was  probably  borrowed  from  the  court  of 
Solomon  (1  Kings  xi.  1),  but  employed  to  represent  the  chosen  people  as 
the  bride  of  the  Messiah,  and  as  such  pre-eminent  among  the  nations.  This 
kind  of  personification  is  not  uncommon.  See,  for  example,  Isa.  xlvii.  1, 
hv.  1,  Jer.  xlvi.  11. 

11  (10).  Hear,  daughter,  and  see,  and  bend  thine  ear,  and  forget  thy 
people  and  the  house  of  thy  father.  The  Psalmist,  in  view  of  the  ideal  scene 
which  he  has  brought  before  us,  utters  a  Icind  of  nuptial  exhortation  to 
the  queen  or  chief  bride  of  Messiah.  Hear  what  I  have  to  say ;  see,  with  the 
mind's  eye,  what  I  set  before  thee,  look  at  it,  consider  it.  Incline  thine 
ear,  lean  forward  as  a  sign  of  attention,  so  that  nothing  shall  escape  thee. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  6,  xxxi.  3  (2).  This  preliminary  summons  to  attend 
implies  that  something  of  serious  moment  is  to  follow.  The  word  daughter 
may  be  simply  used,  as  son  is  elsewhere,  to  suggest  the  relation  of  a  junior 
to  a  senior,  or  of  a  pupil  to  a  teacher.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiv.  12  (11), 
and  compare  Prov.  i.  8,  ii.  1,  iii.l,  iv.  1,  &c.  Or  the  Psalmist  may  be  under- 
stood as  speaking  in  the  person  of  the  bride's  father,  when  about  to  part 
with  her  ;  but  this  is  less  natural,  since  the  father  is  referred  to,  in  the  last 
clause,  as  a  third  person.  Some  suppose  a  specific  reference  to  the 
daughter  of  Zion  as  the  real  object  of  address,  while  others  understand  by 
daughter  a  king's  daughter,  a  royal  princess,  or  suppose  her  to  be  here 
addressed  as  one  who  was  no  longer  to  be  treated  as  a  daughter,  but  as  a. wife 
and  mother.  As  if  he  had  said,  "  Hitherto  thou  hast  been  a  daughter,  but 
now  thou  must  forget  thy  father's  house."  All  these  ideas  may  have  been 
present  to  the  writer's  mind,  as  they  are  all  spontaneously  suggested  to  the 
reader's.  Forget  thy  people,  dc,  is  a  strong  but  natural  and  perfectly 
intelligible  mode  of  saying,  form  new  relations,  or  accommodate  thyself  to 
them  when  formed.  There  is  obvious  allusion  to  the  law  of  mamage  in 
Gen.  ii.  24,  and  to  the  calling  of  Abraham  in  Gen.  xii.  1.     What  the 


214  Psalm  45:1 1,12 

patriarch  was  there  required  to  do  is  here  enjoined  upon  his  children  in  the 
person  of  their  ideal  representative.  The  ancient  church  or  chosen  people  is 
required  to  come  out  from  the  world  and  be  exclusively  devoted  to  Jehovah. 
The  exhortation  becomes  still  more  pointed  and  significant  when  taken  in 
connection  with  the  fact,  that  Solomon's  wives,  who  seem  to  have  supplied 
the  figures  for  this  striking  allegorical  tableau,  instead  of  acting  on  the 
principle  here  laid  down,  by  adopting  the  reUgion  of  their  husband, 
*'  turned  away  his  heart  after  other  gods"  (1  Kings  xi.  4). 

12  (11).  And  let  the  king  desire  thy  beauty  ;  for  he  is  thy  Lord,  ai\d 
(therefore)  how  thyself  to  him.  The  common  version  {so  shall  the  king 
desire^  &c.)  is  mconsistent  with  the  form  of  the  Hebrew  verb,  which  is  one 
used  to  express  a  command  or  wish.  The  verse  must  be  read  in  close 
connection  with  the  one  before  it.  "  Forget  thy  father's  house  and  be  en- 
tirely devoted  to  thy  husband,  so  that  his  affection  may  be  fixed  upon 
thee,  without  anything  to  hinder  or  impair  it,  such  as  a  lingering  desire  for 
thy  previous  condition."  This  is  enjoined  as  a  duty  springing  from  the 
very  nature  of  the,conjugal  relation,  in  which  the  husband  is  the  head  by 
divine  right.  Compare  Gen.  iii.  16,  xviii.  12,  1  Pet.  iii.  5,  6.  In  recog- 
nition of  this  obUgation,  she  is  called  upon  to  bow  down  or  prostrate  her- 
self (1  Sam.  XXV.  41,  1  Kings  i.  16,  31),  a  gesture  both  of  civil  and  reli- 
gious homage,  and  therefore  pecuharly  appropriate  here,  where  the  ideal 
king  and  husband  represents  the  real  object  of  religious  worship. 

13  (12).  And  the  daughter  of  Tyre  with  a  gift  thy  face  shall  soften — the 
rich  of  the  people.  In  the  Hebrew  idiom  the  daughter  of  Tyre,  or  the 
daughter  {i.  e.  the  virgin)  Tyre  denotes  the  city,  or  the  population  of  the 
city,  personified  as  a  woman.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  15  (14).  It  has  been 
proposed,  indeed,  to  take  this  as  a  vocative  {and  0  daughter  of  Tyre,  the 
lich  of  the  people  shall,  dc.)  addressed  to  Jezebel,  in  honour  of  whose  mar- 
riage with  Ahab  (1  Kings  xvi.  31)  the  psalm  is  then  supposed  to  have  been 
written.  But  besides  the  harsh  construction  of  the  Urst  words,  and  the 
constant  usage  of  the  phrase  and  others  like  it  in  the  sense  explained  above, 
it  is  inconceivable  that  a  poem  in  celebration  of  the  marriage  between  a 
wicked  king  of  Israel  and  a  heathen  princess  could  have  been  composed  by 
the  sons  of  Korah  for  permanent  religious  use  in  the  kingdom  of  Judah. 
And  yet  this  is  the  only  hypothesis,  except  the  Messianic  one,  on  which 
the  reference  to  Tyre  can  be  explained.  In  the  time  of  Solomon,  the 
Tyrians  were  the  most  commercial  nation  in  the  world,  and  the  one  with 
which  the  IsraeUtes  had  most  commercial  intercourse.  It  was  natural, 
therefore,  to  use  Tyre  as  a  type  for  the  wealth  and  commerce  of  the  world, 
and  the  same  mode  of  representation  is  employed  by  later  writers.  (See 
especially  Isa.  xxiii.  18.)  Thus  understood,  the  promise  that  the  daughter 
of  Tyre  should  seek,  by  means  of  gifts,  to  conciliate  the  favour  of  the 
queen,  is  a  prediction  that  the  richest  of  the  nations  should  seek  union  and 
communion  with  the  chosen  people.  See  below,  Ps.  xlvii.  10  (9),  Ixxii.  10, 
Ixxxvii.  4,  in  the  last  of  which  places  Tyre  is  particularly  mentioned.  See 
also  Isa.  Ix.  6,  Hag.  ii.  7,  8,  Zech.  ix.  10.  That  the  daughter  of  Tyre  is 
here  an  ideal  person,  comprehending  many  individuals,  is  clear  from  the 
plural  verb  with  which  it  is  construed,  and  from  the  epexegetical  clause, 
the  rich  {i.  e.  the  richest)  of  the  people,  whether  this  be  understood  to  mean 
the  richest  of  that  people,  or  the  richest  of  the  nations.  In  either  case  it 
is  an  apposition  with  daughter  of  Tyre,  and  in  some  way  explanatory  of  it. 
"  The  daughter  of  Tyre,  that  richest  of  the  nations  (or  the  dau{.hter  of 
Tyre,  even  the  richest  of  that  nation),  shall  entreat  thy  favour."     This  last 


Psalm45:13-15  215 

idea  is  conveyed  by  a  higlily  idiomatic  phrase,  meaning,  as  some  suppose, 
to  stroke  or  soothe  the  face,  and  then,  by  a  natural  transition,  to  conciUate, 
to  flatter.  Others  obtain  nearly  the  same  sense  by  making  it  mean  to 
weaken,  soften,  or  subdue  the  face,  i.  e.  the  opposition  which  the  face 
expresses. 

14  (13).  All  glorious  [is)  the  king's  daughter  within  ;  of  gold  embroidery 
(is)  her  vesture.  The  second  word  in  Hebrew  may  be  either  an  adjective, 
as  in  Ezek.  xxiii.  41,  or  a  substantive,  as  in  Judges  xviii.  21.  All  {i.e.  alto- 
gether) splendid,  or  all  splendour,  i.  e.  containing  nothing  else,  as  the  king's 
garments  are  said,  in  ver.  9  (8)  above,  to  be  all  'perfume,  and  mankind  in 
Ps.  xxxix.  6  (5),  to  be  only  all  vanity.  The  local  adverb  in  the  first 
clause  means  xvithin  doors,  in  the  house  (Lev.  x.  18,  1  Kings  vi.  18, 
2  Kings  vii.  11),  and  describes  the  bride  as  still  awaiting  her  removal  from 
her  father's  to  her  husband's  house.  Gold  embroidery,  or  network  of  gold. 
The  common  version  {wrought  gold)  conveys  the  false  idea  of  a  dress 
entirely  metallic,  whereas  the  Hebrew  phrase  denotes  some  kind  of  artificial 
texture  or  tissue,  in  which  gold  is  interwoven. 

15  (14).  With  (or  on)  variegated  cloths  shall  she  he  conducted  to  the 
king;  virgins  behind  her,  her  cowj) anions,  brought  unto  thee.  The  lively 
picture  of  an  oriental  wedding  is  now  completed  by  a  view  of  the  procession 
to  the  bridegroom's  house.  The  customary  train  of  female  friends  is  not 
forgotten,  but  with  this  peculiar  feature  added,  that  the  bridesmaids  are 
themselves  described  as  brides,  being  brought  (or  made  to  come)  to  the  king, 
precisely  as  the  queen  was.  This  departure  from  the  usages  of  real  life, 
which  would  have  been  revolting  in  a  mere  epithalamium,  is  peculiarly 
appropriate  to  the  design  of  the  allegory,  as  it  enables  the  writer  to  include 
in  his  description  a  striking  figurative  representation  of  the  eventful  acces- 
sion of  the  Gentiles  to  the  spiritual  privileges  and  prerogatives  which  for 
ages  were  confined  to  Israel.  The  ancient  church  or  pecuUar  people  is  the 
chief  bride  or  queen  of  the  Messiah,  chosen  from  among  the  nations ;  but 
these  very  nations  are  the  virgins,  her  companions,  not  her  servants  or 
attendants  merely,  who  are  brought  to  the  king  afterwards  as  she  was 
brought  before,  to  be  united  with  him  in  an  honourable  marriage,  not  as 
the  inferiors  but  the  equals  of  his  first  and  chosen  consort.  The  noun  at 
the  beginning  of  the  verse  has  been  variously  explained  as  meaning  needle- 
work, embroidery,  and  variegated  stuffs  ;  but  the  essential  idea  is  sufficiently 
clear,  to  wit,  that  of  rich  and  highly  ornamented  fabrics.  As  the  dress  of 
the  bride  has  been  twice  described  already,  in  ver.  10,  14  (9,  13),  some 
suppose  that  these  words  have  allusion  to  the  practice  of  spreading  rich  and 
costly  cloths  or  carpets  on  the  gi'ound  where  royal  personages  walk. 
(Compare  Mat.  xxi.  8.)  Others  refer  the  clause  to  the  embroidered  cover- 
ings of  the  nuptial  couch.  The  preposition  here  used  is  the  one  denoting 
relation  in  the  most  indefinite  manner,  and  may  be  translated  in,  upon,  or 
to,  according  to  these  different  hypotheses  respectively.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxx.  2  (1),  XXXV.  19,  24,  xxxviii.  17  (16).  Conducted,  or  escorted  in 
procession,  as  the  Hebrew  word  denotes,  being  applied  both  to  nuptial  and 
funeral  pomps.  Compare  Job  x.  19,  xxi.  32.  The  king  is  first  men- 
tioned in  the  third  person,  and  then  in  the  second,  by -which  insensible 
transition  the  way  is  prepared  for  the  direct  address  with  which  the  psalm 
concludes,  although  the  third  person  is  resumed  for  a  moment  in  the 
next  verse. 

16  (15).  2 hey  shall  be  conducted  with  rejoicings  and  mirth;  they  shall 
come  into  the  palace  of  the  king.     The  first  clause  exhibits  the  procession, 


216  Psalm  45 .16,17 

as  it  were,  in  motion,  while  the  second  brings  it  to  its  destination.  As  if 
he  had  said,  "I  see  the  joyous  train  advancing,  to  the  sound  of  merry 
music,  towards  the  palace;  and  now  they  reach  it  and  are  entered  in." 
This  brings  the  description  of  the  marriage  to  a  close,  and  leaves  nothing 
to  be  added  but  the  joyful  anticipations  expressed  in  the  concluding  verses. 

17  (16).  Instead  of  thy  fathers  shall  be  thy  sons  ;  thou  shalt  set  them  for 
princes  in  all  the  earth.  In  the  translation,  this  might  seem  to  be  a  re- 
newed address  to  the  bride,  consoling  her,  in  her  separation  from  her 
father's  family,  by  the  hope  of  having  one  herself.  The  antithesis,  how- 
ever, is  not  between  parents  and  children  in  general,  bUt  between  fathers 
and  soTia  in  particular.  Nor  does  the  ambiguity  of  the  translation  exist  in 
the  original,  at  least  in  the  masoretic  text,  where  the  pointing  of  the  suffixed 
pronouns  shews  them  to  be  masculine,  so  that  the  object  of  address  must 
be  the  king  himself,  as  it  is  in  ver,  3-11  (2-10).  We  have  here  another 
allusion  to  the  marriage  customs  of  the  ancient  orientals,  among  whom  it 
was  usual  to  wish  the  newly  married  pair  a  numerous  and  distinguished 
offspring.  See  Geh.  xxiv.  60,  Ruth  iv.  11,  12.  This  wish  is  here  replaced 
by  a  positive  prediction,  that  the  king's  descendants  shall  be  more  illus- 
trious than  his  progenitors.  Such  a  comparison  would  have  but  Uttle 
force,  however,  unless  he  were  himself  descended  from  a  long  line  of  royal 
ancestors,  a  sufficient  proof  that  the  king  here  glorified  was  neither  Solomon 
nor  Ahab.  At  the  same  time  there  is  obvious  allusion  to  the  state  of  things 
under  the  reign  of  Solomon,  who  divided  his  kingdom  into  twelve  vice- 
royalties  (1  Kings  iv.  7),  and  that  of  David,  who  made  his  own  sons 
viceroys  (2  Sam.  viii.  18),  a  policy  which  seems  to  have  been  still  pursued 
by  Rehoboam  (2  Chi-on.  xi.  23).  What  they  did  on  a  small  scale,  the 
Messiah  is  to  do  upon  a  large  one.  As  they  made  their  sons  princes  in 
Israel,  so  he  shall  make  his  to  be  rulers  over  the  whole  earth.  Some, 
indeed,  translate  the  last  words  all  the  land  ;  but  this  is  inconsistent  with 
the  conquests  promised  in  ver.  5-7  (4-6),  with  the  mention  of  Tyre  in 
ver.  14  (13),  and  with  that  of  nations  in  ver.  18  (17).  The  sons  of  Mes- 
siah are  his  spiritual  seed  (Isa.  liii.  10),  to  set  v,'hom  for  princes  is  to  con- 
stitute or  make  them  such,  to  give  them  places  suited  to  their  royal  rank. 
The  universal  reign  here  predicted  is  also  promised  in  Ps.  ii.  8  above  and 
Ps.  Ixxii.  11,  below.     Compare  Zech.  ix.  10. 

18  (17).  I  will  make  thy  name  to  he  remembered  in  all  generations ;  there- 
fore shall  nations  acknowledge  thee  for  ever  and  ever.     The  Psalmist  speaks 

as  one  in  the  long  series  of  inspired  heralds,  and  in  behalf  of  all.  The 
form  of  the  first  verb  implies  fixed  determination,  and  involves  a  pledge. 
Thy  name,  as  the  expression  of  thy  nature.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11), 
xliv.  21  (20).  In  all  generations,  literally  in  every  generation  and  genera- 
tion. For  ever  and  ever,  literally  to  eternity  and  perpetuity.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xliv.  9,  24  (8,  23).  TJierefore,  not  merely  because  I  celebrate  his 
name,  but  because  his  name  itself  is  glorious.  Acknowledge  thee  to  be 
what  thou  art,  involving  therefore  the  ideas  of  praise  in  general  and  thanks- 
giving in  particular.     See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5),  xliv.  9  (8). 

Psalm  46 

The  Church  is  safe  under  divine  protection.  This  theme  is  amplified  in 
three  strophes,  the  close  of  which  is  indicated  by  the  selahs  in  ver.  4  (3), 
8  (7),  12  (11).     If  the  psalm  owed  its  origin  to  any  paiiicular  historical 


Psalm  46:1 -3  217 

occasion,  of  which  there  seem  to  be  some  traces  in  the  last  part,  there  is 
none  to  which  it  would  be  more  appropriate  than  the  miraculous  destruc- 
tion of  the  Assyrian  host  in  the  reign  of  Hezekiah  (2  Kings  xix.  35,  Isa. 
xxxvii.  36),  as  this  was  a  signal  instance  of  divine  interposition  for  the 
deliverance  of  the  chosen  people,  and  peculiarly  adapted  to  exalt  the  Grod 
of  Israel  among  the  nations. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  To  the  Sons  of  Korah.  Upon  Alamoth.  A 
song.  The  Sons  of  Korah  may  here  be  mentioned  either  as  the  authors  or 
performers  of  the  psalm.  (See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  1,  xlv.  1).  In  either 
case,  we  are  perhaps  to  understand  the  Sons  of  Korah  in  the  reign  of  Heze- 
kiah. Some  have  ascribed  the  psalm  to  Isaiah;  but  of  this  there  is  no 
evidence.  Alamoth  means  virgins  or  young  women,  and  is  here  used  as  a 
technical  expression  of  the  Hebrew  music,  to  denote  soprano  or  treble  voices. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  1,  vi.  1. 

2  (1).  God  (is)  for  lis  a  refuge  and  strength;  a  help  in  distresses  he  has 
proved — exceedingly.  The  first  clause  states  the  general  theme  or  proposi- 
tion of  the  psalm ;  the  last  asserts  it  to  have  been  established  by  experience. 
A  refuge,  a  hiding-place,  a  place  where  men  seek  shelter  and  security  from 
impending  danger.  The  original  expression  is  a  local  noun  derived  from  a 
verb,  the  primary  sense  of  which  is  to  take  refuge.  (See  above,  on  Ps. 
ii.  12,  xvi.  1).  A  different  word  is  so  translated  in  ver.  8,  12  (7,  11),  be- 
low. In  this  connection,  strength  may  mean  a  stronghold  or  fortified  place, 
whicn  figure  is  expressly  used  in  Ps.  xviii.  3  (2),  xxvii.  1,  and  elsewhere. 
Or  it  may  simply  mean  the  source  or  author  of  strength,  as  in  Ps.  xxviii.  8, 
and  elsewhere.  In  distresses  :  the  plural  form  may  involve  a  reference  to 
various  occasions,  or  to  complex  and  aggravated  troubles  in  some  one  case. 
He  has  proved,  literally  beeii  found,  i.  e.  by  us,  in  our  experience.  The 
common  version  (a  present  help)  is  scarcely  justified  by  the  occasional  use 
of  the  original  expression  in  the  sense  of  being  present  or  forthcoming.  The 
last  word,  very  or  exceedingly,  appears  to  have  been  added  to  quaUfy  the 
whole  clause  or  proposition,  as  one  eminently  and  emphatically  true. 

3  (2).  Therefore  we  will  not  fear  in  the  changing  of  the  earth,  and  in  the 
moving  of  mountains  in  the  heart  of  seas.  The  simple  idea  expressed  by 
these  strong  figures  is,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  violent  changes  and  com- 
motions. By  the  changing  or  exchanging  of  the  earth  (see  above,  on  Ps. 
XV.  4),  we  may  understand  either  its  change  of  place,  violent  removal,  or 
more  probably  a  change  of  face  and  aspect  or  condition,  as  the  effect  of 
mighty  revolutions.  In  its  changing,  i.  e.  when  it  changes  and  because  it 
changes.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  4  (3).  The  mountains,  as  appears  from 
ver.  7  (6)  below,  are  emblems  of  great  kingdoms  and  powerful  states.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  8  (7),  and  compare  Isa.  xxxvii.  24,  Rev.  viii.  8.  The 
sea  may  be  mentioned  only  as  the  place  to  which  the  mountains  are  trans- 
planted (Luke  xvii.  6),  or  in  which  they  are  shaken  ;  but  it  may  also  be  a 
specific  emblem  of  the  world,  continually  moved  and  agitated  by  the  strife 
of  human  passions.  See  Isa.  Ivii.  20,  and  compare  Isa..  xxvii.  1,  Dan, 
vii.  2,  3.  This  description  is  peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  commotions 
necessarily  produced  by  the  extensive  conquests  of  the  great  empires  of  the 
ancient  world,  perhaps  with  special  reference  in  this  case  to  Assyria. 

4  (3).  Let  its  waters  roar  and  foam ^  let  mountains  tremble  in  its  swelling. 
Selah.  The  singular  pronoun  refers  to  the  sea,  which  is  only  poetically 
plural  in  the  preceding  verse.  The  verb  translated  roar  occurs  above  in  Ps. 
xxxix.  7  (6).  The  one  translated /oam  means  strictly  to  ferment  or  effer- 
vesce.    As  the  word  rendered  swelling  is  also  used  elsewhere  in  the  figura- 


218  Psalm  46:4 -8 

tive  sense  of  pride,  it  is  peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  commotions  of  the 
world,  occasioned  by  the  pride  of  man.  The  verbs  in  this  verse  may  also 
be  explained  as  proper  futures.  Its  waters  shall  (indeed)  roar  and  foam, 
the  hills  shall  tremble  at  its  swelling ;  but  the  people  of  God  shall  still  be 
safe,  as  promised  in  the  next  verse.  The  selah,  as  usual,  indicates  a  pause 
in  the  performance,  and  at  the  same  time  marks  the  close  of  the  first  stanza 
or  strophe. 

5  (4).  (There  is)  a  river — its  streams  shall  gladden  the  city  of  God,  the 
holy  (place)  of  the  dwellings  of  the  Highest.  In  contrast  with  the  turbulent 
and  threatening  sea,  he  now  presents  a  peaceful  and  abundant  river.  This 
emblem  of  God's  favour,  which  is  frequent  in  the  Scriptures,  seems  to  have 
been  borrowed  by  the  later  writers  from  the  river  of  Eden,  Gen.  ii.  10.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  9  (8),  and  compare  Ezek.  xlvii.  1,  Joel  iv.  (iii.)  18, 
Zech.  xiv.  8,  Rev.  xxii.  1.  TTie  city  of  God,  i.  e.  Jerusalem,  his  earthly 
residence,  and  ^the  centre  of  the  theocracy.  See  below,  Ps.  xlviii.  2,  3 
(1,2).  The  holy  (place)  may  either  mean  the  same  thing,  or  be  a  more  specific 
designation  of  the  temple.  See  below,  Ps.  Ixv.  5  (4),  and  compare  Exod. 
xxix.  31,  Lev.  vi.  9,  19  (16,  26).  The  place  rendered  holy  by  the  presence 
of  God's  earthly  residence.  The  Highest  or  Most  High,  the  divine  name 
which  denotes  God's  infinite  superiority  to  other  beings.  See  above,  Ps. 
vii.  18  (17),  ix.  3  (2),  xxi.  8  (7).  The  mention  of  streams  in  the  plural 
indicates  variety  and  fulness  of  divine  favour. 

6  (5).  God  (is)  in  the  midst  of  her,  she  shall  not  be  moved  ;  God  vnll  help 
her  at  the  turning  of  the  morning.  This  last  idiomatic  phrase  seems  to  mean, 
at  the  point  when  the  day  turns  to  come  back,  after  reaching  its  greatest 
distance.  See  Exod.  xiv.  27,  Judges  xix.  26,  and  compare  Deut.  xxiii. 
12  (11).  The  idea  is  that  of  a  critical  transition  from  grief  to  joy.  See 
Ps.  XXX.  6  (5),  xlix.  15  (14),  xc.  14,  ex.  8.  The  terms  of  this  verse  be- 
come still  more  significant  and  striking,  if  we  suppose  a  specific  reference  to 
the  night  in  which  Sennacherib's  host  was  smitten,  and  the  sight  which  was 
disclosed  at  break  of  day.     See  Isa.  xxxvii.  36,  and  compare  Isa.  xvii.  14. 

7  (6).  Nations  roared,  kingdoms  quaked ;  he  has  uttered  his  voice,  the 
earth  will  melt.  There  is  here  an  allusion  to  the  roaring,  foaming  sea  of 
ver.  4  (3).  Uttered,  literally  gave  (a  sound)  with  his  voice,  just  as  we  may 
speak  of  giving  a  groan  or  a  shriek.  Compare  Ps.  Ixviii.  34  (33),  Jer. 
xii.  8.  This  voice  is  not  represented  as  assuaging  the  commotion,  but  in- 
creasing it,  by  making  the  very  earth  dissolve.  As  in  many  other  instances, 
the  psalmist  takes  his  stand  between  the  inception  and  the  consummation 
of  the.  event  which  he  describes.  Hence  the  transition  from  the  past  tense 
to  the  future.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  7  (6).  With  the  last  clause  com- 
pare Ps.  Ixxv.  4  (3),  Amos  ix.  6.  God  is  represented  as  the  ultimate  author 
of  these  mighty  changes.     See  Haggai  ii.  21,  22. 

8  (7).  Jehovah  of  Hosts  (is)  with  us  ;  a  refuge  for  us  (is)  the  God  of 
Jacob.  Selah.  Notwithstanding  these  commotions  and  dangers,  the 
divine  protection  makes  us  perfectly  secure.  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  the  God  of 
the  Universe,  and  especially  of  heaven.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  10,  and 
below,  on  Ps.  xlviii.  9  (8).  With  u^.  Compare  the  name  Immanuel,  Isa. 
viii.  8.  A  refuse,  literally  a  high  place,  a  place  beyond  the  reach  of  ene- 
mies und  dangers.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  10  (9),  xviii.  3  (2).  God  of 
Jacob.     See  above,  oh  Ps.  xxiv.  6. 

9  (8).  Come,  see  the  doings  of  Jehovah,  who  hath  put  desolations  in  the 
earth.  The  first  word  properly  means  go,  but  is  constantly  used  in  sum- 
moning and  inviting  others.     See  above,  Ps.  xxxiv.  12  (11).     The  doings, 


Psalm46:9-ll  219 

what  he  has  been  doing.  The  common  version,  what  desolations  he  hath 
made,  is  not  so  natural  as  that  above  given,  which  takes  the  relative  in  its 
proper  sense,  and  refers  it  to  the  nearest  antecedent.  Put  (or  placed)  deso- 
lations, i.  e.  produced,  occasioned,  caused  them  to  exist.  In  the  earth, 
because  the  ruling  power  of  the  world  was  smitten  ;  or  in  the  land,  i.  e.  the 
Holy  Land,  as  the  immediate  scene  of  God's  retributive  judgments,  which 
all  men  are  invited  now  to  witness.  The  use  of  the  name  Jehovah  inti- 
mates that  the  Grod  who  thus  controls  the  world  is  identical  with  the  God 
of  Israel. 

10  (9).  Silencing  wars  to  the  end  of  the  earth ;  the  bow  he  will  break,  and 
cut  the  spear,  and  the  chariots  will  burn  in  the  fire.  The  participle,  followed 
by  the  future,  shews  that  the  process  is  not  finished,  but  still  going  on. 
Silencing,  making  to  cease.  To  the  end.  The  original  expression  is  a 
stronger  one,  and  means  up  to  the  end,  or  to  the  very  end.  The  bow,  spear, 
and  chariots,  are  named  as  necessary  instruments  of  warfare.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  vii.  13  (12),  and  with  the  whole  verse  compare  Isa.  ii.  4,  Mic.  iv.  3, 
Josh.  xi.  9,  Ezek.  xxxix.  9. 

11  (10).  Leave  of,  and  know  that  I  (am)  God ;  I  will  he  exalted  in  the 
nations,  I  will  be  exalted  in  the  earth.  These  words  are  addressed  to  the 
discomfited  foes  of  Jehovah  and  his  people.  "  Cease  from  your  vain 
attacks  upon  my  people ;  learn  from  what  you  have  already  seen  and  felt 
that  their  protector  is  divine,  and  that  he  is  resolved  to  be  acknowledged  as 
supreme,  not  only  by  his  chosen  people,  but  by  all  the  nations  and 
throughout  the  earth."  This  general  recognition  of  Jehovah  as  the  true 
and  the  supreme  God,  would  of  course  be  promoted  by  such  a  signal  over- 
throw as  that  experienced  by  Sennacherib.     Compare  Isa.  xxxvii.  20. 

12  (11).  Jehovah  of  Hosts  {is)  with  us  ;  a  refuge  for  us  [is)  the  Ood  of 
Jacob.  Selah.  This  repetition  of  the  burden  or  refrain  in  ver.  8  (7), 
brings  us  back  not  only  to  the  close  of  the  second  stanza,  but  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  first,  where  the  same  idea  is  expressed  in  other  words. 

Psalm  47 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  To  the  Sons  of  Korah.  A  Psalm.  A  song 
of  triumph,  in  celebration  of  a  signal  victory  gained  by  the  chosen  people 
over  certain  confederated  nations.  In  the  first  stanza,  ver.  2-5  (1—4), 
Jehovah  is  celebrated  as  the  conqueror  of  the  nations ;  in  the  second,  ver. 
6-10  (5-9),  as  their  rightful  sovereign  ;  in  both,  as  the  tutelary  God  of 
Israel.  Another  difierence  of  form  between  the  two  parts  seems  to  be, 
that  in  the  first,  the  exhortation  to  praise  God  is  addressed  directly  to  the 
Gentiles  ;  in  the  second,  to  Israel  or  the  ancient  church.  The  psalm  has 
every  appearance  of  having  been  composed  in  reference  to  some  particular 
event ;  but  as  this  is  not  indicated  in  the  psalm  itself,  it  can  only  be  con- 
jectured. Of  the  various  suppositions  which  have  been  suggested,  the 
most  probable  is,  that  it  was  written  to  commemorate  the  victory  of  Jehosha- 
phat  over  the  Ammonites  and  Edomites,  recorded  in  the  twentieth  chapter 
of  Second  Chronicles.  Besides  the  general  appropriateness  of  the  compo- 
sition to  the  juncture  there  described,  it  is,  to  say  the  least,  a  very  singular 
coincidence,  that  the  history  records  the  presence,  upon  that  occasion, 
not  only  of  Levites  in  general,  but  of  the  Korhites  (sons  of  Korah)  in  par- 
ticular (2  Chron.  xx.  19).  We  read  too  that  singers  went  before  the  army 
(ver.  21),  and  that  on  the  fourth  day  they  assembled  in  a  valley  which  they 


220  Psalm  47:1  -  6 

called  Berachah  (blessing),  because  there  they  blessed  the  Lord  (ver.  26). 
There  is  also  something  in  the  simple,  animated,  flowing  style  of  the  psalm 
before  us  which  agrees  very  well  with  the  supposition  of  its  being  an  in- 
spired impromptu,  a  psalm  composed  upon  the  spur  of  the  occasion,  either 
by  some  anonymous  prophet  who  accompanied  the  army,  or  by  the  Sons  of 
Korah  themselves.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  1.  This  conjecture,  as  to  the 
historical  occasion  of  the  psalm  before  us,  is  corroborated  by  the  apparent 
relation  of  the  next  psalm  to  the  same  event.     See  below,  on  Ps.  xlviii.  1. 

2  (1).  All  nations,  clap  the  hand!  shout  unto  God  tvith  a  voice  of 
triumph  !  The  clapping  of  the  hands  is  a  natural  gesture  both  of  triumph 
and  applause.  See  Nah.  iii.  19,  and  compare  Ps.  xcviii.  8,  Isa.  Iv.  12.  The 
last  word  in  the  verse  does  not  denote  a  feeling,  but  the  audible  expression 
of  joy  and  exultation,  by  song  or  shout.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11). 
The  nations  addressed  are  not  the  particular  nations  which  had  just  been 
conquered,  but  the  whole  gentile  world,  the  nations  collectively,  who  are 
summoned  to  rejoice  in  the  proof  just  afforded,  that  Jehovah  is  their 
rightful  sovereign.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  50  (49),  and  below,  on  Ps. 
Ixvi.  4  (3),  cxvii.  1,  and  compare  the  original  expression  upon  which  this 
is  modelled,  Deut.  xxxii.  43. 

8  (2).  For  Jehovah,  Most  High,  is  terrible,  a  great  king  over  all  the 
earth.  He  is  not,  as  the  heathen  were  disposed  to  imagine,  a  mere  local 
deity,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews  only,  but  the  God  of  the  whole  earth,  the 
Universal  Sovereign,  and  an  object  of  fear  to  its  inhabitants.  See  the 
same  epithet  applied  to  him  in  Ps.  Ixviii.  36  (35). 

4  (3).  He  tvill  subdue  nations  under  us,  and  peoples  tender  our  feet.  This 
is  a  proof  both  of  his  covenant  relation  to  his  people,  and  of  his  sovereign 
power  over  other  nations.  TVTiat  h^  has  done  is  but  an  earnest  of  what  he 
will  do.  Compare  Ps.  xviii.  39  (38),  48  (47).  This,  though  not  a  matter 
of  rejoicing  to  the  nations  immediately  concerned,  may  well  be  represented 
as  a  matter  of  rejoicing  to  the  world  at  large,  because  it  involves  a  pro- 
mise that  the  Gentiles  shall  one  day  be  included  among  the  subjects  of  this 
divine  protector,  and  partakers  of  his  favour. 

5  (4).  He  will  choose  for  us  our  heritage,  the  pride  of  Jacob  whom  he  loved. 
Selah.  By  defeating  the  enemies  who  sought  to  expel  Israel  from  the  land 
of  promise  (2  Chron.  xx.  11),  God  might  be  poetically  said  to  settle  them 
again  therein,  and,  as  at  first,  to  choose  their  inheritance  for  them.  The 
pride  of  Jacob,  that  of  which  he  is  proud,  in  which  he  glories,  whether  this 
be  understood  specifically  of  the  Holy  Land,  or  generically  of  all  the  privi- 
leges and  distinctions  which  belonged  to  them  as  the  peculiar  people  of 
Jehovah.  Pride,  exaltation,  or  distinction,  as  in  Nah.  ii.  3  (2),  Amos 
vi.  8.  In  Amos  viii.  7,  God  himself  is  so  described.  Jacob,  as  in  Ps. 
xxiv.  6,  xlvi.  8  (7),  12  (11).  Whom  he  loved.  See  Mai.  i.  2,  and  compare 
Ps.  Ixxviii.  68. 

6  (5).  God  has  gone  up  7vith  shouting,  Jehovah  tvith  sound  of  trumpet. 
He  is  here  described  as  returning  to  heaven  after  the  conquest  of  his  enemies 
and  the  rescue  of  his  people,  as  in  Ps.  vii.  8  (7),  he  does  the  same,  after 
sitting  in  judgment  on  the  nations,  and  asserting  the  right  of  his  own 
people.  See  Ps.  Ixviii.  19  (18),  and  compare  Gen.  xvii.  22,  Judges  xiii.  20. 
The  shouting  and  sound  of  the  trumpet  represents  the  ascension  as  a  public 
and  triumphant  one.  The  ideal  scene  is  typical  of  the  actual  ascension  of 
our  Saviour.     See  below,  on  Ps.  Ixviii.  19  (18). 

7  (6).  Sing  praises  (to)  God,  sing  praises!  Sing  praises  to  our  King, 
sing  praises  I     The  Hebrew  corresponding  to  sing  praises  is  a  single  word 


Psalm  47:7 -9  221 

(■IIDT);  which  means  to  praise  musically,  both  with  voice  and  instrument. 

See  above,  on  Ps.  ix,  B,  (2).  God,  who  is  first  mentioned  as  the  object  of 
the  praise,  is  then  described  as  our  King,  the  actual  King  of  Israel  and  the 
rightful  King  of  all  the  earth, 

8  (7).  For  King  of  all  the  earth  [is)  God.  Perform  a  maachil,  i.e.  sing 
and  play  a  didactic  psalm.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxii.  1,  xlii.  1,  xliv.  1, 
xlv.  1.  The  maschil  here  meant  is  the  psalm  itself.  The  designation  may 
have  been  omitted  in  the  title  for  the  very  reason  that  it  is  contained  in  the 
body  of  the  composition.  The  doctrine  taught  is  that  of  Jehovah's  univer- 
sal sovereignty,  and  of  the  ultimate  subjection  of  all  nations  to  his  peaceful 
sway.  This  idea  is  realised  in  the  reign  of  the  Messiah,  so  that  the  psalm 
is,  in  a  wide  sense.  Messianic.  The  peculiar  import  of  this  last  clause  is 
lost  in  the  common  version  [sing  ye  praises  icith  understanding),  which  is 
also  that  of  the  Septuagint  (^/aXarg  avviTu;),  the  Vulgate  {psallite  sapien- 
ter),  and  Jerome  [canite  erudite). 

9  (8).  God  hath  reigned  over  the  nations,  God  hath  sat  down  on  his  throne 
of  holiness.  He  has  begun  to  reign,  has  become  a  king,  and  as  such  has 
ascended  the  throne  of  universal  empire.  This  and  the  next  verse  may  be 
specially  regarded  as  constituting  the  maschil  mentioned  in  ver.  8  (7).  The 
throne  of  his  holiness,  his  holy  throne,  i.  e.  his  divine  throne,  his  throne  un- 
like and  above  all  others.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  4  (3),  and  below,  on  Ps. 
ciii.  19,  and  compare  Isa.  vi.  1,  Ixvi.  1. 

10  (9).  Princes  of  nations  are  assembled — the  people  of  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham; for  unto  God  belong  the  shields  of  the  earth;  he  is  greatly  exalted. 
Tho  first  word  properly  means  willing,  and  especially  spontaneous  givers  ; 
then  by  a  natural  deduction,  liberal,  generous,  noble,  and  as  a  substantive, 
nobles,  princes.  They  are  here  named  as  the  representatives  of  the  nations, 
gathered  in  the  presence  of  God,  to  do  him  homage  and  acknowledge  his 
supremacy.  The  next  phrase  may  mean  either  as,  with,  or  to  the  people  of 
God,  most  probably  the  first.  Tlie  God  of  Abraham,  their  founder  and  pro- 
genitor, with  whom  the  covenant  was  made,  not  only  for  himself  but  for 
his  children.  See  the  same  phrase,  Gen.  xxxi.  42,  Exod.  iii.  6,  Mat. 
xxii.  32.  The  shields  of  the  earth,  its  protectors,  here  put  for  protection  in 
the  abstract,  or  for  the  princes  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  clause.  Com- 
pare Hos.  iv.  18.  It  is  not  till  all  the  principalities  and  powers  of  earth 
acknowledge  their  subjection  to  Jehovah,  that  he  can  be  duly  and  sufficiently 
exalted.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.*29  (28). 

Psalm  48 

1.  A  Psalm.  A  Song.  To  the  Sons  of  Korah.  The  generic  term  'psalm 
{mizmor)  is  rendered  more  specific  by  the  addition  of  song  {shir),  which 
commonly  denotes  a  song  of  praise.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  9  (8).  It  is 
further  described  as  {belonging)  to  the  Sons  of  Korah,  either  as  authors  or 
performers.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xhi.  1.  The  psalm  before  us  celebrates 
Jehovah,  and  Jerusalem  as  his  residence,  ver.  2-4  (1-3),  with  particular 
reference  to  a  recent  deliverance  from  certain  confederate  kings,  ver.  5—9 
(4-8),  which  is  recognised  as  a  subject  of  perpetual  praise,  ver.  10-15 
(9-14).  The  most  probable  conjecture  as  to  the  historical  occasion  of  the 
psalm  is,  that  it  has  reference  to  the  same  event  that  is  commemorated  in 
the  one  before  it.  This  is  the  more  probable,  as  we  learn  from  2  Chron. 
XX.  19,  27,  that  Jehoshaphat  and  his  followers  first  praised  God  for  their 


222  Psalm  48:1  -  6 

deliverance  on  or  near  the  field  of  battle,  and  then  again  in  the  temple  after 
their  return  to  Jerusalem.  The  psahn  before  us  was  probably  written  for 
the  latter  purpose. 

2  (1).  Great  (is)  Jehovah,  and  to  le  praised  exceedingly,  in  the  city  of 
our  God,  his  holy  mountain.  This  verse  propounds,  as  the  theme  of  the 
whole  psalm,  the  glory  of  Jehovah  as  revealed  to  his  own  people.  To  be 
praised  :  see  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  4  (3).  The  paronomasia,  great  and  greatly 
to  be  praised,  is  not  in  the  original,  where  the  words  translated  great  and 
greatly  in  the  English  Bible,  are  entirely  different  both  in  form  and  etymo- 
logy. The  city  of  our  God  :  see  above,  on  Ps.  xlvi.  5  (4).  The  parallel 
expression,  the  mountain  of  his  holiness,  his  mountain  of  holiness,  his  holy 
mountain,  is  intended  to  convey  the  same  idea,  Jerusalem  in  general  and 
Zion  in  particular  being  here  referred  to  as  the  seat  of  the  theocracy,  the 
place  where  God  resided  in  the  midst  of  his  pecuUar  people,  as  their  king 
and  their  tutelary  deity,  and  where  the  duty  of  praising  him  was  therefore 
peculiarly  incumbent. 

3  (2).  Beautiful  for  elevation,  the.  joy  of  the  whole  eartli,  Mount  Zion,  (orb) 
the  sides  of  the  north,  the  city  of  the  great  king.  The  common  version, 
situation,  although  not  erroneous,  is  too  vague.  The  reference  is  to  the 
lofty  site  of  Jerusalem,  as  seen  from  the  surrounding  country.  It  is  called 
the  joy  of  the  whole  earth,  as  a  source  of  spiritual  blessings  to  all  nations. 
The  sides  of  the  north  may  mean  the  northern  division  of  the  city,  and  be 
joined  with  Zion,  which  was  in  the  southern  part,  in  order  to  express  the 
whole.  Or  as  the  word  here  rendered  sides  always  denotes  the  extreme 
edge  or  frontier,  it  may  here  be  used  to  describe  the  appearance  of  the 
Holy  City,  as  it  rose  upon  the  view  of  the  army  returning  from  the  south. 
Either  of  these  is  a  more  natural  interpretation  than  the  modem  one,  which 
supposes  an  allusion  to  the  heathen  notion  of  a  mountain  in  the  extreme 
north,  where  the  gods  resided,  to  which  belief  there  is  supposed  to  be  a 
reference  in  Isa.  xiii.  14. 

4  (3).  God  in  her  palaces  is  knoum  for  a  refuge.  In  this,  his  chosen 
seat,  he  has  revealed  himself  already,  as  the  protector  of  his  people.  See 
below,  on  Ps.  kxvi.  2  (1). 

5  (4).  For  lo,  the  kings  met — they  passed  away  together.  They  had  no 
sooner  come  together  than  they  disappeared  together.  Lo  or  behold,  as 
usual,  indicates  something  unexpected.  The  definite  expression,  the  kings, 
seems  to  refer  to  something  recent  and  well-known.  The  kings  originally 
meant  were  those  of  Moab  and  Edom.  The  word  translated  met  means  to 
come  together  by  appointment  or  agreement,  and  here  imphes  a  combina- 
tion against  Judea.  Compare  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  4-6  (3-5).  Passed  away,  fled 
or  disappeared. 

6  (5).  {As)  they  saw,  so  they  wondered,  were  struck  unth  terror,  were  put 
to  flight.  This  verse  explains  what  was  meant  by  their  passing  in  the  one 
before  it.  The  as,  corresponding  to  so,  which  is  expressed  in  ver.  9  (8), 
seems  to  be  here  omitted,  as  in  Isa.  Iv.  9.  As  ioon  as  they  saw  the  holy 
city,  or  the  tokens  of  divine  protection.  The  last  two  verbs  are  passives. 
For  the  meaning  of  the  first,  see  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  5,  and  for  that  of  the 
second,  on  Ps.  xxxi,  23  (22).  The  whole  verse  is  descriptive  of  a  panic 
leading  to  a  disorderly  retreat  or  flight. 

7  (6).  Trembling  seized  them  there,  pain  as  of  a  travailing  (woman). 
There,  i.  e.  on  the  very  spot  of  their  anticipated  triumph.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xiv.  5.  Or  on  the  spot  from  which  they  first  obtained  a  sight  of  Jeru- 
salem.    This  may  have  been  Tekoa  (2  Chron.  xx.  20),  the  lofty  site  of 


Psalm  48:7 -11  223 

which  commands  an  extensive  prospect.  See  Robinson's  Palestine,  ii.  182. 
The  comparison  ia  the  last  clause  is  a  common  one  ia  Scripture,  to  denote 
intense  but  transient  pain.     Compare  Isa.  xiii.  8,  xxi.  3,  xlii.  14. 

8  (7).  With  an  east  wind  thou  uilt  break  ships  of  Tarshish.  It  is  an 
interesting  coincidence  that  such  a  disaster  did  befall  the  navy  of  Jehosha- 
phat  himself.  See  1  Kings  xxii.  49  (48),  2  Chron.  xx.  36,  37.  Some 
suppose  this  to  be  specifically  meant  in  the  case  before  us,  while  others 
understand  it  as  a  figurative  description  of  God's  sovereign  control  over  all 
inferior  agents.  The  east  wind  seems  to  be  mentioned  as  the  one  most  to 
be  dreaded  in  the  neighbouring  seas.  The  trade  to  Tarshish  and  Ophir 
was  almost  the  only  maritime  commerce  known  to  the  contemporary  He- 
brews.    See  2  Chron.  ix.  21,  and  compare  Isa.  ii.  16,  xxiii.  1,  14  ;  Ix.  9. 

9  (8).  As  we  have  heard,  so  have  we  seen,  in  the  city  of  Jehovah  of  Hosts, 
in  the  city  of  our  God.  God  will  confirm  it  to  eternity.  ISelah.  What 
they  had  heard  of  as  occurring  elsewhere  or  in  ancient  times,  they  had  now 
witnessed  for  themselves.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xliv.  2  (1),  and  compare  Job 
xlii.  5.  Jehovah  of  Hosts  ;  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  10.  God  will  confirm 
it,  or  establish  her,  i.  e.  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  our  God.  He  will  secure  it 
against  aU  such  assaults  as  it  has  just  escaped.  As  Jerusalem  is  here 
regarded  not  as  a  mere  town,  but  as  the  seat  of  the  theocracy,  the  earthly 
residence  o£  God,  the  promise  is  still  valid,  in  its  strongest  sense,  with, 
respect  to  the  chm-ch,  of  which  the  ancient  Zion  was  the  constituted  type 
and  local  centre. 

10  (9).  We  have  compared,  0  God,  thy  mercy  in  the  midst  of  thy  temple. 
The  verb  in  this  verse  sometimes  means  to  meditate,  but  scarcely  ever,  if 
at  all,  without  some  reference  to  its  primary  sense  of  likening  or  comparing. 
It  may  here  denote  the  act  of  comparing  what  they  saw  with  what  they  had 
previously  heard,  a§  in  the  foregoing  verse.  In  the  midst  of  [i.  e.  within) 
thy  temple,  hterally  (hy  palace,  a  term  applied  both  to  the  tabernacle  and 
the  temple,  as  the  royal  residence  of  Jehovah.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  8  (7), 
xi.  4,  xviii.  7  (6),  xxvii.  4,  xxix.  9.  This  expression  agrees  well  with  the 
supposition,  that  this  psalm  was  intended  to  be  simg  at  the  temple  after 
the  return  of  the  army.     See  2  Chron.  xx.  27. 

11  (10).  As  Ihy  name,  0  God,  so  is  thy  praise,  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  ; 
{of)  righteousness  full  is  thy  right  hand.  The  most  obvious  meaning  of  the 
first  clause  would  seem  to  be  that  wherever  God  is  known  he  is  praised. 
Some,  however,  understand  by  name  the  previous  manifestations  of  God's 
nature,  and  hy])raise  the  glory  due  to  his  most  recent  interposition  in  behalf 
of  his  people.  The  sense  will  then  be  still  the  same  as  in  ver.  9  (8),  namely, 
that  what  the  contemporary  Israelites  had  heard  of  God's  wonderful  works 
in  time  past  they  had  now  seen  and  felt  in  their  own  experience.  To  the 
ends  of  (he  earth,  literally  on  or  over  them,  which  may  be  a  poetical  hyper- 
bole describing  the  fame  of  these  events  as  aheady  gone  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  earth.  See  below  on  ver.  15  (14).  Righteousness,  that  of 
God,  as  manifested  in  the  destruction  of  his  enemies  and  the  rescue  of  his 
people.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  28.  This  is  said  to  fill  his  right  hand, 
i.  e.  to  be  abundantly  displayed  in  the  exercise  of  his  almighty  power.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  11. 

12  (11).  Rejoice  shall  Mount  Zion,  exult  shall  the  daughters  of  Judah, 
because  of  thy  judgments.  According  to  a  very  ancient  usage,  which  is 
found  even  in  the  prose  of  technical  geography  (Josh.  xv.  45,  47),  the 
daughters  of  Judah  may  be  the  minor  towns  dependent  on  Jerusalem.  The 
more  obvious  sense  is  that  of  female  inhabitants,  who,  as  the  weaker  sex, 


224  Psalm  48:12 -14 

had  particular  occasion  to  rejoice  in  the  dehverance  of  the  country  from  its 
barbarous  invaders.  The  verbs  may  be  understood  as  expressive  of  a  wish 
or  prayer  (Jet  mount  Zion  rejoice,  &c.).  But  the  proper  future  sense  agrees 
better  with  what  immediately  precedes,  as  the  declaration  of  the  glory, 
which  has  already  redounded  to  the  name  of  God  from  this  exhibition  of 
his  power  and  faithfulness,  is  then  followed  up  by  a  declaration,  that  the 
same  effect  shall  be  continued.  For  the  sake  (or  on  account)  of  thy  judg- 
ments, these  experimental  proofs  of  thy  righteousness,  afforded  by  its  actual 
exercise. 

13  (12).  Surround  Zion  and  encircle  her  ;  count  her  towers.  The  verbs 
in  the  first  clause  mean  to  walk  (or  go)  around.  They  are  twice  used 
together  in  the  history  of  the  taking  of  Jericho  (Josh.  vi.  3,  11).  The 
second  occurs  above  in  Ps.  xvii.  9,  xxii.  17  (16).  The  object  of  the  walk 
here  proposed  is  to  survey  the  perfect  state  of  her  defences,  as  untouched 
by  the  recent  dangers.  Compare  Isa.  xxxiii.  20.  _  Count  her  towers,  to  see 
if  any  of  them  have  been  demoHshed. 

14  (13).  Set  your  heart  to  her  rampart,  examine  her  palaces,  that  you 
may  recount  [it)  to  a  generation  following.  The  meaning  of  the  first  phrase 
is,  apply  your  mind,  give  attention,  observe  closely.  The  word  translated 
rampart  seems  to  denote  the  exterior  circumvallation,  here  contrasted  with 
the  palaces  which  it  surrounded.  Recount  it,  i.  e.  the  result  of  your  inspec- 
tion, or  the  sound  state  of  the  defences,  both  as  a  reminiscence  of  this 
particular  dehverance,  aijd  as  a  type  or  emblem  of  the  safety  which  the 
church  enjoys  under  divine  protection,  and  therefore  entitled  to  perpetual 
remembrance.  The  last  word  in  Hebrew  is  not  a  participle  but  an  adjec- 
tive, strictly  meaning  later  or  latter,  subsequent  or  future. 

15  (14).  For  this  God  {is)  our  God  for  ever  and  ever  ;  he  will  guide  us 
unto  death.  The /or  assigns  a  reason  for  representing  this  event  as  one  to 
be  remembered,  namely,  because  it  is  an  instance  of  the  favour  of  Jehovah, 
who  is  our  perpetual  defender.  The  whole  may  be  thrown  into  a  single 
sentence,  without  supplying  is  in  the  first  clause.  For  this  God,  our  God, 
for  ever  and  ever,  he  will  guide,  &c.     Or  still  more  in  accordance  with  the 

usual  construction  of  the  pronoun  (Ht),  this  is  our  God  for  ever  and  ever, 

i.  e.  he  who  has  done  this  is  and  is  to  be  our  God.  According  to  the  other 
and  more  usual  construction,  this  God  means  the  God  who  has  performed 
these  wonders.  For  ever  and  ever,  literally  eternity  and  perpetuity.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  ix.  6  (5),  x.  16,  xxi.  5  (4),  xlv.  7  (6).  Unto  death,  or  as 
some  explain  it,  at  death,  i.  e.  he  will  save  us  from  it ;  others,  over  death, 
beyond  it.  But  the  most  obvious  explanation,  and  the  one  most  agreeable 
to  usage,  is  that  which  makes  the  phrase  mean  even  to  the  end  of  life,  or 
as  long  as  we  live.  The  idea  of  a  future  state,  though  not  expressed,  is  not 
excluded.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  15. 


Psalm  49 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  To  the  Sons  of  Korah.  A  Psalm.  This 
psalm,  like  the  thirty- seventh,  is  intended  to  console  the  righteous  under 
the  trials  arising  from  the  prosperity  and  enmity  of  wicked  men,  by  shewing 
these  to  be  but  temporary,  and  by  the  prospect  of  a  speedy  change  in  the 
relative  position  of  the  parties.  It  consists  of  a  short  introductory  stanza, 
inviting  general  attention  to  the  subject,  ver.  2-5  (1-4),  followed  by  two 


Psalm  49:1 -5  225 

longer  stanzas,  the  close  of  which  is  marked  by  the  recurrence  of  a  burden 
or  re/rain  in  ver.  13  (12)  and  21  (20).  In  the  first  of  these  two  divisions, 
the  prominent  idea  is  the  fallacy  of  all  merely  secular  advantages  and  hopes, 
ver.  6-13  (5-12).  In  the  other,  these  advantages  and  hopes  are  directly 
contrasted  with  those  of  the  believer,  ver.  14-21  (13-20).  There  is  nothing 
in  the  psalm  to  determine  its  date  or  historical  occasion.  The  inscription 
to  the  iinus  of  Korah  is  consistent  with  any  date  from  the  time  of  David  to 
that  of  Ezra.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  1,  xliv.  1,  xlv.  1,  xlvi.  1,  xlvii.  1, 
xlviii.  1.  In  favour  of  an  earUer  date,  however,  may  be  urged  the  obscurity 
and  difficulty  of  the  style. 

2  (1).  Hear  this,  all  the  natiom ;  give  ear,  all  inhabitants  of  the  world! 
This  general  invocation  implies  that  the  doctrine  to  be  taught  is  one  of 
universal  interest.  The  form  of  expression  is  similar  to  that  in  Micah  i.  2 
and  1  Kings  xxii.  28,  and  may  be  borrowed,  in  all  these  cases,  from  the 
still  stronger  one  in  Deut.  Xxxii.  1.  See  below,  Ps.  1.  1,  and  com];>are  Isa. 
i.  2.  The  word  translated  world  means  primarily  duration  or  continued 
existence  ;  then  more  specifically,  human  life,  the  present  state  of  things  ; 
and  by  a  natural  transition,  the  world,  as  the  place  where  it  is  spent.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  14,  xxxix.  6  (5),  and  below,  on  Ps.  Ixxxix.  48  (47).  ^ 

3  (2).  Both  low  and  high  together,  rich  and  poor  This  is  the  conclusion 
of  the  sentence  begun  in  the  preceding  verse.  The  first  clause  is  highly 
idiomatic  in  its  form,  and  cannot  be  literally  rendered  into  intelligible 
English.  Likewise  sons  of  man,  likewise  sons  of  man.  The  word  man  ]^ere 
corresponds  to  two  distinct  Hebrew  words  which,  when  placed  in  opposition, 
denote  men  of  high  and  low  degree.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  3  (2),  and  below, 
on  Ps.  Ixii.  10  (9),  and  compare  Prov.  viii.  4.  The  same  antithesis  is  pre- 
sented in  a  difi'erent  form,  Ps.  xxii.  30  (29).  The  rich  are  here  summoned 
to  receive  reproof  and  warning,  the  poor  consolation  and  encouragement. 

4  (3).  My  mouth  shall  speak  wisdom,  and  the  meditation  of  my  heart  (is) 
understanding.  This  is  no  self-praise,  as  he  is  only  to  communicate  what  he 
has  received.  Shall  speak,  is  speaking  or  about  to  speak.  Wisdom  and 
understanding  are  both  plural  in  the  Hebrew,  that  form  denoting  fulness  or 
variety.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  51  (50).  The  plural  of  the  first  word  is 
also  applied  to  the  personification  of  the  highest  wisdom,  in  Prov.  ix.  1. 
The  speech  mentioned  in  the  first  clause  is  the  outward  expression  of  the 
thought  or  meditation  in  the  second.  See  the  same  combination  above, 
Ps.  v.  2  (1),  xix.  15  (14). 

5  (4).  I  will  incline  to  a  parable  my  ear,  and  open  with  a  harp  my  riddle. 
I  will  hear  what  God  says,  and  impart  it  to  others.  To  incline  (or  bend) 
the  ear  is  to  lean  forward  as  a  sign  or  gesture  of  attention.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xvii.  6,  xxxi.  3  (2),  xl.  2  (1).  Parable,  literally  Ukeness  or  comparison  ; 
then  any  figurative,  tropical  expression.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xliv.  15  (14). 
The  parallel  word  here  means  an  enigma,  something  hard  to  understand. 
To  open  it  is  not  to  begin  it,  but  either  to  utter  it  or  to  explain  it,  probably 
th^  latter.  What  he  hears  from  God  he  will  open  or  expound  to  man. 
With  the  harp  indicates  the  form  in  which  his  exposition  is  to  be  presented, 
namely,  that  of  a  lyrical  composition,  intended  to  be  sung  with  an  instru- 
mental accompaniment.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiii.  2,  xliii.  4. 

6  (5).  Why  should  I  fear  in  days  of  evil,  (when)  the  iniquity  of  my  oppres- 
sors (or  supplanters)  shall  surround  me  ?  The  theme  of  the  whole  psalm  is 
the  negative  proposition  involved  in  this  interrogation,  namely,  that  the 
righteous  has  no  cause  to  fear,  even  when  surrounded  by  powerful  and 
spiteful  enemies.     Days  of  evil,  i.  e.  of  misfortune  or  distress.     The  word 


226  Psalm  49:6 -10 

translated  oppressors  commonly  means  heels ;  but  as  this  yields  no  good  sense 
here,  it  may  be  taken  as  a  verbal  noun,  meaning  either  treaders,  tramplers, 
oppressors,  or  supplanters,  traitors,  in  a  sense  akin  to  which  the  verbal  root 
is  used.  Gen.  xx\ii.  36,  Hos.  xii.  4  (3).  In  either  case,  it  is  clearly  a 
description  of  his  enemies,  as  practising  violence  or  fraud  against  him. 

7  (6).  Those  relying  on  their  strength,  and  in  the  abundance  of  their  wealth 
they  glory.  A  further  description  of  the  oppressors  and  supplanters.  The 
Hebrew  word  translated  strength  is  appHed,  in  different  cases,  to  bodily, 
pecuniary,  mihtary,  and  moral  strength.  The  parallelism  here  would  seem 
to  indicate  a  reference  to  the  power  which  naturally  springs  from  great  pos- 
sessions. The  word  translated  abundance  may  also  mean  increase.  For 
the  use  of  the  verbal  root,  see  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  2  (1).  *  Glory,  boast,  or 
praise  themselves,  which  last  is  the  exact  sense  of  the  reflexive  verb  here 
used. 

8  (7).  A  brother  can  not  (or  he  shall  not)  even  redeem ;  a  man  can  not  give 
to  God  his  ransom.  In  the  first  clause,  brother  may  be  either  the  subject 
or  the  object  of  the  verb ;  the  rich  man  cannot  redeem  his  brother,  or, 
his  brother  cannot  redeem  him.  The  former  agrees  better  with  the  obvious 
design  to  shew  the  worthlessness  of  mere  wealth,  which  does  not  enable 
a  man  to  redeem  a  brother,  i.e.  save  another's  life.  The  even  in  this  ver- 
sion is  intended  to  express  the  emphatic  repetition  of  the  verb  in  Hebrew. 
It  cannot  do  that  which  is  most  essential,  and  without  which  other  advan- 
tages are  worthless.  Unless  the  last  clause  be  regarded  as  a  mere  reitera- 
tion of  the  same  idea  in  other  words,  it  must  be  understood  to  mean  that 
as  the  rich  man  cannot  redeem  his  brother  from  the  inevitable  stroke  of 
death,  much  less  can  he  redeem  himself,  or  pay  to  God  his  own  ransom. 
This  construction  of  the  last  words  is  the  less  unnatural,  because  there  is 
properly  no  reflexive  pronoun  in  the  Hebrew  language.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxxvi.  3  (2). 

9  (8).  And  costly  is  the  ransom  of  their  soid,  and  he  (or  it)  ceases  for  ever. 
This  obscure  verse  admits  of  several  constructions.  Their  soul  refers  most 
probably  to  the  rich  man  and  his  bi-other.  The  soul  or  life  of  both  requires 
BO  much  to  ransom  it,  that  neither  can  redeem  the  other.  The  verb  in  the 
last  clause  may  mean  ceases  to  live,  perishes,  and  agree  with  either  or  with 
each  of  the  subjects  previously  mentioned.  The  ransom  of  their  hfe  is  so 
costly,  that  neither  can  be  saved.  Or  the  verb  may  agree  with  ransom, 
as  in  the  English  Bible ;  it  is  too  costly  to  be  paid,  and  therefore  ceases, 
or  remains  unpaid,  for  ever.  The  same  sense  substantially  may  be  obtained 
by  making  cease  mean  cease  (or  fail)  to  pay,  and  construing  it  with  one  of 
the  preceding  nouns.  The'  ransom  is  so  costly  that  he  fails  to  pay  it,  or 
ceases  to  attempt  it,  for  ever.  Upon  any  of  these  various  suppositions, 
the  essential  idea  is  that  the  ransom  of  their  Hfe  is  too  expensive  to  be 
paid. 

10  (9).  That  he  should  still  live  for  ever,  and  not  see  corruption.  The 
form  of  the  first  verb  in  Hebrew  shews  that  this  is  a  dependent  sentence, 
to  be  immediately  connected,  as  some  think,  with  the  ninth  verse :  "  he  can- 
not even  redeem  a  brother,  a  man  cannot  pay  to  God  a  ransom,  so  as  to 
live  for  ever  and  not  see  corruption."  The  tenth  verse  is  then  a  parenthetical 
amplification  of  the  ninth.  Others  connect  the  ninth  and  tenth  directly,  by 
taking  cease  to  mean  that  he  cannot  bring  to  pass.  The  redemption  of  their 
soul  is  too  costly ;  he  can  never  so  contrive  it,  that  he  shall  live  for  ever 
and  not  see  corruption. 

11  (10).  For  he  shall  see  (it) ;  wise  (men)  must  die;  likewise  the  fool  and 


Psalm  49:1 1,12  111 

hrute  must  perish,  and  leave  to  others  their  substance.  The  usual  construc- 
tion of  the  fu'st  words — when  he  sees  (or  /or  he  sees)  that  toise  men  die 
— is  neither  so  simple  in  itself,  nor  so  well  suited  to  the  context,  as  that 
which  gives  the  verb  the  same  sense,  and  the  same  object,  as  in  the  pre- 
ceding verse.  Wealth  cannot  ransom  its  possessor,  so  that  he  shall  live 
for  ever  and  not  see  corruption,  for  he  shall  see  it,  as  all  others  do.  Even 
the  wisest  men  must  die,  much  more  the  fool  and  brutish  person.  These 
are  the  terms  so  frequently  used  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs  to  describe  the 
sinner  as  irrational.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  1,  and  compare  Prov.  i.  32,  x.  1, 
xii.  1,  XXX.  2,  Eccles.  ii.  16.  In  the  use  of  the  verbs  die  and  perish,  there 
miay  be  an  intentional  allusion  to  the  difierent  destiny  of  the  wise  and 
foolish.  Likeuise,  or  more  hterallj  together,  at  the  same  time.  See  above, 
Ps.  iv.  9  (8),  and  compare  Isa.  i.  28.  Substance,  strength,  pecuniary 
strength,  the  same  word  that  is  used  in  ver  7  (6)  above. 

12  (11).  Their  inward  thought  (is  that  J  their  houses  (shall  continue) 
for  ever,  their  dwellings  to  generation  and  generation  :  they  call  their  lands 
by  their  own  names.  This  is  substantially  the  common  version,  which  is 
here  retained  because  it  jdelds  a  good  sense,  and  is  as  probable  as  any 
other  explanation  of  this  very  obscure  verse.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew 
strictly  means  the  inside  of  anything,  and  especially  of  man,  i.e.  his  mind 
or  heart,  particularly  as  distinguished  from  his  words  or  outward  conduct. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  10  (9),  and  below,  on  Ps.  Ixiv.  7  (6).  The  plural 
form  at  the  end  of  the  sentence  occurs  nowhere  else,  but  corresponds  to  our 
word  grounds,  when  applied  to  cultivated  lands.  As  the  singular,  how- 
ever, though  it  commonly  means  ground,  seems  occasionally  to  denote 
a  land  or  country,  some  understand  the  clause  to  mean  that  they  (i.  e.  men 
indefinitely)  proclaim  (or  celebrate)  their  names  over  lands,  i.  e.  throughout 
various  countries.  Another  possible,  though  not  a  probable  construction, 
makes  the  last  two  words  mean  upon  earth,  the  form  of  the  Hebrew  noun 
being  assimilated  to  that  of  the  particle  before  it.  Amidst  these  various 
constructions  the  essential  meaning  still  remains  unchanged,  to  wit,  that  the 
rich  fools  of  the  foregoing  context  imagine  their  prosperity  to  be  perpetual. 

13(12).  And  man  in  honour  shall  not  lodge  ;  he  is  made  like  to  the  brutes; 
they  are  destroyed.  The  and  at  the  beginning  is  equivalent  to  and  yet,  or 
to  the  simple  adversative  but.  It  introduces  the  contrast  of  man's  real 
frailty  mth  his  imaginary  permanence.  As  if  he  had  said,  "  Such  are  the 
dreams  of  the  rich  fool,  and  (yet)  man  really,"  &c.  The  word  translated 
honour  properly  means  value,  price,  but  is  applied  precisely  like  the  corre- 
sponding Greek  word  (rifiii).  It  here  includes  all  that  makes  the  condition 
of  the  rich  fool  seem  desirable,  either  to  his  own  conceit,  or  to  the  envious 
admiration  of  his  neighbours.  In  this  position  he  is  not  to  lodge,  i.  e. 
remain  permanently,  or  with  closer  adherence  to  the  strict  sense  of  the  verb, 
continue  even  for  a  night,  implying  that  he  is  to  perish  before  morning. 
This  passage  seems  to  have  been  present  to  our  Lord's  mind,  when  he 
uttered  the  parable  of  the  Rich  Fool.  Compare  especially  with  the  verse 
before  us,  Luke  xii.  20.  Made  like,  assimilated,  not  in  his  origin,  but  in 
his  end.  The  point  of  comparison  seems  to  be  their  blindness  and  irra- 
tional destitution  of  all  foresight.  The  word  translated  brutes  may  be  still 
more  closely  rendered  beasts,  being  properly  descriptive  of  the  larger  qua- 
drupeds. It  might  even  seem  in  this  case  to  denote  specifically  cattle  or 
domesticated  animals,  as  those  which  men  are  especially  accustomed  to  see 
suddenly  deprived  of  life.  But  this  Umitation  of  the  term  is  pecuUar  to 
prose  style,  whereas  in  poetry,  when  used  distinctively,  it  rather  signifies 


228  Psalm  49:13, 14 

wild  hfosCs.  It  is  bettc)',  therefore,  to  give  it  here  its  wider  sense  of  beasts 
in  general,  and  to  explain  even  these  as  mere  representatives  or  samples  of 
the  whole  class,  brutes  or  irrational  animals,  like  whom  the  rich  fool  is  cut 
off  suddenly  and  unawares.  They  are  destroyed,  or  as  the  word  seems  to 
signify  originally,  silenced,  brought  to  silence,  i.  e.  stilled  or  hushed  in  death. 
By  assuming  an  enallage  or  sudden  change  of  number,  we  may  construe 
this  verb  with  the  human  subject.  He  (the  rich  fool)  is  treated  like  the 
brutes;  {like  these)  they  (the  rich  fools)  are  destroyed.  A  less  emphatic  but 
more  obvious  construction  is  that  which  refers  it  to  the  brutes  themselves. 
He  is  made  like  to  the  beasts  (which)  are  destroyed  (before  they  are  aware). 

14  (13).  This  (is)  their  course;  (such  is)  their  folly  ;  and  (yet)  after 
them  [men)  will  delight  in  what  they  say.  Selah.  Their  loay  or  course 
means  not  only  their  behaviour,  but  their  fate  or  destiny.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  i.  6.  Such  is  their  folly  ;  literally  folly  {is)  to  them,  they  have  folly, 
they  are  fools.  The  noun  means  originally  hope  or  expectation  ;  then  an 
overweening  confidence,  a  fond  or  foolish  hope ;  then  folly,  but  not  with- 
out a  special  reference  to  this  specific  form  of  it.  The  tenn  is  peculiarly 
appropriate  to  those  who  had  just  been  described  as  confidently  looking  for 
a  permanent  enjoyment  of  tbeir  present  pleasures,  when  about  to  be  de- 
prived of  them  for  ever.  After  them  may  refer  to  those  who  follow  them 
in  time,  their  successors  or  descendants.  But  as  a  similar  expression  else- 
where denotes  those  who  follow  in  the  sense  of  imitating  or  adhering  to  a 
leader  (Exod.  xxiii.  2,  2  Sam.  ii.  10),  it  is  best  to  retain  this  meaning  in 
the  case  before  us.  They  whofolloio  them,  their  imitators,  their  adherents, 
will  delight  in  their  mouth,  approve  of  what  they  say,  adopt  their  principles, 
and  act  upon  their  maxims.  The  general  meaning  of  the  verse,  as  thus 
explained,  is  that  notwithstanding  the  gi-oss  folly  of  such  sinners,  as  proved 
by  the  end  to  which  it  brings  them,  they  will  still  find  some  to  walk  in 
their  footsteps,  and  to  share  their  ruin.  Against  this  propagated  and  per- 
petuated folly  there  is  a  tacit  but  emphatic  protest  in  the  meditative  pause 
which  follows,  and  in  the  Selah  which  denotes  it. 

15  (14).  Like  a  flock,  to  the  grave  they  drive  ;  death  is  their  shepherd  ;  and 
the  righteous  shall  rule  over  them  in  the  morning  ;  and  their  form  the  grave 
(is)  to  consume  ;  from  (their)  home  to  him  {they  go  or  they  belong).  This 
is  one  of  the  most  obscure  and  difficult  verses  in  the  book,  although  its 
general  meaning  is  obvious  enough.  Like  sheep,  or  like  a  flock,  i.  e.  blindly, 
in  confusion,  and  without  choice  or  foresight  of  their  own.  See  above,  on 
ver.  13  (12).  Hell,  in  the  wide  old  English  sense  of  the  grave  or  the 
state  of  the  dead.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5),  ix.  18  (17),  xvi.  10,  xviii. 
6  (5),  XXX.  4  (3),  xxxi.  18  (17).  They  drive ;  the  Hebrew  verb,  like  the 
English  one,  is  active  in  form,  but  really  involves  a  passive  meaning,  they 
are  driven,  literally  put  or  placed.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xii.  6  (5).  The 
figure  of  a  flock  is  carried  out  by  representing  Death  as  the  shepherd,  by 
whom  they  are  led  or  driven.  The  literal  meaning  of  the  words  is.  Death 
shall  feed  them,  but  the  Hebrew  verb  means  to  feed  as  a  shepherd ;  or 
rather  to  perfonn  the  whole  office  of  a  shepherd.  To  this  word  and  its 
synonyme  in  greek  ('roifMaivu)  we  have  no  exact  equivalent  in  English. 
The  bald  translation,  death  shall  feed  them,  seems  to  imply  that  the  pro- 
minent idea  is  that  of  nourishment,  whereas  it  is  that  of  guidance  or  direc- 
tion. The  common  version,  death  shall  feed  on  them,  although  not  ungram- 
matical,  is  entirely  at  variance  with  the  figure  of  a  flock  and  a  shepherd, 
which  immediately  precedes.  The  verb  translated  rule  seems  originally  to 
denote  the  act  of  treading  on  or  trampling,  in  which  sense  it  is  supposed 


Psalm  49:15, 16  229 

to  be  used  by  Joel,  iv.  13  (iii.  13).  If  this  sense  be  adopted  here,  the  idea 
may  be  either  that  of  treading  on  a  grave,  or  on  the  neck  of  a  conquered 
enemy.  As  the  Hebrew  verb,  however,  in  every  other  case,  means  to  rule 
over,  and  especially  when  followed  by  the  same  preposition  as  in  this  place, 
it  is  better  to  adhere  to  the  established  usage,  which  affords  a  perfectly 
good  sense,  namely,  that  the  righteous  shall  soon  triumph  over  their  once 
prosperous  oppressors.  At  break  of  day,  or  in  the  morning,  i.e.  very  soon, 
to-morrow,  with  allusion,  no  doubt,  to  the  form  of  expression  in  ver.  13  (12), 
above,  and  to  the  general  use  of  night  and  morning,  as  figures  for  distress 
and  relief  from  it.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  6  (5).  Their  form,  shape, 
figure,  perhaps  with  an  implication  of  beauty,  which  is  expressed  in  the 
English  version.  Consume,  literally  make  old,  wear  out,  waste  away.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxxii.  3.  Is  to  consume,  will  do  so,  or  is  about  to  do  so. 
The  last  clause  is  even  more  obscure  than  what  precedes.  The  last  word 
in  Hebrew  means  to  him  (or  it),  which  most  interpreters  exchange,  by  an 
enallage  of  number,  into  them.  It  may,  however,  be  referred  directly  to 
the  nearest  antecedent,  hell,  the  grave,  or  to  death,  personified  in  the  first 
clause.  From  (their)  dwelling,  i.  e.  driven  from  it,  (they  descend  or  they 
belong)  to  him.  However  harsh  the  elUpsis  here  assumed  may  seem,  it  is 
really  less  so  than  to  omit  the  preposition  with  some  writers,  or  the  pro- 
noun with  others,  or  with  one  to  understand  from  dwelling  to  mean  a 
dwelling  which  is  not  a  dv/elling,  or,  as  we  might  say,  an  undwelling. 
Apart  from  these  minute  verbal  difficulties,  the  general  idea  of  the  verse  is 
plain,  to  wit,  that  they  who  are  now  an  object  of  envy  or  congratulation 
are  soon  to  be  deprived  by  death  of  all  theii*  coveted  and  boasted  advan- 
tages. 

16  (15).  Only  God  will  redeem  my  soul  from  the  hand  of  Hell,  for  he  will 
take  me.  Selah.  The  Hebrew  particle  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence 
always  denotes  a  limitation  or  exception.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  8, 
xxxix.  12  (11).  It  may  here  mean  either  that  his  own  case  is  excepted 
from  the  destruction  which  he  has  been  describing,  and  which  might  seem 
to  be  described  as  universal ;  or  that  God  alone  can  afford  that  safety  which 
the  rich  fool  hopes  to  derive  from  his  secular  advantages.  Redeem,  in  allu- 
sion to  ver.  8,  9  (7,  8),  above.  The  hand  is  a  common  emblem  of  power, 
but  it  may  here  belong  to  a  personification  of  Sheol,  the  grave,  or  hell,  like 
that  of  death  in  ver.  15  (14).  For  he  will  take  me,  i.e.,  as  some  suppose, 
will  take  me  to  himself,  accept  me.  But  as  the  verb  is  nowhere  absolutely 
used  in  this  sense,  it  is  better  to  explain  it  as  a  parallel  expression  to  redeem. 
"  He  will  redeem  me  from  the  hand  of  Sheol,  for  he  will  take  me  (out  of 
it)."  Either  of  these  constructions  is  more  natural  than  that  which  makes 
Sheol  the  subject  of  the  last  verb.  "  He  will  redeem  me  from  the  hand  of 
Sheol,  when  it  seizes  (or  would  seize)  me."  The  hostile  sense  thus  put 
upon  the  verb  may  be  justified  by  the  analogy  of  Isa.  xxviii.  19  ;  but  the 
change  of  subject  and  the  less  usual  meaning  of  the.  particle  (^3)  are  not  to 

be  assumed  without  necessity. 

17  (16).  Be  not  thou  afraid  because  a  man  groivs  rich,  because  the  glory 
of  his  house  increases.  Here  begins  the  apphcation  or  practical  conclusion 
of  the  foregoing  meditations.  It  is  marked  by  a  change  of  form,  the  Psalm- 
ist now  no  longer  speaking  of  himself,  but  to  himself,  or  to  anotter,  as  the 
person  most  directly  interested  in  his  subject.  See  a  similar  transition 
in  Ps.  xxxii.  8,  and  compare  the  parental  or  authoritative  tone  of  the 
address  with  that  in  Ps.  xxxiv.  12  (11).  Fear  not,  be  not  apprehensive 
or  solicitous,  not  merely  for  thyself,  but  for  the  cause  of  truth  and  goodness. 


230  Psalm  49:17, 18 

See  above,  on  Ps.  xxx\di.  1.  The  eonjunction  in  the  first  clause  may  also  be 
translated  when  or  though.  But  the  proper  causal  meaning  of  the  particle 
should  always  be  preferred  when  admissible,  and  especially  in  cases  like  the 
present,  where  it  yields  not  only  a  good  sense  but  the  best  sense,  since  the 
increasing  wealth  and  honour  of  the  wicked  is  certainly  assigned  as  the 
cause  or  occasion  of  the  anxious  apprehensions  here  forbidden.  The  use 
of  the  English  present  tense  in  the  translation  of  this  verse  is  merely  idio- 
matic, since  in  such  connections  it  is  really  a  future.  The  verb  of  the  first 
clause  is  a  causative,  and  strictly  means  to  enrich  or  make  rich.  The  tran- 
sition to  the  neuter  or  intransitive  sense  is  precisely  similar  to  that  of  the 
English  verb  increase,  which  strictly  means  to  make  greater,  but  in  this  very 
sentence  has  the  intransitive  sense  of  growing  (or  becoming)  greater.  There 
is  no  other  clear  example  of  the  first  Hebrew  verb  being  so  used.  Dan. 
xi.  2,  and  Prov.  x.  4,  are  at  least  ambiguous.  A  man  cannot  of  itself  denote 
a  bad  man,  but  that  idea  is  suggested  by  the  context,  and  especially  by  the 
use  of  the  word  man  in  ver.  8  (7),  13  (12).  Glory  or  honour  here  includes 
all  the  sensible  eff'ects  of  riches,  as  a  source  of  admiration  and  applause. 
Souse,  in  the  wide  sense,  common  to  both  languages,  including  both  the 
dwelling  and  the  family,  the  house  and  household.  See  Gen  vii.  1,  xviii. 
19,  XXXV.  2,  1.  4. 

18  (17.)  For  not  in  his  death  will  he  take  the  whole  ;  not  down  will  go 
after  him  his  glory.  The  form  of  the  original  is  here  retained  as  far  as 
possible,  in  order  to  exhibit  its  highly  idiomatic  character.  The  position 
of  the  negative  in  both  clauses  makes  it  far  more  emphatic  than  in  our  Eng- 
lish collocation.  At  his  death,  in  his  dying,  when  he  dies.  The  whole: 
this  word  is  usually  rendered  all,  but  it  is  invariably  a  substantive  in  He- 
brew, and  is  here  determined  to  be  such  by  the  definite  article  prefixed. 
Not  the  whole,  however,  or  not  all,  is  by  no  means  so  significant  a  phrase 
in  EngUsh  as  in  Hebrew,  where  the  absence  of  indefinite  pronouns  makes 
this  the  only  way  of  saying  not  anything,  i.  e.  nothing  WhUe  the  words 
therefore  certainly  mean  that  he  shall  not  take  all,  they  likewise  mean  that  he 
shall  not  take  any  of  his  secular  possessions  with  him  ;  and  this  stronger  sense 
is  here  required  by  the  context.  His  glory,  as  in  the  preceding  verse,  his 
wealth  and  the  honours  or  distinctions  springing  from  it.  Descend  after 
him,  not  in  the  moral  or  legal  sense  of  a  hereditary  descent  to  his  heirs,  but 
in  the  local  sense  of  a  descent  into  the  grave  or  the  unseen  world.  The 
whole  verse  assigns  a  reason  for  not  envying  the  wealthy  sinner,  namely, 
because  he  will  be  soon  obliged  to  leave  his  wealth  behind  him. 

19  (18).  For  his  soul  in  his  life  he  will  bless,  and  (others)  will  praise 
thee  because  thou  doest  good  to  thyself.     There  is  no  need  of  giving  ^3  the 

sence  of  but,  though,  or  any  other  than  its  proper  causal  sense  offer,  because. 
See  above,  on  ver.  17  (16).  This  verse  assigns  the  reason  of  the  fact 
alleged  in  the  one  before  it.  The  wealthy  sinner  is  to  carry  nothing  with 
him  when  he  dies,  because  he  is  to  have  his  "  good  things"  in  the  present 
life.  This  is  God's  appointment  in  accordance  with  his  own  free  choice. 
In  his  life  (or  lifetime),  as  long  as  he  lives,  he  is  to  bless  his  soul  (or  hirn- 
self),  i.  e.  to  reckon  himself  happy,  and  to  be  so  esteemed  by  others.  In 
the  last  clause,  the  third  person  is  abruptly  exchanged  for  the  second,  and 
the  wealthy  sinner,  of  whom  the  Psalmist  had  been  speaking  to  himself  or 
his  disciple,  is  directly  addressed,  as  if  personally  present.  This  applica- 
tion of  the  figure  called  apostrophe  is  made  with  great  skill  and  rhetorical 
effect.  The  plural  verb  is  indefinite,  as  in  ver.  14  (13)  above.  They,  i.  e. 
men  in  general,  or  others,  as  distinguished  from  himself.     The  verb  itself 


Psalm  49:19, 20  231 

means  strictly  to  acknowledge  or  confess  ;  then  more  specifically,  to  acknow- 
ledge benefits  received,  to  thank  ;  and  then  io praise  in  general.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  vi.  6  (5).  The  primary  meaning  may  be  here  still  kept  in  view,  by 
understanding  him  to  mean,  they  will  recognise  thee  (or  take  knowledge  of 
thee)  that  thou  doest  good  (or  as  one  doing  good)  to  thyself.  There  is  no 
need  of  substituting  either  a  present  or  a  past  tense  for  the  futures,  which 
are  perfectly  appropriate  in  speaking  of  a  course  of  conduct  yet  to  be  acted 
out,  the  wealthy  sinner  being  represented  as  still  living,  both  in  this  verse 
and  the  one  before  it.  There  is  pungent  sarcasm  in  the  close  of  this  verse  : 
they  will  praise  thee  because  thou  doefet  good — to  thyself  Or,  because 
thou  doest  well — for  thyself  The  addition  of  this  last  phrase  serves  to 
characterise  vividly,  not  only  the  rich  sinner  but  his  flatterers.  There  can 
be  Httle  doubt  that  our  Saviour  tacitly  alluded  to  the  first  clause  of  this 
verse,  when  he  made  Abraham  say  to  Dives,  "  Son,  remember  that  thou  in 
thy  Ufetime  receivedst  thy  good  things,  and  likewise  Lazarus  evil  things ; 
but  now  he  is  comforted,  and  thou  art  tormented"  (Luke  xvi.  25).  This  is 
indeed  a  most  instructive  commentary  on  the  passage  now  before  us,  a^ 
exhibiting  the  future  revolution  in  the  relative  position  of  the  parties,  as  a 
reason  for  not  envying  the  wealthy  sinner  now.  It  is  equally  certain,  that 
the  Rich  Fool's  address  to  his  own  soul,  in  Luke  xii.  19,  was  suggested  by 
the  same  clause  of  the  psalm  before  us,  in  his  lifetime  he  will  bless  his  soid. 
Indeed,  the  whole  conception  of  the  Rich  Man  in  the  one  case,  and  the  Rich 
Fool  in  the  other,  may  be  said  to  be  borrowed  from  this  psalm,  and  may 
therefore  derive  instructive  and  interesting  illustration  from  it. 

20  (19).  It  shall  go  (or  thou  shalt  go)  to  the  generation  of  his  fathers  ;  for 
ever  they  shall  not  see  light.  The  first  verb  may  be  either  a  third  person 
feminine,  agreeing  with  soul,  or  a  second  person  masculine,  addressed  directly 
to  the  wealthy  sinner.  In  the  latter  case,  we  must  suppose  an  immediate 
change  to  the  third  person,  in  order  to  account  for  the  expression  his  fathers. 
In  either  case,  the  idea  is  that  he  shall  go,  though  this  would  not  be  a 
correct  translation  of  the  Hebrew  words.  The  whole  clause  has  reference 
to  the  frequent  description  of  death  in  the  Old  Testament,  as  a  man's 
sleeping  with  his  fathers,  or  being  gathered  to  his  fathers.  Generation  may 
be  taken  as  a  collective  term,  denoting  the  successive  generations  of  his 
fathers,  either  natural  or  spiritual,  i.  e.  either  his  Uteral  progenitors,  or  his 
predecessors  iu  the  same  way  of  thinking  and  the  same  course  of  life. 
There  is  no  absurdity  indeed  in  supposing  the  two  senses  to  be  here  coinci- 
dent. To  perpetuity  they  shall  not  see,  in  our  idiom,  they  shall  never  see. 
The  light,  i.  e.  the  light  of  life,  or  the  light  of  the  living,  an  expression  used 
by  David,  Ps.  Ivi.  14  (13).  The  meaning  of  the  whole  verse  is,  that  the 
wealthy  sinner  is  to  die  as  his  fathers  died  before  him,  and  continue  dead 
like  them,  without  returning  to  revisit,  much  less  to  repossess,  the  riches 
and  honours  which  he  once  imagined  were  to  last  for  ever.  This  completes 
the  proof  that  these  advantages  are  not  legitimate  or  even  rational  occasions 
of  envious  dissatisfaction  to  the  righteous. 

21  (20).  Man  (that  is)  in  honour  ani  undentandeth  not  is  likened  to  the 
beasts  (that)  are  destroyed.  The  first  verb  in  this  verse  and  the  first  verb 
in  ver.  13  (12)  diflfer  only  in  a  single  letter  (]>2'*  ^^^  yh''),  in  consequence 
of  which  they  are  confounded  by  the  ancient  Greek  and  Syriac  translators, 
and  some  modern  critics  have  proposed  to  amend  one  of  the  places  by 
assimilation  to  the  other.  But  the  prevalent  practice  of  the  Hebrew 
writers,  where  the  same  burden  or  re/ram  recurs,  is  not  to  repeat  it  slavishly, 
but  with  some  sUght  variation  in  the  form,  which  not  unfrequently  suggests 


232  Psalm  50:1 -3 

a  new  idea,  or  modifies  the  one  before  expressed.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xxiv.  10,  xHi.  12  (11).  So  here,  at  the  close  of  the  first  strophe,  the  rich 
fool  is  compared  to  the  brutes  that  perish,  with  respect  to  the  uncertainty 
of  his  enjoyments  ;  and  again  at  the  close  of  the  second,  with  respect  to  his 
irrationality,  the  points  of  comparison  being  distinct  but  inseparable.  No 
wonder  that  the  sinner  is  cut  off  unawares  like  the  brutes,  when  in  fact  he 
is  equally  irrational.  By  tampering  with  the  text  of  either  passage,  there- 
fore, we  take  from  the  psalm  one  of  its  moral  lessons,  as  well  as  one  of  its 
rhetorical  beauties. 


Psalm  50 

Under  the  figure  of  a  great  judicial  process,  God  himself  is  introduced, 
exposing  and  condemning  the  hypocrisy  of  formalists,  and  expounding  the 
true  nature  of  his  law.  After  a  striking  introduction,  ver.  1-6,  he  reproves 
the  perversion,  and  exhibits  the  true  meaning,  of  the  first  table  of  the  law, 
yer.  7-15,  and  then  of  the  second,  ver.  16-21,  and  closes  with  a  solemn 
warning  and  a  gracious  promise,  ver.  22-23. 

1.  A  Psalm.  By  Asaph.  The  Almighty,  God,  Jehovah,  speaks,  and 
calls  the  earth,  from  the  risiny  of  the  sun  unto  the  going  down  thereof. 
Asaph  was  one  of  David's  chief  musicians  (1  Chron.  xv.  17,  19),  and 
also  an  inspired  psalmist  (1  Chron.  xxv.  2,  2  Chron.  xxix.  30).  In 
both  these  capacities  the  psalm  might  be  ascribed  to  him,  nor  is  it  pos- 
sible either  to  prove  or  disprove  that  it  was  composed  by  him.  Mighty  or 
Almighty  is  not  an  adjective  agreeing  with  the  next  word  [the  Mighty  Crod), 
but  a  substantive  in  apposition  with  it.  Three  divine  names  are  put  to- 
gether in  a  kind  of  climax.  El,  Elohim,  Jehovah.  The  first  represents  God 
as  almighty,  the  second  as  the  only  proper  object  of  worship  and  (by  its 
plural  form)  as  perfect,  the  thii'd  as  self- existent  and  eternal,  and  at  the 
same  time  as  the  peculiar  God  of  Israel.  The  same  combination  occurs  in 
Josh.  xxii.  22.  It  is  here  intended  to  enhance  the  grandeur  of  the  scene 
by  setting  forth  the  titles  of  the  judge  or  sovereign.  Speaks,  or  more  exactly 
spoke,  has  spoken,  by  which,  however,  we  may  understand  an  act  just  past. 
The  same  remark  applies  to  the  word  calls,  which  is  here  used  in  the  sense 
of  summoning  or  citing.  From  sunrise  to  sunset,  or  from  east  to  west,  is 
a  natural  description  of  the  earth  in  its  whole  extent,  including  its  remotest 
bounds  but  not  excluding  that  which  lies  between  them.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  ii.  8. 

2.  Out  of  Zion,  the  perfection  of  beauty,  God  hath  shined.  He  comes 
forth,  in  a  splendid  and  imposing  manner,  from  his  royal  residence,  the 
seat  of  the  theocracy,  which  is  described  as  perfectly  beautiful,  not  only  in 
a  moral  and  spiritual  sense,  but  in  reference  also  to  its  lofty  situation,  cele- 
brated in  Ps.  xlviii.  3  (2)  above.  The  Hebrew  verb  is  borrowed  from  the 
subhme  theophany  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  2  ;  see  also  Ps.  Ixxx.  2  (1),  xciv.  1. 

3.  Our  God  shall  come — and  let  him  not  be  silent — fire  before  him  shall 
devour,  and  around  him  it  shall  be  tempestuous  exceedingly.  The  future  in 
the  first  clause  may  be  rendered  he  is  coming,  as  if  the  sound  of  his  voice 
and  the  hght  of  his  glory  had  preceded  his  actual  appearance.  The  imagery 
is  borrowed  from  the  giving  of  the  law  at  Sinai,  Exod.  xix.  16,  xx.  18. 
Consuming  fire  is  a  common  emblem  of  God's  vindicatory  justice  (Deut. 
xxxii.  22,  2  Thess.  i.  8),  and  of  God  himself  considered  as  a  righteous  God 
(Deut.  iv.  24,  ix.  3,  Heb.  xii.  29). 


Psalm  50:4  -  8  233 

4.  He  will  call  to  the  heavens  above  and  to  the  earth,  to  judge  his  people. 
The  future,  as  before,  describes  an  act  just  about  to  be  performed.  It 
might  even  be  translated,  he  is  calling.  The  compound  preposition,  from 
over,  is  used  adverbially  in  the  sense  of  above.  See  for  example  Gen.  i.  7. 
The  strict  sense, /rom  above,  would  here  be  inappropriate,  since  God  is  re- 
presented not  as  speaking  from  heaven,  much  less  from  above  it,  but  as 
appearing  upon  earth,  and  visibly  coming  out  of  Zion.  In  our  idiom  these 
words  would  naturally  mean  that  he  summons  heaven  and  earth  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  his  people.  But  according  to  Hebrew  usage,  the  last  clause 
may  refer  to  the  remoter  antecedent,  the  subject  of  the  principal  verb,  and 
be  translated,  so  that  he  may  judge  his  people.  The  heavens  and  earth,  put 
for  the  whole  creation,  are  summoned  not  as  judges  but  as  witnesses,  as 
appears  from  ver.  6  below.  See  Deut.  iv.  26,  xxx.  19,  xxxi.  28,  and  com- 
pare Isa.  i.  2. 

5.  Gather  for  me  my  saints,  ratifying  my  covenant  over  sacrifice.  The 
judge  here  addresses,  as  it  were,  the  ministerial  officers  of  justice.  Com- 
pare Mat.  xxiv.  31.  For  me,  as  my  messengers,  acting  in  my  behalf,  or  to 
me,  i.e.  to  the  place  where  I  am,  here,  around  me.  My  saints,  the  objects  of 
my  mercy,  those  whom  I  have  called  and  specially  distinguished.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  iv.  4  (3).  The  term  is  here  descriptive  of  a  relation,  not  of 
an  intrinsic  quality.  Ratifying,  literally  cutting,  striking,  perhaps  in  allu- 
sion to  the  practice  of  slaying  and  dividing  victims  as  a  religious  rite  accom- 
pamdng  solemn  compacts.  See  Gen.  xv.  10,  18.  The  same  usage  may  be 
referred  to  in  the  following  words,  over  sacrifice,  i.e.  standing  over  it,  or  on 
sacrifice,  i.  e.  founding  the  engagement  on  a  previous  appeal  to  God.  There 
is  probably  allusion  to  the  great  covenant  transaction  recorded  in  Exod. 
xxiv.  4-8.  This  reference  to  sacrifice  shews  clearly  that  what  follows  was 
not  intended  to  discredit  or  repudiate  that  essential  symbol  of  the  t}^ical  or 
ceremonial  system. 

6.  And  (now)  the  heavens  have  declared  his  righteousness,  for  God  (is)  judge 
himself.  Selah.  The  heavens  are  witnesses  of  God's  judicial  rectit}ide, /or 
he  hi)iiself  (and  not  a  delegated  man  or  angel)  is  the  judge  (on  this  occasion). 
Or  the  last  words  may  be  rendered,  he  is  judging,  i.  e.  acting  as  a  judge. 
The  parties  and  the  witnesses  having  been  summoned,  the  judicial  process 
now  begins.  The  pause,  denoted  by  the  Selah,  is  one  indicative  of  awe, 
excited  by  the  dread  solemnity  of  these  proceedings. 

7.  Hear,  my  people,  and  let  me  speak,  and  let  me  testify  against  thee.  God, 
thy  God,  am  I.  The  introductory  description  being  ended,  the  divine  judg- 
ment now  begins.  Let  me  speak,  or  1  icill  speak,  the  peculiar  fonn  of  the 
Hebrew  verb,  sometimes  expressing  strong  desire  and  sometimes  fixed  de- 
termination. See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  3.  God  is  himself  the  witness  against 
Israel,  by  whom  the  charge  is  to  be  proved,  the  heavens  and  the  earth  being 
only  witnesses  of  the  judicial  scene  or  spectacle.  I  am  not  only  God,  but 
thy  God,  bound  to  thee  by  covenant,  and  reciprocally  claiming  thy  alle- 
giance. This  may  be  added  as  a  reason  why  he  has  a  right  to  testify  against 
them  ;  or  it  may  be  the  beginning  of  the  testimony  itself.  "  Let  me  testify 
against  thee  as  thy  God,"  or,  "I  will  testify  against  thee,  that  I  am  thy 
God,"  although  I  am  not  so  regarded  or  so  treated. 

8.  Not  for  thy  sacrifices  will  I  reprove  thee,  and  thy  burnt- offerings  before 
me  always.  The  insertion  of  the  words  to  have  been,  in  the  common  version, 
seems  to  make  the  clause  mean,  that  although  they  had  neglected  this  ex- 
ternal rite,  it  was  of  no  importance,  whereas  the  simple  meaning  of  the 
Hebrew  sentence  is,  that  they  were  not  chargeable  with  this  neglect,  im- 


234  Psalm  50:9  -  13 

plying  that  the  observance  was  obligatory,  which  is  in  perfect  keeping  with 
the  tenor  of  the  psalm.  "  I  do  not  charge  thee  with  withholding  the  material 
oflferings  to  which  I  am  entitled,  for  in  truth  they  are  ever  before  me."  To 
the  generic  term  sacrifices,  animal  oblations,  he  adds  the  more  specific  one, 
humt- offering,  the  usual  English  version  of  a  Hebrew  term,  denoting  the 
principal  and  ordinary  expiatory  offering  of  the  Mosaic  ritual.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  XX.  4  (8),  xl.  7  (6). 

9.  I  will  not  take  from  thy  house  a  bullock,  {nor)  from  thy  folds  he-goats. 
Here  begins  the*  correction  of  the  false  and  foolish  notion,  extensively  pre- 
valent among  the  heathen,  and  not  unknown  among  the  ancient  Jews, 
especially  in  times  of  great  corruption,  that  the  sacrifices  were  designed  to 
satisfy  some  physical  necessity  on  God's  part,  whether  in  the  way  of  food 
or  otherwise.  In  opposition  to  this  impious  absurdity,  it  is  argued  that, 
even  if  God  needed  such  supplies,  he  would  not  be  dependent  on  the  wor- 
shipper, who  is  here  addressed  directly  as  an  individual,  with  great  advan- 
tage to  the  liveliness  and  force  of  the  whole  passage.  "  K  I  needed  bulls 
and  goats,  as  you  imagine,  I  would  not  be  under  the  necessity  of  seeking 
them  at  your  hands." 

10.  For  to  me  (belongs)  every  least  of  the  forest,  the  cattle  in  hills  of  a 
thousand.  This  last  idiomatic  phrase  may  either  mean  a  thousand  hills,  or 
hills  where  the  cattle  rove  by  thousands,  with  probable  allusion  to  the  hilly 
grounds  of  Bashan  beyond  Jordan.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  13  (12).  Ac- 
cording to  etymology,  the  noun  in  the  first  clause  means  an  animal,  and 
that  in  the  second  leasts  or  Irutes'm  general.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xHx.  13 
(12).  But  when  placed  in  antithesis,  the  first  denotes  a  wild  beast,  and 
the  second  domesticated  animals  or  cattle.  Both  words  were  necessary  to 
express  God's  sovereign  propriety  in  the  whole  animal  creation.  Thus 
understood,  the  verse  assigns  a  reason  for  the  negative  assertion  in  the  one 
before  it.  Even  if  God  could  stand  in  need  of  animal  oblations,  for  his 
own  sake,  or  for  their  sake,  he  would  not  be  under  the  necessity  of  coming 
to  man  for  them,  since  the  whole  animal  creation  is  his  property  and  per- 
fectly at  his  disposal. 

11.  /  know  every  hird  of  the  hills,  and  the  population  of  the  field  (is)  with 
me,  i.  e.  in  my  presence,  under  my  inspection,  and  within  my  reach.  The 
past  tense  of  the  verb  suggests  not  merely  that  it  is  so  now,  but  that  it  has 
been  so  from  the  beginning.  This  is  no  newly  acquired  knowledge  or 
authority,  but  such  as  are  involved  in  the  very  relation  between  creature 
and  creator.  Population,  literally  movement,  motion,  i.  e.  animal  motion, 
and  by  a  natural  metonjTny  that  which  lives  and  moves. 

12.  If  I  were  hungry,  I  would  not  say  (so)  to  thee  ;  for  to  me  (belongs) 
the  world  and  its  fulness,  that  which  fills  it,  its  contents  and  its  inhabi- 
tants. See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  1.  The  first  clause  may  be  rendered,  with 
a  closer  adherence  to  the  form  of  the  original,  if  I  am  hungry,  I  will  not 
say  (so)  to  thee.  All.  this  is  said  upon  the  supposition,  that  God  may,  in 
some  sense,  need  supplies  of  this  kind,  although  even  then  he  would  be 
wholly  independent  of  man's  bounty  or  fidelity  in  furnishing  them.  But 
the  supposition  is  of  course  a  false  one,  and  is  so  represented  in  the  next 
verse. 

13.  Will  I  eat  the  flesh  of  lulls  and  drink  the  Hood  of  goats?  The 
future  of  the  Hebrew  verb  is  very  expressive,  suggesting  the  ideas  of  pos- 
sibility, necessity,  and  desire.  ,  Do  I  desire  the  flesh  and  blood  of  beasts 
for  my  refreshment  ?  Do  I  need  them  for  my  sustenance  ?  Or  is  it  even 
possible  for  me  to  use  them  in  the  way  that  you  imagine  ?     The  negative 


Psalm  50:14  - 16  235 

answer,  which  is  obviously  expected  to  these  questions,  presupposes  the 
great  doctrine  that  Jehovah  is  a  spirit,  and  as  such  exempt  from  all  cor- 
poreal necessities.  This,  then,  is  another  refutation  of  the  gross  and 
impious  error  that  he  needed  their  oblations.  If  they  were  necessary  in 
themselves,  he  could  obtain  them  elsewhere ;  and  that  they  are  not  neces- 
sary follows,  as  an  inevitable  consequence,  from  the  spirituality  of  the 
divine  nature.  This  is  not  the  language  of  dry  and  formal  ratiocination, 
which,  on  such  a  subject  and  in  such  a  connection,  would  be  not  only  mis- 
placed but  revolting.  It  is  rather  the  language  of  impassioned  and  indig- 
nant expostulation,  holding  up  the  absurdities,  to  which  the  error  of  the 
formal  worshipper  inevitably  tended,  as  a  refutation  of  the  error  itself. 

14.  Sacrifice  to  God  thanksgiving,  and  (sO)  pay  unto  the  Most  High  thy 
vows.  The  first  word  means  something  more  than  offer,  and  contains  a 
distinct  allusion  to  the  animal  sacrifices  mentioned  in  ver.  8  above.  This 
is  not  an  exhortaton  to  oflfer  thanks  or  praise  instead  of  material  sacrifices, 
which  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  express  requisition  of  the  latter,  but 
to  oft'er  them  as  expressions  of  thanksgiving,  or  in  other  words,  to  offer 
these  as  they  were  intended  to  be  offered,  not  as  a  meritorious  operation, 
nor  as  gross  attempts  to  feed  the  Deity,  but  as  symbohcal  expressions  of 
devout  affection,  repentance,  faith,  and  love,  all  which  we  may  suppose  to  be 
represented,  or  at  least  suggested,  by  the  single  act  of  praise  or  thanks- 
giving, here  explicitly  enjoined.  The  imperative  in  the  last  clause  may, 
according  to  a  very  common  Hebrew  idiom,  be  resolved  into  a  future,  and 
the  whole  verse  paraphrased  as  follows  :  "  If  you  offer  your  material  sacri- 
fices, not  merely  as  such,  but  as  the  prescribed  expression  of  inward 
spiritual  exercises,  you  will  thereby  really  discharge  your  obligations  to  the 
being  whom  you  worship." 

15.  And  call  upon  me  in  a  day  of  distress  ;  I  will  free  thee  and  thou 
shalt  honour  me.  The  imperative  in  the  first  clause,  is  dependent  upon 
that  in  the  preceding  verse.  The  connection  may  be  rendered  clearer  by 
substituting  then  for  and.  Offer  such  sacrifices,  and  you  'will  reaUy  dis- 
charge your  obligations  ;  then,  when  you  call  upon  me,  I  will  hear  you. 
Thou  shalt  honour  me,  thou  shalt  have  occasion  to  renew  thy  praises  and 
thanksgivings  for  new  benefits  received.  With  this  encouraging  assurance 
closes  the  divine  exposition  of  the  sacrificial  system. 

16.  And  to  the  wicked  God  saith,  What  hast  thou  (to  do)  to  declare  my 
statutes,  and  take  thy  covenant  into  thy  mouth  ?  Thus  far  the  doctrine  of 
the  psalm  has  had  respect  to  the  formal  worshipper,  whose  rites  are  mere 
external  services,  expressive  of  no  inward  faith  or  love.  But  now  it  is 
applied. to  him  who  actually  violates  the  law  which  he  professes  to  acknow- 
ledge. The  wicked,  the  man  of  vicious  life,  who  is  afterwards  described 
with  more  particularity.  He  is  not  necessarily  distinct  in  real  life  from 
the  formalist  of  the  foregoing  context.  The  description  is  not  of  two  indi- 
viduals, but  of  two  classes,  to  which  one  and  the  same  person  may  belong, 
or  two  characters,  which  one  and  the  same  person  may  exhibit.  Saith, 
said,  or  hath  said,  on  the  same  ideal  occasion.  What  (is)  to  thee,  the  only 
Hebrew  mode  of  saying,  what  hast  thou,  i.  e.  what  right  or  reason  hast 
thou  ?  To  declare,  either  by  profession  of  one's  own  faith,  or  by  authori- 
tative teaching  of  others.  There  may  perhaps  be  some  allusion  to  the 
primary  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  verb,  which  is  to  count  or  number.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xl.  -6  (5).  To  count  off  or  reckon  up  God's  statutes  is  a 
very  natural  expression  for  censorious  or  ostentatious  iteration,  especially 
in  this  connection,  where  an  obvious  reference  to  the  ten  commandments 


236  Psalm  50:17 -21 

follows.  My  covenant,  my  law  considered  as  conditional,  or  as  involving 
reciprocal  engagements  upon  my  part.  See  above,  on  ver.  5.  To  take 
into  the  mouth,  or  more  literally,  to  take  up  on  the  mouth,  is  a  strong  idio- 
matic phrase  for  uttering,  pronouncing.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  4. 

17.  And  thou  hast  hated  instruction,  and  hast  cast  my  uvrds  behind  thee. 
The  very  person  who  enforces  the  law,  in  all  its  rigour,  upon  others,  refuses 
to  submit  to  it  himself,  and  treats  its  precepts  not  only  with  neglect  but 
with  contempt.  This  passage  seems  to  have  been  present  to  the  mind  of 
Paul,  in  that  remarkable  series  of  interrogations,  "  Thou  therefore  which 
teachest  another  teachest  thou  not  thyself,"  &c.     Kom.  ii.  21-23. 

18.  If  thou  saivest  a  thief,  thou  consentedst  xvith  him,  and  with  adulterers 
(has  been)  thrj  portion.  The  first  clause  conveys  far  more  than  the  simple 
idea  of  consent.  The  expression  if  thou  saicest  implies  great  eagerness  and 
an  instinctive  drawing  towards  the  thief  as  a  congenial  spirit.  The  second 
verb  in  Hebrew  denotes  a  cordial  and  complacent  acquiescence.  Thy  por- 
tion or  participation,  common  interest,  communion.  These  particular  sins 
are  mentioned  with  reference  to  their  prohibition  in  the  seventh  and  eighth 
commandments  (Exod.  xx.  14,  15). 

19.  Thy  mouth  thou  hast  given  up  to  evil,  and  thy  tongue  will  weave  (or 
frame)  deceit.  The  ninth  commandment  is  now  added  to  the  other  two,  as 
being  habitually  violated  by  the  person  here  addressed.  Given  up  to, 
literally  sent  out  with  (or  into)  evil.  The  first  clause  is  descriptive  of  mere 
evil  speaking,  the  second  of  more  artificial  and  ingenious  lying.  Both 
verbs  include  present  time,  but  the  first  with  the  additional  idea  of  an  early 
habit,  formed  and  settled  in  time  past,  the  other  with  that  of  an  inveterate 
habit,  not  likely  to  be  broken  or  reformed  hereafter. 

20.  TIiou  toilt  sit  (and)  against  thy  brother  speak  ;  at  the  son  of  thy 
mother  thou  wilt  aim  a  blow.  To  the  general  charge  of  falsehood  is  now 
added  the  specific  one  of  slander,  not  against  strangers,  but  his  nearest 
friends.  The  idea  suggested  by  the  future  is  that  such  behaviour  may  be 
confidently  looked  for  on  the  part  of  such  a  character.  Thou  wilt  sit,  in 
the  company  of  others,  or  more  specifically  of  the  wicked,  or  of  other  wicked 
slanderers,  as  one  of  them.  See  above,  on  ver.  18.  As  brother  might  be 
understood  as  meaning  merely  any  other  man,  it  is  determined  by  the  un- 
ambiguous phrase,  thy  mother's  son.  This  is  mentioned  merely  as  an 
extreme  case,  not  as  excluding  other  relations  and  friends,  but  rather  com- 
prehending them.  Aim  a  blow,  literally  give  a  thrust,  so  as  to  cast  him 
down.    The  blow  meant  is  a  stroke  of  the  tongue.    Compare  Jer.  xviii.  18. 

21.  These  things  hast  thou  done,  and  I  hare  held  my  peace;  thou  hast 
imagined  I  was  just  like  thyself.  I  will  reprove  thee,  and  array  (thy  sins) 
before  thine  eyes.  God  is  described  as  silent  when  he  does  not  interpose 
with  his  reproofs  or  manifest  his  displeasure.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxviii.  1. 
Imagined;  the  Hebrew  verb  originally  means  to  liken  or  compare,  and 
another  of  the  same  form  to  be  silent,  so  that  it  is  peculiarly  appropriate 
in  this  place,  where  the  mention  of  God's  silence  immediately  precedes, 
and  the  imagining  refen-ed  to  was  a  false  assimilation  of  the  Most  High  to 
the  sinner  himself.  Just  like,  or  exactly  like,  the  intensive  adverb  corre- 
sponding to  the  emphatic  repetition  of  the  verb  in  Hebrew.  In  our  idiom, 
an  adversative  particle  is  almost  indispensable  between  the  clauses ;  but 
the  more  abrupt  transition  is  congenial  with  the  spirit  and  usage  of  the 
Hebrew  language.  Array,  arrange,  set  in  order,  so  that  none  shall  be 
omitted  or  overlooked.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  4  (3).  Before  thine  eyes, 
literally  to  thine  eyes,  or  to  thy  face,  again  implying  that  the  sight  of  them 


Psalm  50:22, 23  237 

is  not  to  be  avoided.  This  declaration  of  severe  fidelity  forms  an  appro- 
priate conclusion  to  the  second  lesson  of  the  psalm,  or  that  in  which  the 
mask  is  stripped  off  from  the  vicious  hypocrite,  who  professes  to  serve  God 
while  he  lives  in  the  grossest  violation  of  his  precepts,  as  in  the  first  part 
(ver.  7-15)  it  was  torn  from  the  formal  hypocrite,  who  satisfies  himself 
with  a  mere  outward  aud  mechanical  performance  of  rites  designed  to  be 
significant  of  spiritual  and  devout  affections. 

22.  Oh  consider  this,  forgetters  of  God,  lest  I  rend  and  there  he  no  deliverer. 
To  both  the  argumentative  invectives  which  precede  there  is  added  in  con- 
clusion a  solemn  exhortation,  including  both  a  warning  or  admonitory 
threatening  and  a  promise.  This  verse  contains  the  warning.  The 
Hebrew  particle  of  entreaty  (^ii)  is  not  so  well  expressed  by  the  now  of  the 

English  Bible  as  by  the  Oh  of  the  Prayer  Book  version.  The  image  pre- 
sented in  the  last  clause  is  that  of  a  ravenous  beast,  and  more  especially  a 
lion.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  14  (13).  No  deliverer,  or  more  literally 
none  delivering.  The  description  of  those  addressed,  as  forgetting  (or  for- 
getters of)  God,  suggests  that  both  forms  of  hypocrisy  exhibited  in  this 
psalm  owe  their  origin  to  ignorance,  mistaken  notions,  or  oblivion,  of  God's 
attributes  and  purposes  and  former  acts. 

23.  (The  man)  sacrificing  praise  shall  honour  me,  and  prepare  a  way 
that  /  may  shew  him  the  salvation  of  God,  that  of  which  he  is  the  author. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  9  (8).  This  phrase  is  used  instead  of  my  salvation, 
for  the  sake  of  a  more  sonorous  close.  The  common  version  of  the  first 
clause  makes  it  an  identical  preposition  :  ivhoso  ofereth  praise  glorifieth  me. 
At  the  same  time  it  greatly  weakens  the  expression  by  the  use  of  the  ambi- 
guous term  offer.  The  words  are  all  borrowed  fiom  ver.  14,  15,  to  which 
there  is  therefore  a  direct  allusion,  and  by  which  the  clause  must  be  inter- 
preted. It  is  really  a  promise  that  he  whose  offerings  are  genuine  expres- 
sions of  thanksgiving  shall  have  cause  or  occasion  to  praise  God  for  his 
mercies.  The  rest  of  the  sentence  is  more  doubtful.  According  to  the 
construction  above  given,  which  seems  to  be  required  by  the  accents,  the 
meaning  is,  that  he  who  offers  the  right  kind  of  sacrifice,  as  before  ex- 
plained, prepares  the  way,  literally  sets  or  lays  a  way,  by  which  he  shall 
himself  attain  to  the  experience  of  salvation.  But  as  this  confines  the 
promise  to  the  observance  of  the  first  great  lesson  taught  in  the  psalm,  we 
may  give  it  a  wider  application,  and  the  sentence  a  more  regular  form,  by 
rendering  the  last  clause  thus,  and  (the  man)  ordering  {his)  way,  I  will 
shew  the  salvation  of  God.  The  man  ordering  his  way,  i.  e.  placing  it, 
defining  it,  marking  it  out,  is  then  contrasted  with  such  as  turn  aside  unto 
their  crooked  ways  (Ps.  cxxv.  5).  The  precise  form  of  the  construction  is, 
{as  to  the  man)  ordering  [his)  way,  1  will  shew  him  the  salvation  of  God. 
This  clause  then  has  reference  to  the  second  lesson  of  the  psalm  (ver. 
16-21),  as  the  other  to  the  first  (ver.  7-15).  The  preposition  before  salva- 
tion in  Hebrew  often  gives  the  verb  to  see  the  pregnant  sense  of  gazing  at 
or  viewing  with  delight.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  18  (17),  xxxvii.  34. 


Psalm  51 

1,  2.  To  the  Chief  Musician.     A  Psalm.     By  David.      When  Nathan 
the  Prophet  came  unto  him,  as  he  [i.  e.  David)  had  come  unto  Bathsheba. 


238  Psalm  5 1:1 -4 

The  first  inscription  was  particularly  necessary  here,  to  shew  that  the  psalm 
was  designed  for  permanent  and  public  use,  since  it  might  otherwise  have 
been  regarded  as  expressive  of  mere  personal  emotions.  It  has  reference 
to  the  one  great  crime  of  David's  Ufe,  noted  as  such  in  the  inspired  history 
itself  (1  Kings  xv.  5),  and  involving  the  guilt  of  both  adultery  and  murder. 
See  2  Sam.  xi.  and  xii.  The  significant  repetition  of  the  phrase  came  unto 
in  ver  2  is  lost  in  the  English  and  most  other  versions.  As  is  not  a  mere 
particle  of  time, 'simply  equivalent  to  when,  but  suggests  the  ideas  of  ana- 
logy, proportion,  and  retaliation.  The  psalm  consists  of  two  parts,  a  prayer 
and  a  vow.  In  the  first,  he  prays  to  be  forgiven  and  restored  to  the  divine 
favour,  ver.  3-14  (1-12).  In  the  second,  he  shews  how  he  means  to  tes- 
tify his  gratitude,  ver.  15-21  (13-19). 

3  (1).  Be  gracious  to  me,  (0)  God,  according  to  thy  mercy ;  according  to 
the  abundance  of  thy  compassions,  blot  out  my  transgressions.  In  this  verse 
and  the  next,  he  presents  the  petition  which  constitutes  the  theme  or  bur- 
den of  the  psalm.  The  appeal  to  the  divine  grace,  mercy,  and  compassion, 
involves  a  confession  of  his  own  guilt  and  the  justice  of  his  condemnation. 
According  to,  literally  like  thy  mercy,  i.e.  in  accordance  with  it,  in  propor- 
tion to  it.  Here  again  there  is  a  tacit  admission  of  the  greatness  of  his 
guilt,  as  requiring  infinite  mercy  to  forgive  it.  Abundance,  increase,  mul- 
titude. See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  8  (7).  Compassions,  tender  mercies,  a  term 
expressive  of  the  warmest  and  tenderest  affections.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xviii.  2  (1).  Blot  out,  'erase,  from  thy  remembrance.  The  allusion  is 
probably  to  a  record  or  register  of  crimes,  or  to  the  cancelling  of  accounts, 
although  the  former  seems  to  agree  better  with  ancient  and  oriental  usage. 
Compare  Num.  v.  23.  Transgressions,  or  with  closer  adherence  to  the 
primary  etymological  import  of  the  term,  revolts,  apostasies.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xix.  14  (13),  xxxii.  1. 

4  (2).  Thoroughly  wash  me  from  my  iniquity,  and  from  my  sin  cleanse 
me.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew  is  the  infinitive  or  imperative  of  a  verb 
meaning  to  increase  or  multiply,  but  often  used  adverbially  in  the  sense  of 
plentifully,  abundantly.  The  verb  in  the  first  clause  properly  denotes  the 
act  of  washing  the  garments,  as  distinguished  from  that  of  bathing  the  body. 
See  Num.  xix.  19.  The  image  here  presented,  therefore,  is  the  same  as  in 
Jude  ver.  23,  sin  being  represented  as  a  stain,  and  the  grace  of  God  as  puri- 
fying water. 

5  (3).  For  my  transgressions  I  know,  and  my  sin  [is)  before  me  always. 
His  consciousness  of  guilt  is  urged,  not  only  as  a  reason  why  he  should  ask 
forgiveness,  but  as  a  reason  why  God  should  grant  it.  As  no  one  is  for- 
given unless  convinced  of  sin,  so  this  conviction  constitutes  a  kind  of  claim 
to  pardon,  not  as  being  meritorious  or  intrinsically  efficacious,  but  as  an 
indication  of  God's  merciful  intentions,  since  conviction  and  forgiveness  are 
ahke  his  gift.  The  same  mutual  connection  of  the  two  things  is  uniformly 
recognised  in  Scripture.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxii.  5,  and  compare  2  Sam. 
xii.  13,  Prov.  xxviii.  13,  1  John  i.  9.  The  future  in  the  first  clause  is 
significant.  I  know  it  and  shall  know  it ;  I  can  never  henceforth  lose  the 
sense  or  knowledge  of  it. 

6  (4).  To  thee,  thee  ordy,  have  I  sinned,  and  done  the  evil  in  thine  eyes, 
to  the  intent  that  thou  may  est  be  just  in  thy  speaking,  and  be  clear  in  thy 
judging.  The  particle  at  the  beginning  denotes  general  relation,  as  to,  or 
respecting.  The  precise  relation  meant  must  be  determined  by  the  context. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  19,  24,  xxxviii.  17  (16).  It  does  not,  therefore, 
directly  and  explicitly  substitute  God  for  man  as  the  injured  party,  which 


Psalm  51:5 -7  239 

is  the  only  sense  that  can  be  put  upon  the  English  phrase  against  thee. 
This  idea,  however,  is  undoubtedly  implied,  as  well  as  perfectly  consistent 
with  the  usage  of  the  Scriptures  in  describing  all  sin  as  committed  against 
God.  Even  murder,  the  highest  crinie  that  can  be  committed  against  man, 
is  condemned  and  punished  as  the  violation  of  God's  image  (Gen.  ix.  6). 
It  is  also  possible  to  understand  thee,  thee  only,  as  opposed  not  to  other 
objects,  but  to  the  sinner  himself,  as  one  of  two  contending  parties.  As  if 
he  had  said,  thou  hast  not  sinned  against  me,  but  I  have  sinned  against 
thee,  thee  only.  The  evil,  not  this  evil,  which  restricts  the  acknowledgment 
too  much,  but  that  which  is  evil,  meaning  sin  in  general.  To  the  intent 
that  may  have  reference  to  the  divine  purpose  in  permitting  David's  sin  to 
take  this  aggi'avated  form,  so  that  there  could  be  neither  doubt  nor  transfer 
nor  participation  of  his  guilt,  and  so  that  when  God  spoke  in  condemnation 
of  it,  he  might  not  only  be,  but  appear  to  be,  entirely  just.  There  is  no 
need,  therefore,  of  adopting  the  weaker  meaning,  so  that,  denoting  a  mere 
consequence  but  not  a  purpose,  or  of  supposing  the  intention  indicated  to 
be  merely  that  of  the  confession,  "  I  acknowledge  this,  that  thou  mayest  be 
just,  &c.  Speaking,  i.  e.  speaking  as  a  judge,  deciding,  or  more  definitely 
still,  condemning.  It  is  therefore  substantially  equivalent  to  the  parallel 
term  judging. 

7  (5).  Lo,  in  iniquity  I  ivas  born,  and  in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me. 
The  meaning  of  the  first  verb  is  determined  by  its  use  in  Job  xv.  7,  Prov. 
\dii.  24,  25,  and  that  of  the  corresponding  active  form  in  Job  xxxix.  1. 
The  iniquity  and  sin  meant  are  not  those  of  his  mother,  but  his  own. 
Having  just  before  confessed  his  actual  transgressions,  he  now  acknowledges 
the  corruption  of  his  nature.  This  has  always  been  regarded  as  the  locus 
classicus  of  the  Old  Testament,  in  reference  to  the  doctrine  of  original  sin. 

8  (6).  Lo,  truth  thou  hast  desired  in  the  inward  (or  secret)  farts,  and  in 
the  hidden  (part)  uisdom  thou  wilt  make  vie  know.  The  repetition  of  behold 
or  lo,  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence,  seems  to  indicate  a  close  connection 
with  the  preceding  verse.  That  connection  is  most  probably  as  follows  : — 
*'  Since  I  am  corrupted  in  my  very  nature,  and  thou  canst  be  satisfied  with 
nothing  short  of  inward  sincerity,  thou  must  bestow  what  thou  requirest, 
by  imparting  to  me  heavenly  wisdom."  Truth,  siocerity,  reahty,  as  opposed 
to  hypocritical  profession  or  pretence.  The  first  verb  means  not  merely  to 
desire,  but  to  will,  as  in  Job  xxxiii.  32.  The  past  tense  implies  that  it  has 
always  been  so,  that  the  requisition  is  no  sudden  or  capricious  one,  but  an 
eternal  law  founded  in  God's  very  nature.  The  inward  and  hidden  parts 
are  mentioned  as  opposed  to  the  mere  outside.  Wisdom,  divine  illumina- 
tion, without  which  no  correct  view  either  of  sin  or  holiness  is  possible. 
Thou  wilt  make  me  know,  involves  a  prayer,  although  in  form  it  is  an  ex- 
pression of  strong  confidence. 

9  (7).  Thou  wilt  purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  1  shall  he  clean  ;  thou  wilt 
wash  me,  and  I  shall  he  whiter  than  snow.  What  he  asked  in  ver.  4  (2)  he 
here  anticipates  with  confidence.  The  verb  translated  purge  is  very  expres- 
sive, being  a  derivative  of  that  which  means  to  sin  in  ver.  6  (4)  above.  It 
denotes  specifically,  therefore,  purification  from  the  stain  of  sin,  either  by 
actual  payment  of  the  penalty  (Gen.  xxxi.  39),  or  by  vicarious  satisfaction 
(Num.  xix.  19).  Hyssop  is  mentioned  as  a  plant  much  used  in  the  Levi- 
tical  purgations,  either  as  a  convenient  instrument  of  sprinkling  (Exod.  xii. 
22),  or  as  an  emblem  of  the  divine  condescension,  viewed  in  contrast  with  the 
divine  majesty  (Isa.  Ixvi.  1,  2),  as  represented  by  the  cedar,  with  which  the 
hyssop  is  perpetually  joined.  See  Num  xix.  18,  and  compare  1  Kings  v.  13. 


240  Psalm  5 1:8 -10 

iv.  33.  In  either  case,  to  purge  with  hyssop  necessarily  suggests  the  idea  of 
a  purification  founded  on  atonement,  as  the  hyssop  was  employed  to  sprinkle 
purifying  substances,  and  sometimes  mingled  with  them  (Exod.  xii.  22, 
Num.  xix.  6, 18).  The  second  future  in  each  clause  expresses  both  consent 
and  expectation.  Whiter  than  snow  is  a  natural  hyperbole  denoting  perfect 
purity.  See  the  sames  image  applied  to  the  same  subject  in  Isa.  i.  18.  The 
last  verb  answws  to  the  English  whiten,  being  properly  a  causative,  but 
sometimes  used  intransitively,  just  as  we  may  say,  that  blushing  reddens  the 
face,  or  that  the  face  reddens  in  the  act  of  blushing.  "  Wash  me,  and  I 
shall  whiten  (become  white)  from  (away  from,  as  distinguished  from,  and 
by  implication  more  than)  snow." 

10  (8.)  Thou  wilt  make  to  hear  joy  and  gladness;  (then)  shall  rejoice 
the  bones  (which)  thou  hast  broken  {bruised,  or  crushed).  What  is  formally 
expressed  is  still  a  confident  expectation  or  assured  hope,  under  which, 
however,  an  intense  desire  is  implicitly  contained.  The  joy  here  antici- 
pated is  that  of  pardoned  sin.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxii.  1.  He  expects 
to  hear  it,  as  communicated  or  announced  by  God.  The  word  then  is  in- 
troduced in  the  translation  for  the  sake  of  retaining  the  original  arrange- 
ment of  the  sentence,  closing,  as  it  does  in  Hebrew,  with  the  emphatic 
figure,  crushed  or  broken,  which  expresses,  in  a  very  lively  manner,  the  dis- 
order and  distress  produced  by  consciousness  of  aggi'avated  and  unexpiated 
guilt.  The  change  fi-om  this  condition  to  a  sense  of  safety  and  reconcilia- 
tion with  God,  is  not  too  strongly  represented  by  the  bold  but  most  ex- 
pressive figure  of  broken  bones  rejoicing.  The  ellipsis  of  the  relative  in 
this  clause  is  common  to  both  idioms. 

11  (9.)  Hide  thy  face  from  my  sins,  and  all  my  iniquities  blot  out.  The 
desire  implied  in  the  anticipations  of  the  two  preceding  verses  now  breaks 
out  into  its  proper  form,  that  of  direct  petition.  Hide  thy  face  from  them, 
so  as  not  to  see  them,  look  no  longer  at  them.  The  same  figure  is  ap- 
plied, in  an  unfavourable  sense,  to  God's  apparent  neglect  of  his  sutFering 
servants,  his  refusal  to  behold  them  or  to  notice  their  condition.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xiii.  2  (1),  xliv.  25  (24).  Blot  out,  expunge,  from  thy  account,  or 
from  the  book  of  thy  remembrance,  as  in  ver.  3  (1)  above.  What  be  asks 
as  to  his  sins  is  that  God  will  cancel  and  forget  them. 

12  (10.)  A  pare  heart  create  for  me,  (0)  God,  and  a  fixed  (or  settled") 
spirit  renew  within  me.  The  petition  in  the  first  clause  involves  a  confes- 
sion of  impurit}',  and  of  dependence  on  almighty  power  and  sovereign  grace 
for  its  removal.  A  pm-e  heart  ia  a  famiUar  Scriptural  figure  for  affections 
free  from  the  taint  of  sin.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  4,  and  below,  on  Ps. 
Ixxiii.  1,  and  compare  Mat.  v.  8,  Acts  xv.  9.  While  the  use  of  the 
word  create  imphes  the  necessity  of  an  almighty  intervention,  the  additional 
phrase  to  (or  for)  me  suggests  the  idea  of  a  gift  which  is  often  expressed 
elsewhere  in  the  same  connection.  See  Jer.  xxiv.  7,  Ezek.  xi.  19,  xxxvi. 
26,  and  compare  1  Sam.  x.  9.  The  gift  demanded  in  the  last  clause  is  that 
of  a  firm,  unwavering  spirit,  as  opposed  both  to  fickleness  and  cowardice, 
Compare  the  use  of  the  same  adjective  or  participle  in  Ps.  Ivii.  8  (7), 
Ixxviii.  37,  cxii.  7.  The  word  renew  imphes  a  previous  possession  of  it, 
derived  not  from  nature  but  from  grace,  and  interrrupted  by  his  yielding 
to  temptation.  Though  his  faith  and  love  could  not  utterly  fail,  bis  fixed- 
ness of  purpose  was  destroyed  for  the  time,  and  could  only  be  recovered 
by  a  new  conversion,  as  in  the  case  of  Peter  (Luke  xxii.  32).  Within  me,  in^ 
the  midst  (or  in  the  inside)  of  me.  The  same  Hebrew  noun  is  repeatedly  used 
elsewhere,  to  denote  the  inward  dispositions  and  affections,  as  distinguished 


Psalm  5 1:12 -14  241 

from  a  mere  profession  or  appearance.     See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  10  (9),  xlix. 

12  (11). 

13  (11).  Cast  me  not  aivaij  from  thy  presence,  and  thy  Holy  Sjnrit  take 
not  from  me.  As  indispensable  prerequisites  and  means  to  the  possession 
of  such  a  heart  and  spirit  as  he  had  just  prayed  for,  he  recognises  intimate 
communion  with  God,  and  the  active  influences  of  his  Spirit.  This  prayer, 
unless  we  arbitrarily  supply  ayain  or  for  ever,  seems  to  imply  that  David 
was  in  actual  possession  of  these  blessings  and  afraid  of  losing  them. 
There  may  be  an  intentional  allusion  to  his  own  reception  of  the  Spirit  and 
to  Saul's  privation  of  it,  as  recorded  in  1  Sam.  xvi.  1,  7,  13.  Compare 
1  Sam.  X.  6, 10,  Isa.  xi.  2. 

14  (12).  Restore  to  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation,  and  (with)  a  uilling  sjnrit 
uphold  me.  The  first  verb  is  a  causative  in  Hebrew,  meaning  make  to 
return,  implying  previous  possession.  The  next  phrase  may  be  explained, 
according  to  a  very  common  Hebrew  idiom,  thy  joy  of  salvation,  thy  saving 
joy.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  6.  But  the  obvious  construction  seems  to  yield 
the  best  sense,  namely,  that  of  joy  occasioned  by  salvation,  or  relating  to  it 
as  its  subject.  This  joy  was  of  course  incompatible  with  any  interruption 
of  God's  presence  and  the  assurance  of  his  favour.  The  word  translated 
willing  means  spontaneous,  prompt,  forward  to  act  without  coercion  ;  then 
liberal,  generous,  noble.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlvii.  10  (9).  It  may  be  taken 
as  an  epithet  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but  the  omission  of  the  pronoun  (thy) 
which  determines  it  in  the  foregoing  verse,  and  the  repeated  use  of  spirit  in 
the  context  to  denote  his  own  heart,  makes  it  more  probable  that  this  is 
the  sense  here  likewise.  By  such  a  spirit  of  spontaneous  conformity  to 
God's  will  he  aesires  and  hopes  to  be  held  up,  i.e.  preserved  from  falling  as 
he  fell  before. 

15  (13).  (Then)  will  I  teach  transgressrs  thy  ways,  and  sinners  unto  thee 
shall  return.  Here  begins  the  expression  of  his  thankfulness,  or  rather  a 
description  of  the  way  in  which  he  is  determined  to  express  it.  The  word 
supphed  at  the  beginning  points  out  the  connection  of  the  verses.  "  Then, 
when  these  petitions  have  been  answered,  I  will  teach,"  &c.  The  form  of 
the  Hebrew  verb  denotes  a  strong  desire  and  a  settled  purpose,  as  if  he  had 
said,  "  I  am  resolved  to  teach."  Transgressors,  rebels,  traitors,  apostates. 
See  above,  on  ver.  5  (3).  Thy  ways,  as  well  the  ways  in  which  thou 
walkest  as  the  ways  in  which  thou  requirest  us  to  walk,  the  course  of  pro- 
vidence and  the  course  of  duty.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  22,  31  (21,  30). 
In  both  these  senses,  he  might  naturally  wish  to  "  vindicate  the  ways  of 
God  to  man."  Of  this  resolution  a  partial  fulfilment  is  recorded  in  Ps. 
xxxii.  8, 9.  The  effect  of  such  instructions  is  recorded  in  the  last  clause 
of  the  verse  before  us.  The  Hebrew  verb  there  used  is  not  a  passive 
{shall  be  converted),  but  an  active  form,  shall  turn  or  return  to  the  Lord, 
perhaps  with  an  allusion  to  the  great  original  apostasy,  in  which  the  whole 
race  is  involved.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  28  (27).  To  this  verse  there  seems 
to  be  particular  allusion  in  our  Saviour's  words  to  Peter,  Luke  xxii.  32. 

16  (14).  Free  me  from  blood,  O  God,  God  of  my  salvation,  (and)  my 
tongue  shall  celebrate  thy  righteousness.  The  first  clause  contains  the 
condition  of  the  second,  and  the  whole  is  equivalent  to  saying  **  If  thou  wilt 
save  me,  I  will  praise  thee."  Blood,  literally  bloods,  the  plural  being  idio- 
matically used  when  there  is  reference  to  murder.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
V.  7  (6).  There  may  be  an  allusion  to  the  frequent  personification  of  the 
victim's  blood,  as  crying  out  for  vengeance  on  the  murderer  or  pursuing 
him  (Gen.  iv.  10,  ix.  5,  6).    The  verb  translated /ree  is  applied  to  deliver- 


242  Psalm  51:15 -18 

ance  from  enemies  in  Ps.  vii.  2  (1),  and  from  sins  (as  here)  in  Ps. 
xxxix.  9  (8).  The  strength  of  the  desire  here  expressed  may  derive  some 
illustration  from  the  threatening  in  2  Sam.  xii.  9,  10.  Celebrate,  applaud 
by  shout  or  song.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11),  xx.  6  (5),  xxxii.  11, 
xxxiii.  1. 

17  (15).  Lord,  my  lips  thou  wilt  open,  and  my  mouth  shall  declare- thy 
praise.  The  relation  of  the  clauses  to  each  other  is  the  same  as  in  the 
foregoing  verse.  "  K  thou  wilt  open  my  lips,  my  mouth,"  &c.  The  first 
clause  therefore  really  includes  a  petition  that  his  lips  may  be  opened ;  but 
it  also  includes  more,  to  wit,  a  confident  anticipation  that  his  prayer  will 
be  granted.  The  sense  is  therefore  only  partially  expressed  by  rendering 
the  future  as  an  imperative  (open  thou  my  lij^s).  The  exact  form  as  well 
&8  the  sense  of  the  original  is  given  in  the  Prayer-Book  Version  (thou  shalt 
open  my  lips,  0  Lord).  Open  my  lips,  i.  e.  enable  me  to  praise  thee  by 
afibrding  an  occasion,  and  empower  me  to  praise  thee,  by  removing  this 
oppressive  sense  of  guilt,  which  condemns  me  to  perpetual  silence.  Com- 
pare Isa.  vi.  5-7.  Declare,  tell,  utter,  or  proclaim.  See  above,  Ps. 
xix.  2  (1). 

18  (16).  For  thou  desirest  not  sacrifice,  else  would  I  give  (it),  (in)  burnt- 
offering  thou  delightest  not.  He  now  assigns  the  reason  why  he  is  deter- 
mined to  requite  God's  favour  by  becoming  praise.  The  literal  translation 
of  the  first  clause  is,  thou  wilt  not  desire  sacrifice,  and  I  will  give  (it),  i.e. 
but  if  thou  dost  desire  it,  I  will  give  it.  By  sacrifice  we  must  here  under- 
stand the  mere  material  oblation,  apart  from  the  penitent  and  thankful 
spirit,  of  which  it  was  the  required  expression.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xl. 
7,  (6).  The  parallel  terms,  sacrifice  and  burnt-offering,  are  commonly  re- 
garded as  generic  and  specific  expressions  of  the  same  idea.  But  some 
interpreters  deny  that  they  are  ever  confounded  or  promiscuously  used,  and 
give  the  first  the  sense  oi  thank-offerings,  which  are  then  joined  with  expia- 
tory ofierings,  as  a  general  description  of  all  animal  oblations. 

19  (17).  The  sacrifices  of  God  (are)  a  broken  spirit ;  a  heart  broken  and 
crushed,  (0)  God,  thou  wilt  not  despise.  These  are  natural  and  perfectly 
intelligible  figures  for  profound  and  submissive  sorrow  on  account  of  sin. 
There  is  great  significance  and  beauty  in  what  seems  at  first  to  be  a  sole- 
cism in  the  language  of  the  first  clause.  The  sacrifice  of  God  is  a  broken 
spirit  might  seem  to  be  a  more  correct  expression ;  but  it  would  have  failed 
to  suggest  the  striking  and  important  thought,  that  one  such  heart  or  spirit 
is  equivalent  to  all  the  various  and  complicated  sacrifices  of  the  ritual.  The 
sacrifices  of  God  are  those  which  he  requires  and  is  willing  to  accept.  The 
use  of  the  word  contrite  in  the  English  versions  mars  the  beauty  of  the 
metaphor,  because  that  term  is  confined  to  the  dialect  of  theology,  whereas 
the  Latin  contriium,  from  which  it  was  borrowed,  as  well  as  the  original 
expression,  exactly  corresponds  to  broken,  both  in  its  literal  and  figurative 
usage.  Thou  wilt  not  despise,  when  it  is  ofiered,  and  especially  when  I 
present  it,  as  the  solemn  expression  of  my  thanks  for  this  deUverance.  The 
substitution  of  the  present  for  the  future  would  both  weaken  and  obscure 
the  sentence,  and  the  same  consideration  might  be  urged  in  favour  of  a 
strict  translation  in  the  verse  preceding.  So  far  is  a  habitual  sorrow  for 
sin  from  being  inconsistent  with  the  joy  of  God's  salvation,  that  David  here 
engages  to  present  it  as  a  perpetual  thank-offering.  Compare  the  language 
of  Hezekiah,  Isa.  xxxviii.  15. 

20  (18).  Do  good,  in  thy  favour,  to  Zion ;  thou  wilt  build  the  walls  of 
JeriLsalem.     From  his  own  personal  necessities  his  mind  now  passes  to 


Psalm  51:19  243 

those  of  the  whole  church,  of  which  he  was  the  visible  head  and  representa- 
tive, thereby  implying  that  his  sense  of  guilt  and  danger  had  been  aggra- 
vated by  the  thought  of  his  official  relation  to  God's  people,  who  must 
have  shared  in  his  disgrace  and  punishment.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  4  (3), 
iv.  3  (2).  The  change  of  construction  from  the  imperative  to  the  future 
marks  a  natural  transition  fi'om  importunate  desire  to  confident  anticipa- 
tion. See  above,  on  ver.  9-11  (7-9).  This  delicate  transition  there  is 
surely  no  need  of  obliterating  by  a  gratuitous  assimilation  of  the  moods  and 
tenses.  The  building  of  the  walls  is  a  poetical  parallel  to  doing  good  or 
shewing  favour,  and  the  opposite  of  dismantling  in  Ps.  Ixxxix.  41  (40). 

21  (19).  Then  shall  thou  he  pleased  with  sacrifices  of  righteousness,  burnt- 
offering  and  holocaust ;  then  shall  they  offer  on  thine  altar  bullocks.  Then 
i.  e.  when  thou  hast  done  good  to  Zion  and  fortified  Jerusalem.  Sacrifices 
of  righteousness,  righteous  or  right  sacrifices.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  6  (5). 
Some  have  inferred  from  this  verse,  that  the  psalm  was  written  in  the 
Babylonish  exile,  when  the  temple  was  in  ruins  and  the  ceremonial  law 
suspended,  and  that  the  Psalmist  here  anticipates  the  time  when  both 
should  he  restored.  But  this  is  foi'bidden  by  his  saying,  in  ver.  18  (16), 
that  if  God  desired  burnt-offerings  he  would  give  them,  plainly  implying 
the  continued  observance  of  the  sacrificial  system.  There  is  no  gi*ound, 
therefore,  for  disputing  either  the  correctness  of  the  title,  which  ascribes 
the  psalm  to  David,  or  the  genuineness  of  the  last  two  verses,  which  some 
have  rejected  as  an  addition  by  a  later  hand.  These  verses  are  not  only 
appropriate  but  necessary  as  a  conclusion  to  the  psalm,  and  every  difficulty 
is  removed  by  giving  them  their  natural  but  figurative  meaning,  as  an 
expression  of  desire  and  hope  that  God  would  favour  his  own  people  and 
graciously  accept  their  service.  Holocaust  is  here  used  to  translate  a  single 
Hebrew  word,  meaning  a  sacrifice  entirely  consumed  upon  the  altar.  It 
does  not  describe  something  wholly  distinct  from  the  burnt-offering,  but 
the  burnt-offering  itself  considered  as  a  complete  and  unreserved  oblation. 
See  1  Sam.  vii.  9.  Bullocks  are  mentioned  as  the  choicest  victims  in  point 
of  species,  size,  and  age.  By  a  slight  change  of  construction  we  obtain  the 
bold  and  striking  declaration  that  the  bullocks  shall  themselves  ascend  the 
altar,  i.  e.  as  a  living  and  spontaneous  sacrifice.     Compare  Isa.  Ix.  7. 


Psalm  52 

This  psalm,  besides  the  title,  ver.  1,  2,  contains  three  stanzas  of  three 
verses  each.  In  the  first,  the  Psalmist  expostulates  with  an  arrogant, 
cruel,  and  deceitful  enemy,  ver.  3-5  (1-3).  In  the  second,  he  foretells  the 
destruction  of  his  enemy  by  the  divine  judgments,  and  the  contempt  to  be 
excited  by  his  folly,  ver.  6-8  (4-6).  In  the  third,  he  contrasts  this  fatal 
fruit  of  unbeUef  with  the  happy  effects  of  his  own  trust  in  God,  ver.  9-11 
(7-9).  The  two  Selahs  in  ver.  5,  7  (3,  5),  have  reference  not  so  much  to 
the  form  of  the  psalm  as  to  the  feelings  of  the  Psalmist,  and  are  therefore 
placed  irregularly.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  3  (2).  The  variation  of  the 
English  and  the  Hebrew  Bible,  in  numbering  the  verses  of  this  psalm,  is 
the  same,  and  arises  from  the  same  cause,  as  in  the  fifty-first. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  Maschil.  By  David.  The  psalm  is  ex- 
pressly designated  as  a  Maschil  or  didactic  psalm,  because  its  adaptation 
to  this  purpose  might  very  easily  be  overlooked  in  consequence  of  its  avowed 


244  Psalm  52:1 -4 

relation  to  a  particular  event  in  David's  history.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xxxii.  1,  xlii.  1,  xlv.  1.  Though  occasioned  by  this  incident,  however,  it 
was  written  for  the  permanent  and  pubHc  use  of  the  ancient  church,  and  is 
therefore  inscribed  to  (or  for)  the  Chief  Musician.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
iv.  1,  h.  1. 

2.  When  Do'eg  the  Edomite  came  and  told  Saul,  and  said  unto  him,  David 
is  come  to  the  house  of  Ahimelech.  This  is  merely  the  beginning  of  the 
story,  which  is  supposed  to  be  familiar  to  the  reader  of  the  psalm,  and 
which  is  given  at  length  in  1  Sam.  xxii.  Doeg  is  mentioned  only  as  the 
witness  or  informer,  by  whose  means  the  matter  came  to  Saul's  knowledge. 
When  he  came,  literally  in  his  coming,  the  same  form  of  expression  as  in 
Ps.  U.  2. 

3  (1).  Why  wilt  thou  boast  thyself  in  evil,  mighty  {^nan)  1  The  mercy  of 
the  Almighty  (is)  all  the  day.  The  futui'e  form  of  the  verb  suggests  the 
idea  of  obstinate  persistency.  Boast  thyself  in  evil,  exult  or  triumph  in  the 
injury  of  others.  The  mighty  man  is  not  Doeg  but  Saul,  who,  of  all  the 
characters  in  sacred  history,  approaches  nearest  to  the  classical  idea  of  a 
hero.  There  is  something,  therefore,  of  respect  and  admiration  implied  in 
the  address,  as  if  he  had  said  "  How  can  one  who  might  have  been  sa 
eminent  in  well-doing,  glory  in  his  shame  or  boast  himself  in  evil?"  In 
the  last  clause  there  is  an  obvious  antithesis  between  the  malice  of  this 
mighty  man  and  the  unfailing  goodness  of  the  mighty  God.  The  particular- 
divine  name  here  used  therefore  is  peculiarly  signiiicant.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
V.  5  (4),  1.  1.  As  if  he  had  said,  "  Mighty  and  maUcious  as  thou  art,  the 
might  and  mercy  of  Jehovah  are  still  greater."  All  the  day,  i.  e.  perpetual, 
unceasing.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xhi.  11  (10). 

4  (2).  Mischiefs  will  thy  tongue  devise,  like  a  razor  whetted,  working  deceit- 
fully. The  first  word  means  calamitous  events,  brought  on  one  man  by  the 
malice  of  another.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  10  (9),  xxxviii.  13  (12),  and  be- 
low, on  Ps.  Ivii.  2  (1).  The  distinctive  meaning  of  the  future  is  the  same 
as  in  ver.  3  (1).  The  tongue  is  here  said  to  meditate  or  devise  mischief, 
because  it  is  personified,  or  poetically  substituted  for  the  speaker.  The 
allusion  is  to  Saul's  cutting  words  when  he  accused  Ahimelech  and  David 
of  conspiracy  against  him  (1  Sam.  xxii.  13).  This  false  charge,  or  the 
tongue  which  uttered  it,  is  likened  to  a  razor,  not  merely  sharp  but  sharp- 
ened, whetted,  for  the  purpose  or  occasion.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlv.  6  (5). 
Similar  comparisons  occur  in  Ps.  Iv.  22  (21),  Ivii.  5  (4),  lix.  8  (7),  Ixiv.  4  (3), 
Jer.  ix.  2,  7  (3,  8).  Working  deceitfully,  literally  deceit  or  fraud.  These 
words  may  be  grammatically  referred  to  the  speaker  or  his  tongue  as  prac- 
tising deceit ;  but  it  yields  a  more  striking  sense  to  understand  them  of  the 
razor,  as  working  deceitfully,  i.  e.  moving  silently  and  smoothly,  when  it 
cuts  most  keenly. 

5  (3).  Thou  hast  loved  evil  [more)  than  good,  falsehood  (more)  than  speaking 
righteousness.  The  past  tense,  like  the  futures  in  the  foregoing  verses,  in- 
cludes the  idea  of  the  present;  but  unlike  them,  it  represents  the  love  of 
sin  as  already  long-continued  and  habitual.  Compare  the  form  of  expres- 
sion with  that  in  Ps.  xlv.  8  (7).  Righteousness  includes  truth  or  veracity, 
as  the  genus  comprehends  the  species.  The  particular  unrighteousness 
here  meant  is  falsehood,  as  appears  from  the  antithesis.  The  selah  tacitly 
suggests  the  writer's  abhorrence  of  that  which  he  describes. 

6  (4).  Thou  hast  loved  all  devouring  ivords,  tongue  of  fraud.  This  is  not 
so  much  a  continuation  of  the  foregoing  discourse,  as  a  resumption  or  re- 
capitulation for  the  purpose  of  drawing  a  conclusion  from  it.     In  periodic- 


Psalm  52:5 -7  245 

style,  the  connection  of  the  ideas  might  be  thus  exhibited :  "  Since  then 
thou  lovest,  &c.,  therefore  God  will,"  &c.  Devouring  words,  literally  words 
of  swallotvinrf  or  deglutition.  The  second  noun  occurs  only  here ;  but  the 
verb  to  swallow  up  is  continually  used  in  Hebrew  to  express  the  idea  of 
complete  destruction.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxi.  10  (9),  xxxv.  25.  Tongue  of 
deceit  or  deceitful  tongue.  This  phrase  may  be  governed  by  the  verb,  thou 
hast  loved  all  devouring  words  {and  or  even)  a  deceitful  tongice.  But  it  adds 
to  the  strength  of  the  expression,  and  agrees  better  with  the  form  of  the 
context,  to  make  it  an  apostrophe  or  direct  address  to  the  deceitful  tongue 
itself. 

7  (5).  (So)  likewise  shall  God  destroy  thee  for  ever ;  he  shall  take  thee 
away,  and  pluck  thee  out  of  (thy)  tent,  and  root  thee  out  of  the  land  of  life. 
Selah.  The  particle  at  the  beginning,  also,  likewise,  shews  the  dependence 
of  this  verse  upon  the  one  before  it,  which  is  really  conditional  though  not 
in  form.  "As  thou,  on  thy  part,  lovest  all  devouring  words,  so  likewise 
God,  on  his  part,  will  destroy  thee."  No  exact  translation  can  convey  the 
full  force  of  the  verbs  in  this  verse,  which  suggests  a  variety  of  striking 
figures  for  destruction  or  extermination.  The  first  denotes  properly  the  act 
of  pulling  down  or  demolishing  a  house  (Lev.  xiv.  45),  and  this  would  also 
seem  to  be  the  primary  meaning  of  the  third  (Prov.  xv.  25),  although  some 
suppose  it  to  denote  the  act  of  pulling  up,  and  to  be  the  opposite  of  plant,  as 
the  first  verb  is  of  build.  The  second  verb,  in  every  other  place  where  it 
occurs,  has  reference  to  the  handling  and  carrying  of  fire  or  coals.  See 
Prov.  vi.  27,  xxv.  22,  Isa.  xxx.  14.  To  a  Hebrew  reader,  therefore,  it 
would  almost  necessarily  suggest,  not  the  general  idea  of  removal  merely, 
but  the  specific  one  of  removing  or  taking  away  like  fire,  i.  e.  as  coals  are 
swept  out  from  a  hearth,  or  otherwise  extinguished.  The  remaining  verb 
adds  to  these  figures  that  of  violent  eradication,  and  is  well  represented  by 
its  English  equivalent.  The  land  of  life,  or,  as  it  is  c6mmonly  translated,  and 
of  the  living,  is  a  poetical  description  of  life  itself,  or  the  present  state  of 
existence,  under  the  figure  of  a  country.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xx\di.  13.  The 
quick  recurrence  of  the  pause  implies  excited  feeling,  and  invites  attention 
to  the  threatening  which  immediately  precedes. 

8  (6).  And  the  righteous  shall  see,  and  they  shall  fear,  and  at  him  they 
shall  laugh.  The  fear  meant  is  that  religious  awe  produced  by  any  clear 
manifestation  of  God's  presence  and  his  power.  In  Ps.  Ixiv.  9,  10  (8,  9), 
it  is  assumed  to  be  compatible  with  joy,  and  here  with  laughter  at  the 
wicked,  not  a  selfish  exultation  in  his  sufferings,  which  is  explicitly  con- 
demned in  the  Old  Testament  (Prov.  xxiv.  17,  Job  xxxi.  29),  but  that  sense 
of  the  absurdity  of  sin,  which  must  be  strongest  in  the  purest  minds,  and  can- 
not, therefore,  be  incompatible  with  pity,  the  rather  as  it  is  ascribed  to  God 
himself  (Ps.  ii.  4).  The  paronomasia  of  the  verbs  translated  see  and/ear  is 
the  same  as  in  Ps.  xl.  4  (3).  Shall  see,  i.  e.  the  destruction  threatened  in 
ver.  7  (6).  At  him,  the  person  thus  destroyed,  the  same  who  is  addressed 
directly  in  the  foregoing  context.  The  enallage  personce  may  be  avoided  by 
exchanging  at  him  for  at  it,  i.  e.  the  destruction  itself;  but  this  is  not  so 
agreeable  to  Hebrew  usage,  which  always  prefers  personal  to  abstract  forms 
of  speech. 

9  (7).  Behold  the  man  (who)  will  not  make  God  his  strength,  but  will 
trust  in  the  increase  of  his  ivealth,  (and)  will  be  strong  in  his  wickedness.  This 
may  be  regarded  as  the  language  of  the  laughers  mentioned  in  ver.  8  (6). 
Behold  the  man,  see  to  what  he  is  reduced.  The  effect  of  the  behold  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  interrogation  in  Isa.  xiv.  16.     The  word  translated 


246  Psalm  52:8,  9 

man  is  not  one  of  the  usual  terms,  but  one  implying  strength  or  power,  so 
that  its  use  here  gives  a  kind  of  sarcastic  import  to  the  passage.  See  the 
analogous  use  of  an  opposite  expression  in  Ps.  viii.  5  [(4),  x.  18.  The 
future  expresses  fixed  determination  and  anticipated  perseverance  in  refusing. 
Make,  literally  place  or  set.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xl.  5  (4).  Mis  strength,  or 
more  exactly,  his  stronghold  or  fortress.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  1, 
xxxvii.  39,  xliii.  2.  Increase,  or  simply  abundance,  greatness.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  V.  8  (7),  li.  3  (1).  The  word  translated  wickedness  is  the  singular 
of  that  translated  mischiefs  in  ver.  4  (2)  above.  It  seems  to  signify  parti- 
cularly an  inclination  fo  malicious  mischief. 

10  (8).  And  I  [am)  like  a  green  olive-tree  in  the  house  of  God,  I  have 
ti'usted  in  the  mercy  of  God  {to)  eternity  and  perpetuity.  He  expects  not 
only  the  destruction  of  the  wicked  but  his  own  salvation.  To  express  the 
connection  of  the  verses  clearly,  our  idiom  would  require  an  adversative 
particle  at  the  beginning,  but  I.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  6.  A  verdant  fruit- 
ful tree  is  a  favourite  emblem  of  prosperity.  See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  3.  The 
olive  is  here  specified,  as  palms  and  cedars  are  in  Ps.  xcii.  13,  14  (12,  13). 
The  imagery  of  the  verse  before  us  is  copied  in  Jer.  xi.  16.  The  house  of 
God,  the  tabernacle,  considered  as  his  earthly  residence,  in  which  he  enter- 
tains his  friends  and  provides  for  his  own  household.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
XV.  1,  xxii.  6,  xxvii.  4,  6,  xxxvi.  9  (8).  The  mixed  metaphors  only  shew 
that  the  whole  description  is  a  figurative  one,  and  should  be  so  interpreted. 
/  have  (already)  trusted,  which  includes  his  present  trust,  but  also  includes 
more,  to  wit,  that  it  is  not  a  new  or  sudden  impulse,  but  a  settled  habit  of 
his  soul.  The  two  nouns,  eternity  and  perpetuity,  are  combined  in  the 
adverbial  sense  oi  for  ever  and  ever.  See  above,  on  Ps.  x.  16,  xxi.  5  (4), 
xlv.  7  (6),  xlviii.  15  (14).  This  qualifying  phrase  relates,  not  to  the  act, 
but  to  the  object,  of  his  trust.  His  meaning  is  not,  "  I  will  trust  for  ever 
in  God's  mercy,"  which  would  have  required  a  future  verb  ;  but,  "  I  have 
already  trusted,  and  do  still  trust,  in  his  mercy,  as  a  mercy  that  will  last 
for  ever." 

11  (9).  /  will  thank  thee  to  eternity  because  thou  hast  done  (it),  and  will 
hope  (in)  thy  name — because  it  is  good — before  thy  saints.  The  common 
version  of  the  first  verb  (praise)  is  not  sufficiently  specific,  as  it  properly 
denotes  a  particular  kind  of  praise,  namely,  that  for  benefits  received.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5),  \-ii.  18  (17),  xlix.  19  (18).  The  object  of  the  verb 
hast  done  is  to  be  supplied  from  the  context.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  32 
(31),  xxxvii.  5,  xxxix.  10  (9).  Thy  name,  the  manifestation  of  thy  nature. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11),  xx.  2  (1),  xxiii.  3,  xlviii.  11  (10).  To  expect 
God's  name,  or  wait  for  it,  is  to  trust  in  the  future  exercise  and  exhibition 
of  the  same  divine  perfections  which  have  been  exhibited  already.  The 
common  version,  I  vnll  loait  on  thy  name,  is  not  so  happy  as  the  one  in  the 
Prayer  Book,  /  will  hope  in  thy  name.  Here  again,  as  in  ver.  10  (8),  the 
epexegetical  clause,  for  it  is  good,  relates  not  to  the  act  of  expectation,  but 
its  object.  He  does  not  mean,  "  because  it  is  good  to  hope  in  thy  name," 
but  *'  because  thy  name  is  good,  and  is  therefore  to  be  hoped  in."  This  is 
clear  from  the  analogy  of  Ps.  liv.  8  (6),  Ixix.  17  (16),  cix.  21,  which  also 
shews  that  the  concluding  words,  before  thy  saints,  are  to  be  construed  neither 
with  what  follows,  it  is  good  before  thy  saints,  i.  e.  in  their  estimation,  nor 
with  the  remoter  antecedent,  /  will  thank  thee,  but  with  the  neare  ante- 
cedent, /  will  wait  for  thy  name  before  thy  saints,  i.e.  I  will  profess  my  trust 
in  thy  mercy,  not  in  private  merely,  but  in  the  presence  of  thy  people,  of 
the  church.     Compare  Ps.  xxii.  23  (22).     For  it  is  good  must  then  be  read 


Psalm  53:1,2  247 

as  a  parenthesis.  Thy  saints,  the  merciful  objects  of  thy  mercy.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  iv.  4  (3),  1.  5.  It  is  here  used  simply  as  a  general  designa- 
tion or  description  of  God's  people. 

Psalm  53 

A  SECOND  edition  of  the  fourteenth  psalm,  with  variations,  more  or  less 
important,  in  each  verse.  That  either  of  these  compositions  is  an  incorrect 
copy  of  the  other  is  highly  improbable,  because  two  such  copies  of  the  same 
psalm  would  not  have  been  retained  in  the  collection,  and  because  the  varia- 
tions are  too  uniform,  consistent,  and  significant,  to  be  the  work  of  chance 
or  mere  traditional  corruption.  That  the  changes  were  deliberately  made 
by  a  later  writer  is  improbable,  because  such  a  liberty  would  hardly  have 
been  taken  with  a  psalm  of  David,  and  because  the  later  form,  in  that  case, 
would  either  have  been  excluded  from  the  Psalter,  or  substituted  for  the 
first  form,  or  immediately  connected  with  it.  The  only  satisfactory  hypo- 
thesis is,  that  the  original  author  afterwards  re-wrote  it,  with  such  modifi- 
cations as  were  necessary  to  bring  out  certain  points  distinctly,  but  without 
any  intention  to  supersede  the  use  of  the  original  composition,  which  there- 
fore still  retains  its  place  in  the  collection.  This  supposition  is  confirmed 
by  the  titles,  which  ascribe  both  psalms  to  David.  Of  this  kind  of  retrac- 
tatio,  which  is  not  unknown  to  the  practice  of  uninspired  hymnologists,  we 
have  already  met  with  a  remarkable  example  in  the  case  of  David.  See 
above,  the  concluding  note  on  Ps.  xviii.  p.  87.  As  a  general  fact,  it  may 
be  stated,  that  the  variations  in  the  psalm  before  us  are  such  as  render  the 
expression  stronger,  bolder,  and  in  one  or  two  cases  more  obscure  and  diffi- 
cult. To  these  variation3>the  remarks  which  follow  will  be  restricted.  For 
the  exposition  of  the  parts  which  are  common  to  both  psalms,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  that  of  Ps.  xiv. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician — uponMahalath — Maschil — hy  David.  Between 
the  inscription  to  the  Chief  Musician  and  the  name  of  David,  which  are 
also  found  at  the  beginning  of  Ps.  xiv.,  we  have  here  two  additional  expres- 
sions. The  first  of  these  is  by  some  regarded  as  the  name  or  description 
of  an  instrument ;  but  as  it  is  so  used  nowhere  else,  and  as  forms  almost 
identical  occur  more  than  once  in  the  sense  of  sickness  or  disease  (Exod. 
XV.  26,  Prov.  xviii.  14,  2  Chron.  xxi.  15),  it  seems  most  natural  to  take  the 
phrase  as  an  enigmatical  enunciation  of  the  subject  of  the  psalm,  which  is 
in  strict  accordance  both  with  general  usage  and  with  that  of  David  in  par- 
ticular. See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  1,  xxii.  1,  xiv.  1.  By  disease  we  may  then 
understand  the  spiritual  malady  with  which  mankind  are  all  infected,  and 
which  is  really  the  theme  or  subject  of  the  composition.  In  the  only  other 
title  where  it  reappears  (Ps.  Ixxxviii.  1),  it  denotes  corporeal  disease.  The 
other  addition  [maschil)  describes  the  psalm  as  a  didactic  one.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  lii.  1. 

2  (1).  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  There  is  no  God.  They  have  done 
corruptly,  they  have  done  abominable  ivickedness,  there  is  none  doing  good. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  1.  The  only  variation  in  this  verse  is  the  substitu- 
tion of  (^ly)  iniquity  for  [T^'^'^J)  deed  or  act.  Instead  of  saying,  they  have 
made  (their)  conduct  abominable,  the  Psalmist  uses  the  stronger  expression, 
they  have  made  iniquity  abominable,  or  done  abominably  (in  their)  wickedness. 

3  (2).  God  from  heaven  has  looked  down  on  the  sons  of  man,  to  see  if  there 
is  (any)  acting  wisely,  seeking  God.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  2.     The  only 


248  Psalm  53:3 -6 

difference  in  the  Hebrew  of  these  verses  is  that  the  name  Elohim  is  here 
substituted  for  Jehovah.  The  same  change  occurs  below,  in  ver.  5,  6,  7 
(4,5,6).  The  name  Jehovah  is  not  used  at  all  in  the  psalm  before  us,  but 
occurs  four  times  in  Ps.  xiv.,  and  Elohim  thrice.  This  difference  seems  to 
mark  Ps.  liii.-  as  the  later  composition,  in  which  the  writer  aimed  at  an  ex- 
ternal uniformity,  which  did  not  occur  to  him  at  first.  This  is  a  much  more 
natural  supposition  than  that  he  afterwards  varied  what  was  uniform  at  first. 
The  attempts  which  have  been  made  to  account,  still  more  particularly,  for 
the  use  of  the  divine  names  in  these  two  psalms,  have  entirely  failed. 

4  (3).  All  of  it  has  apostatised;  together  they  have  putrefied  ;  there  is  none 
doing  good  ;  there  is  not  even  one.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  3.  For  all  of  it 
we  there  have  the  whole,  i.  e.  the  whole  human  race.  The  same  thing  seems 
to  be  intended  by  the  more  obscure  phrase,  all  of  it,  in  which  the  pronoun 
may  refer  to  man,  in  the  collective  sense  of  mankind  or  the  human  race. 
The  idea  of  departure  from  God,  apostasy,  is  expressed  in  the  parallel  places 
by  two  verbs  almogt  identical  in  form  ("ID  and  ;iD),  the  one  of  which  means 
properly  to  turn  aside  and  the  other  to  turn  back. 

5  (4).  Do  they  not  know — (these)  workers  of  iniquity — eating  my  people 
(as)  they  eat  bread — {and  on)  God  call  not  ?  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  4.  The 
only  variation  here,  besides  the  change  of  the  divine  name  which  has  been 
already  mentioned,  is  the  omission  of  the  all  before  workers  of  iniquity. 
This  has  been  noted  by  some  critics  as  the  only  case  in  which  the  language 
of  the  fourteenth  psalm  is  stronger  than  the  parallel  expression  of  the  fifty- 
third. 

6  (5).  There  have  they  feared  a  fear,  because  God  hath  scattered  the  bones 
of  thy  besieger  ;  thou  hast  put  (them)  to  shame,  because  God  hath  rejected 
them.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  5,  6.  The  design  to  strengthen  the  ex- 
pression is  particularly  clear  in  this  case,  where  two  verses  are  com- 
presed  into  one,  and  the  other  changes  all  enhance  the  emphasis.  Thus, 
instead  of  a  general  assurance  of  divine  protection,  God  is  in  the  right- 
eous generation,  we  have  here  a  description  of  their  enemies'  destruc- 
tion, in  the  most  poetical  and  striking  terms,  God  hath  scattered  the 
bones  of  thy  besieger,  literally  thy  encamper,  him  that  encampeth  against 
thee.  So,  too,  instead  of  the  complaint,  that  the  wicked  treat  the  faith 
of  pious  sufferers  with  contempt — the  counsel  of  the  sufferer  ye  will  shame, 
because  Jehovah  is  his  refuge — we  have  here  the  tables  turned  upon 
the  scoffers  by  the  scorn  both  of  God  and  man — thou  hast  2)ut  to  shame 
(the  individuals  included  in  the  collective  phrase  thy  besieger),  because  God 
has  rejected  them,  an  act  implying  both  abhorrence  and  contempt.  In  this, 
which  is  by  far  the  most  considerable  variation  of  the  two  editions,  the 
existence  of  design  is  so  apparent,  that  the  supposition  of  an  inadvertent 
or  fortuitous  corruption  seems  preposterous.  So  far  are  the  two  psalms 
from  being  contradictory,  or  even  inconsistent,  that  they  might  be  sung 
together,  by  alternate  or  responsive  choirs,  with  the  happiest  effect.  No- 
thing can  be  more  natural,  therefore,  than  the  supposition  that  David  gave 
the  psalm  this  new  shape,  to  express  the  same  essential  feelings  in  a  higher 
degree,  and  a  more  emphatic  form. 

7  (6).  Who  will  give  out  of  Zion  salvations  (to)  Israel — in  God's  return- 
ing (to)  the  captivity  of  his  people — let  Jacob  exult,  let  Israel  joy  !  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  7.  The  only  variations  are  the  change  of  Jehovah  to 
Elohim,  and  of  the  singular  salvation  to  its  plural,  denoting  variety  and 
fulness.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  51  (50).  The  exact  translation  is  salva- 
tions of  Israel,  and  the  meaning  of  the  next  clause,  "  when  God  revisits  (or 
in  God's  revisiting)  his  captive  people." 


Psalm  54 .1-4  249 

Psalm  54 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  With  (or  on)  stringed  instruments.  A 
didactic  psalm.  By  David.  This  is  the  title  of  Ps.  iv.,  but  with  a  change 
of  the  generic  term  mizmor  to  the  specific  one  maschil.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
liii,  1.  According  to  some  modern  interpreters,  the  plural  neginoth  does 
not  denote  a  plurality  of  stringed  instruments,  but  simply  that  kind  of 
music,  with  its  complex  .variety  of  tones.  The  psalm  consists  of  a  prayer 
for  deliverance  from  wicked  enemies,  ver.  3—5  (1-3),  with  a  confident  anti- 
cipation of  success,  and  a  promise  of  thanksgiving,  ver.  6-9  (4-7).  As  to 
the  numbering  of  the  verses,  see  above,  on  Ps.  li.  1,  lii.  1. 

2.  In  the  coming  of  the  Ziphites,  and  they  said  to  Saul,  (7s)  not  David 
hiding  himself  with  us  /  The  verse  gives  the  historical  occasion  of  the  compo- 
sition, in  the  same  form  as  in  the  titles  of  Ps.  li.  and  lii.  Such  an  occurrence 
is  twice  recorded  in  the  history,  1  Sam.  xxiii.  19,  xxvi.  1.  The  verbal  coin- 
cidence is  greater  in  the  first  case.  The  words  of  the  Ziphites  seem  to  have 
been  remembered  on  account  of  some  peculiarity  in  the  expression,  per- 
haps the  use  of  the  reflexive  participle  (IJ^DDD);  which  remains  unchanged 

in  all  three  places,  the  earliest  of  which  is  probably  the  one  before  us. 
The  interrogation  implies  surprise  that  Saul  should  be  ignorant  of  what 
was  so  notorious.  Hiding  himself,  now  engaged  in  doing  so,  not  merely 
wont  to  do  so,  or  already  hidden.  With  us,  among  us,  or  in  our  land,  i.e. 
the  wilderness  or  pasture  ground  of  Ziph  (1  Sam.  xxiii.  14,  15),  in  or 
near  which  was  a  town  of  the  same  name  (Josh.  xv.  55,  2  Chron.  xi.  8), 
the  ruins  of  which  are  thought  to  be  still  visible,  not  far  from  what  the 
natives  call  Tell  Ziph,  or  the  Hill  of  Ziph.     (Robinson's  Palestine,  II.  191.) 

3  (1).  0  God,  by  thy  name  save  me,  and  by  thy  might  thou  wilt  judge  me. 
The  insensible  transition  from  the  imperative  to  the  future  shews  the  con- 
fidence with  which  the  prayer  is  offered.  By  thy  name,  i.  e.  the  exercise 
of  those  perfections  which  have  been  already  manifested.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  lii.  11  (9).  That  it  is  not  a  mere  periphrasis  for  God  himself,  is  clear 
from  the  parallel  expression,  might  or  power.  Jzidge  me,  do  me  justice, 
vindicate  my  innocence,  by  saving  me  from  spiteful  enemies  and  false 
accusers.     See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  9  (8),  xxvi.  1. 

4  (2).  0  God,  hear  my  prayer,  give  ear  to  the  sayings  of  my  mouth.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  iv.  2  (1),  v.  2  (1). 

5  (3).  For  strangers  are  risen  up  against  me,  and  oppressors  seek  my  soul 
(or  life) ;  they  have  not  set  God  before  them.  Selah.  To  the  earnest 
petitions  in  the  two  preceding  verses  he  now  adds  a  particular  description 
of  his  danger.  Strangers,  not  foreigners,  but  aliens  in  spirit,  both  to  him 
and  to  Jehovah,  with  special  reference  to  Saul.  See  below,  on  Ps.  cxx.  5. 
Oppressors,  persecutors,  tyrants.  The  original  expression  impHes  the  pos- 
session of  power,  and  its  lawless  exercise.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  35. 
Not  to  set  God  before  them  is  to  act  as  if  they  did  not  remember  or  believe 
in  his  existence  and  his  presence.  The  Selah  indicates  a  pause  of  indigna- 
tion and  abhorrence.     See  above,  on  Ps.  lii.  5  (8). 

6  (4).  Behold,  God  (is)  a  helper  for  me  ;  the  Lord  is  among  the  upholders 
of  my  soul.  From  the  party  of  his  enemies  he  looks  to  that  of  his  defen- 
ders, and  joyfully  recognises  God,  not  merely  tvith,  but  in  (the  midst  of) 
them,  among  them.  The  behold  is  expressive  of  surprise,  and  at  the  same 
time  of  a  perspicacious  faith.  With  the  form  of  expression  in  the  first 
clause,   compare  Ps.  xxx.  11  (10) ;  with  the  second  Ps.  cxviii.  7,  Judges 


250  Psalm  54:5 -7 

xi.  35.  The  upholders  of  his  soul  are  the  defenders  of  his  life  against 
those  who  seek  it.  See  above,  ver.  5  (3).  Adhonai,  the  divine  name 
properly  translated  Lord,  because  expressive  of  God's  sovereignty.  It  is 
peculiarly  appropriate  here,  where  he  is  claiming  God  as  his  protector. 

7  (5).  The  evil  shall  return  to  my  enemies  ;  in  thy  truth  destroy  them. 
The  future  here  runs  into  the  imperative,  as  the  imperative  does  into  the 
future  in  ver.  3  (1),  above.  The  imperative  in  this  case  is  only  a  stronger 
form  of  prediction.  2'he  evil,  which  they  mean  to  do  me.  Return  to,  or 
upon  them,  i.e.  shall  befall  themselves.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  17  (16), 
This  is  the  sense  required  by  the  reading  in  the  text  (mii^''),  which  the 
modem  critics  commonly  regard  as  the  most  ancient.  The  marginal  or 
masoretic  reading  (H^li^"')  must  be  rendered,  he  will  cause  to  return,  repay, 
requite.  Thy  truth,  the  truth  of  thy  promises  and  threatenings,  thy  vera- 
city. See  above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  10  (9).  The  certain  foresight  of  the  doom 
of  the  wicked,  which  is  expressed  in  the  first  clause,  makes  the  prayer  (if 
such  it  be  considered)  in  the  first  clause  a  mere  iteration  of  the  previous 
threatening.  A  prayer  that  God  will  do  what  we  are  certain  that  he  will 
do  can  be  little  more  than  an  expression  of  that  certainty.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  v.  11  (10). 

8  (6).  With  a  free-will  offering  will  I  sacrifice  unto  thee  ;  1  will  praise 
thy  name,  Jehovah,  for  it  is  good.  In  the  confident  assurance  of  a  favour- 
able answer  to  his  prayer,  he  promises  a  suitable  acknowledgment.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  v.  8  (7).  K  free-will  or  voluntary  offering,  as  opposed  to 
one  prescribed  by  law,  not  to  one  rendered  obligatory  by  a  vow,  for  then  a 
voluntary  ofiering  would  in  this  case  be  impossible.  The  Hebrew  word  is 
the  technical  term  applied  to  such  an  offering  in  the  law.  See  Lev.  vii.  16, 
xxii.  23,  and  compare  Exod.  xxv.  2,  xxxv.  29,  Num.  xv.  3.  With  the 
last  clause  compare  Ps.  lii.  11  (9). 

9  (7).  For  out  of  all  distress  he  hath  delivered  me,  and  on  my  enemies  my 
eye  has  looked.  In  his  confident  assurance  of  a  favourable  issue,  he  speaks 
of  it,  though  future,  as  already  past.  The  sudden  change  of  person,  may 
be  avoided  by  translating  the  first  verb,  it  [i.  e.  thy  name)  has  delivered  me, 
according  to  the  prayer  in  ver.  3  (1).  My  eye  has  looked  or  gazed,  with  an 
impUcation  of  dehght,  or  at  least  of  acquiescence,  which  is  commonly  con- 
veyed by  this  construction.  See  above,  on  Ps.  1.  23.  This  kind  of  satis- 
faction in  the  execution  of  God's  threatenings  is  sinful  only  when  combined 
with  selfish  maHgnity.  Apart  from  this  corrupt  admixture,  it  is  inseparable 
from  conformity  of  will  and  coincidence  of  judgment  with  God.  The  same 
kind  and  degree  of  acquiescence  which  is  felt  by  holy  angels  in  heaven  may 
surely  be  expressed  by  saints  on  earth,  especially  in  their  collective  capa- 
city as  a  church,  in  whose  name  the  Psalmist  is  here  speaking,  and  not 
merely  in  his  own  or  that  of  any  other  individual. 

Psalm  55 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  With  (or  on)  stringed  instruments  A 
didactic  psalm.  By  David.  The  psalm  is  designated  as  a  Maschil,  be- 
cause it  might  at  first  sight  seem  to  have  relation  merely  to  a  case  of 
personal  maltreatment  and  distress,  whereas  it  is  a  general  description  of 
the  sufferings  of  God's  people,  or  the  righteous  as  a  class,  at  the  hands  of 
false  friends  and  mahgnant  enemies.  Although  there  seem  to  be  allusions 
to  the  writer's  own  experience,  in  the  times  both  of  Saul  and  Absalom,  the 


Psalm  55:1 -5  251 

whole  description  can  be  applied  exclusively  to  neither.  The  only  natural 
division  of  the  psalm  is  the  one  suggested  by  the  fact,  that  in  the  first  part 
the  sufferer  complains  of  his  enemies  in  general,  ver.  2-12  (1-11) ;  in  the 
second,  he  singles  out  the  case  of  one  who  had  seemed  to  be  his  friend, 
but  treacherously  turned  against  him,  ver.  13-16  (12-15) ;  in  the  third, 
he  confidently  anticipates  his  own  deliverance  and  the  destruction  of  his 
enemies,  ver.  17-26  (16-25). 

2  (1.)  Give  ear,  0  God,  to  my  prayer,  and  hide  not  thyself  from  my  sup- 
plication. This  is  the  general  introductory  petition,  which  is  afterwards 
amplified  and  rendered  more  specific.  The  last  word  strictly  means  a  cry 
or  prayer  for  mercy.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  10  (9).  To  hide  one's  self  is 
an  expression  used  in  the  law  to  describe  the  act  of  wilfully  withholding  aid 
from  one  who  needs  it.     See  Deut.  xxii.  1-4,  and  compare  Isa.  Iviii.  7. 

3  (2).  Hearken  to  me  and  answer  me;  I  will  give  loose  to  my  thought, 
and  I  will  make  a  noise.  The  first  verb  means  to  attend,  especially  to  one 
speaking,  to  listen,  to  hearken.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  3  (2),  x.  17,  xvii.  1. 
Anstver  or  hear,  in  the  sense  of  receiving  a  prayer  favourably.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  iii.  5  (4),  xxxviii.  16  (15).  The  literal  translation  of  the  next  words 
is,  /  toill  suffer  to  wander  iu  my  thinking,  i.  e.  I  will  let  my  mind  wander, 
or  my  thoughts  rove  as  they  will.  He  is  resolved  not  only  to  think  freely 
but  to  express  his  thoughts  aloud.  The  same  use  of  the  Hebrew  verb 
occurs  in  Micah  ii.  12.  The  thinking  or  meditation  here  meant  is  reflection 
on  his  sufferings,  to  which  the  Hebrew  verb  is  specially  applied.  With  the 
whole  verse,  and  with  this  clause  in  particular,  compare  Job  vii.  11. 

4  (3).  From,  the  voice  of  the  enemy,  from  before  the  persecution  of  the  wicked  ; 
for  they  will  shake  over  me  iniquity,  and  in  wrath  will  oppose  me.     He  now 

declares  from  what  his  distress  arises.  The  preposition,  in  Hebrew  as  in 
EngUsh,  has  a  causal  meaning,  or  at  lest  suggests  a  relation  of  cause  and 
effect.  From  the  voice,  i.  e.  because  of  it.  From  before  or  from  the  face 
conveys  the  same  idea  still  more  strongly,  by  a  kind  of  personification  of 
the  evil  dreaded.  Persecution  of  the  wicked  :  compare  the  oppression  of  the 
enemy,  in  Ps.  xlii.  10  (9).  Shake  over  me,  or  cause  to  slide  upon  me,  a 
striking  figure  for  the  wilful  infliction  of  evil  on  another.  Iniquity  may 
here  be  put,  as  it  sometimes  is,  for  active  wickedness  towards  others,  the 
cause  of  suffering  rather  than  sufiering  itself.  With  this  clause  compare 
Ps.  xli.  9  (8).  Oppose  me,  be  my  adversaries,  whether  in  the  way  of  resist- 
ance or  assault.  The  Hebrew  verb  is  a  cognate  form  to  that  from  which 
comes  Satan  or  the  Adversary. 

5  (4).  My  heart  writhes  in  the  midst  of  me,  and  terrors  of  death  have 
fallen  upon  me.  The  future  form  of  the  first  verb  implies  an  apprehension 
that  the  pain  will  continue  and  be  permanent.  In  the  midst  of  me,  inside 
of  me,  within  me.  He  is  not  merely  involved  in  outward  troubles,  but 
pained  at  heart.  Terrors  of  death  might  be  strictly  understood  as  meaning 
fear  or  dread  of  death ;  but  it  agrees  better  with  the  strong  figurative  lan- 
guage of  the  first  clause,  to  take  it  in  the  sense  of  deadly,  mortal  terrors. 
An  analogous  expression  is  death-shade  or  shadow  of  death.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxiii.  4,  xliv.  20  (19).  The  figure  of  falling  necessarily  suggests  the 
idea  of  infliction  by  a  superior  power. 

6  (5).  Fear  and  trembling  enter  into  me,  and  horror  hath  covered  me.  The 
future  in  the  first  clause  represents  the  action  as  not  yet  completed,  and 
might  be  rendered,  they  are  entering  or  about  to  enter.  The  Hebrew  verb 
with  this  preposition  denotes  more  than  come  upon ;  it  describes  the  terror 
as  not  only  on  him  but  within  him.      The  word  translated  horror  is  a 


252  Psalm  55:6 -10 

stronger  synonyme  of  trembling,  and  might  be  translated  shuddering  or  a 
shudder.     Covered  me,  i.  e.  overspread  or  overwhelmed  me. 

7  (6).  And  I  said,  who  will  give  me  a  pinion  like  the  dove?  I  will  fly 
away  and  be  at  rest.  This  is  equivalent  to  saying,  if  I  had  the  pinions  of  a 
dove,  I  would  fly  away,  &c.  Who  will  give  is  an  idiomatic  optative  expres- 
sion, tantamount  to  saying,  Oh  that  I  had,  &c.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  7. 
The  word  translated  pinion  properly  denotes  the  penna  major  or  flag-feather 
of  a  bird's  wing,  and  is  here  put  poetically  for  the  wings  themselves.  The 
two  last  verbs  are  in  the  paragogic  or  augmented  form,  expressing  strong 
desire  or  settled  purpose.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  3.  The  last  verb  usually 
means  to  dwell,  but  has  either  the  primary  or  secondary  sense  of  reposing, 
resting.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  3.  The  first  verb  is  immediately  de- 
pendent on  the  last  of  the  preceding  verse,  a  grammatical  relation  which 
may  be  expressed  thus  in  oui;  idiom  :  "  hoiTor  hath  covered  me  so  that  I 
say,"  &c. 

8(7).  Lo,  I  will  wander  far,  I  will  lodge  in  the  wilderness.  Selah.  The 
lo  or  behold  is  tantamount  to  pointing  with  the  finger,  or  to  saying  there  ! 
see  there  !  The  next  phrase  is  highly  idiomatic  and  literally  means,  '*  I 
will  make  remote  to  wander."  To  lodge  is  here  to  take  up  one's  abode,  to 
dwell,  as  in  Ps.  xxv.  13.  The  wilderness,  not  necessarily  a  barren  desert, 
but  an  uninhabited  region,  the  essential  idea  here  being  that  of  separation 
from  human  society,  a  strong  though  indirect  mode  of  affirming  its  extreme 
corruption.  The  strength  of  the  feeling  which  prompted  this  desire  is  in- 
dicated by  a  solemn  pause. 

9  (8).  I  will  hasten  my  escape  from  rushing  wind,  from  tempest.  Another 
construction  of  the  first  clause  makes  the  verb  intransitive  and  the  noun  a 
local  one,  as  indicated  by  its  form,  I  will  hasten  (to)  my  refuge.  It  is 
better,  however,  to  give  the  hiphil  verb  its  proper  meaning,  and  nouns  of 
the  form  here  used  denote  not  only  the  place  of  action  bnt  the  act  itself. 
My  escape,  literally  an  escape  for  me  or  for  myself.  The  preposition  in  the 
last  clause,  though  it  properly  means  from,  is  constantly  employed  in 
Hebrew  to  denote  or  indicate  comparison.  If  thus  explained  in  this  case, 
it  would  make  the  clause  descriptive  of  the  speed  with  which  he  wishes  to 
escape,  7nore  than  the  rushing  wind  and  tempest.  This  sense  is  preferred 
by  some  interpreters ;  but  the  other  is  more  ob\'ious  and  simple,  and  is  also 
recommended  by  the  frequent  representation  of  calamity  under  the  figure 
of  a  storm  or  tempest,  which  would  hardly  have  been  joined  with  that  of 
wind,  if  the  only  idea  meant  to  be  conveyed  had  been  that  of  great  velocity. 

10  (9).  Destroy,  0  Lord,  divide  their  tongue  ;  for  I  have  seen  violence  and 
strife  in  the  city.  The  first  word  properly  means  swallow  up.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xxi.  10  (9).  The  object  to  be  supplied  is  not  their  tongue  hnithem- 
selves.  Divide  their  tongue,  i.  e.  confound  their  speech  or  make  it  unintel- 
ligible, and  as  a  necessary  consequence  confound  their  counsels.  There  is 
obvious  reference  to  the  confusion  of  tongues  at  Babel  (Gen.  xi.  7-9),  as  a 
great  historical  example  of  the  way  in  which  God  is  accustomed  and  deter- 
mined to  defeat  the  purposes  of  wicked  men  and  execute  his  own.  The 
word  translated  cruelty  denotes  violent  injustice,  or  injustice  accompanied 
by  violence.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii,  17  (16).  In  the  city  is  supposed  by 
some  to  mean  nothing  more  than  among  men,  in  human  society  ;  but  the 
words  could  hardly  fail  to  suggest  to  any  Hebrew  reader  the  idea  of  the 
holy  city,  as  the  place  directly  meant,  although  the  words  themselves  may 
be  applied  to  any  other  place  where  the  same  state  of  things  exist. 

11  (10).  Day  and  night  they  will  surround  her  on  her  wall;  and  iniquity 


Psalm55:ll-13  253 

and  trouble  will  he  in  the  midst  of  her.  The  Violence  and  Strife  of  the 
preceding  verse  are  here  personified  as  a  besieging  enemy.  At  the  same 
time  the  interior  is  occupied  by  Iniquity  and  Trouble,  no  less  formidable 
enemies.  Her  walls,  those  of  the  city  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  verse. 
Iniquity  and  trouble  are  here,  and  often  elsewhere,  put  together  as  cause 
and  effect,  the  last  denoting  the  distress  or  trouble  which  the  wickedness  of 
one  man  brings  upon  another.     See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  15  (14), 

12  (11).  Mischiefs  {are)  in  the  midst  of  her,  and  from  her  street  will  not 
depart  oppression  and  deceit,  The  first  word  in  Hebrew  necessarily  sug- 
gests the  two  ideas  of  calamities  and  crimes,  i.  e.  calamities  occasioned  by 
the  Climes  of  others.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  10  (9),  xxxviii.  13  (12), 
lii.  4,  9  (2,  7).  The  word  translated  street  denotes  a  wide  place,  and  is 
specially  applied  to  the  square  or  open  space  surrounding  the  gates  of 
oriental  cities,  and  used  both  for  markets  and  for  courts  of  justice.  See 
Neh.  viii.  1,  3,  16.  The  word  therefore  very  nearly  corresponds  to  the 
Greek  agora  and  the  Latin  forum,  and  may  be  here  used  to  suggest  the 
idea  both  of  legal  and  commercial  malfeasance.  Neither  their  markets  nor 
their  courts  are  ever  free  from  these  two  forms  of  gross  injustice,  namely, 
fraud  and  violence. 

13  (12).  For  (it  is)  not  an  enemy  (that)  will  revile  me,  else  would  I  bear 
it ;  {it  is)  not  one  hating  me  (that)  has  magnified  (himself)  against  me,  else 
would  I  hide  myself  from  him.  The  Hebrew  word  answering  to  else,  is,  in 
both  these  cases,  the  usual  copulative  particle,  and  the  original  construction 
seems  to  be,  and  (if  it  is)  /  icill  bear  it,  and  (if  it  is)  I  will  hide  myself. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  li.  18  (16).  The  act  of  reviling  here  includes  both 
calumny  and  insult.  The  future  in  the  first  clause  suggests  the  idea  of  an 
indignity  or  injury  about  to  be  endured.  As  if  he  had  said,  "  when  I  go 
forth  among  my  neighbours,  it  is  not  my  open  enemy  that  will  malign  me." 
But  that  such  treatment  had  already  been  experienced,  is  intimated  by  the 
preterite  of  the  last  clause.  The  verb  to  magnify  is  here  used  reflexively 
or  absolutely,  as  in  Ps.  xxxv.  26,  xxxviii.  15  (16).  There  is  no  need  therefore 
of  supposing  an  ellipsis,  or  identifying  this  form  of  expression  with  the  one 
in  Ps.  xli.  10  (9).  Hide  myself,  literally  be  hidden  ;  but  the  passive  forms 
in  Hebrew  not  unfrequently  imply  a  reflex  act,  hke  the  middle  voice  in 
Greek.  The  negation  in  this  verse  is  of  course  not  absolute  but  relative, 
and  must  be  qualified  by  due  regard  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case. 
That  he  was  reproached  and  threatened  by  avowed  enemies,  is  not  only  a 
frequent  subject  of  complaint  elsewhere,  but  sufficiently  implied  in  ver. 
4  (3)  above.  The  true  solution  of  this  seeming  contradiction  is,  that 
he  here  passes  from  a  general  description  of  the  prevalent  iniquity  to  a 
particular  case,  in  which  his  feelings  were  personally  interested.  In  this 
particular  case,  it  was  not  an  open  enemy  that  slandered  or  insulted  him. 
It  is  therefore  as  if  he  had  said,  "But  it  is  not  of  this  open  and  unblushing 
wickedness  that  I  especially  complain,  but  rather  of  the  perfidy  of  false 
friends."  Thus  understood,  the  verse,  instead  of  contradicting  ver.  4  (3), 
presupposes  what  is  there  affirmed. 

14  (13).  But  thou,  a  man  mine  equal,  my  associate,  my  acquaintance.  It 
is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  difference  between  the  Hebrew  and  English 
idiom,  that  the  former  uses  and  at  the  beginning  of  this  sentence,  where  in 
English  but  is  absolutely  indispensable.  The  word  for  man  is  that  denot- 
ing frailty  and  mortality.  See  above,  on  Ps.  viii.  5  (4),  ix.  20,  21  (19,  20), 
X.  18.  But  it  seems  to  be  used  here  without  any  emphasis,  in  simple  ap- 
position with  what  follows,  or  as  a  vocative,  thou,  0  man,  mine  equal.  This 


254  Psalm  55:14 -16 

last  expression  is  in  Hebrew,  according  to  my  valuation ,  the  noun  being  a 
technical  term  of  the  Mosaic  Law,  denoting  the  official  estimation  ol  the 
priest,  in  certain  cases  of  redemption  or  pecuniary  penalty.  See  Lev. 
V.  15,  18,  xxvii.  12.  The  whole  phrase  here  employed  is  understood  by 
Bome  to  mean  07ie  whom  I  value,  i.  e.  highly,  or  more  specifically,  one  whom 
I  value  as  mysSlf.  More  probably,  however,  it  means  one  who  is  (or  may 
be)  estimated  at  the  same  rate  with  myself,  which  is  precisely '  the  idea 
conveyed  by  the  common  version,  my  equal,  one  of  my  own  rank  and  circle, 
my  associate.  This  last  is  the  sense  put  by  the  modern  interpreters  on  the 
next  word  in  Hebrew.  The  old  translation  [guide)  rests  on  a  doubtful 
etymology,  and  the  authority  of  the  ancient  versions.  (LXX  riytfiw.  Vulg. 
dux).  Acquaintance  seems  to  be  a  weaker  expression  than  the  others ;  but 
the  Hebrew  word  always  impUes  very  intimate  association.  See  above,  Ps. 
xxxi.  12  (11),  and  below,  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  9,  19  (8,  18). 

15  (14).  (With)  whom  we  take  siveet  counsel ;  in  the  house  of  God  we  march 
with  noise.  The  future  forms  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  supposing  that 
he  here  anticipates  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  friendship  which  had  not  yet 
visibly  occurred.  The  false  friend,  of  whom  he  is  complaining,  seems  to 
l^e  one  with  whom  he  is  still  intimate,  but  whose  defection  he  clearly  fore- 
saw. As  if  he  had  said,  "  With  this  man  I  must  still  continue  to  be  asso- 
ciated, although  he  is  eventually  to  betray  me."  Li  this  particular,  the 
case  described  resembles  that  of  our  Lord  and  Judas  Iscariot,  which  may 
indeed  be  considered  as  included  in  the  general  description.  The  form  of 
the  first  clause  is  idiomatic  and  peculiar  :  who  (or  as  to  whom)  together  we 
will  sweeten  counsel,  or  rather  confidential  intercourse;  See  above,  on  Ps. 
XXV.  14.  The  other  clause  may  possibly  mean,  we  march  to  the  house  of 
God.  But  the  strict  sense  of  the  particle  may  be  retained  and  the  whole 
referred  to  solemn  processions  within  the  sacred  enclosure  or  court  of  the 
tabernacle.  With  noise,  i.  e.  with  festive  tumult.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xlii.  5  (4). 

16  (15)  Desolations  {are)  upon  them!  They  shall  go  down  to  Sheol  alive! 
For  evils  are  in  their  dwellings,  in  their  heart.  The  optative  form  given  to 
this  sentence  in  most  versions  is  entirely  gratuitous.  All  that  the  Hebrew 
words  express  is  a  confident  anticipation.  The  common  version  of  the  first 
words  {let  death  seize  upon  them)  is  founded  on  the  masoretic  reading  (S^J5^^ 
rf\12i) ;  but  the  best  critics  now  prefer  the  older  reading  in  the  text 
(Dto'*!^^),  which,  instead  of  a  verb  and  a  singular  noun,  exhibits  one  noun 

in  the  plural  number,  meaning  desolations,  and  agreeing  with  the  substan- 
tive verb  understood.  Upon  them,  hovering  or  impending  over  them. 
SJteol,  the  grave,  the  state  of  the  dead,  the  wide  old  English  sense  of  hell. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5).  There  is  an  obvious  allusion  to  another  great 
historical  type  of  God's  retributory  judgments,  the  destruction  of  Korah 
and  his  company,  who  went  down  alive  into  the  pit,  Num.  xvi.  33.  The 
word  quick,  in  the  common  English  version  of  this  sentence,  is  an  adjec- 
tive synonymous  with  living  or  alive,  and  not  an  adverb  meaning  soon  or 
svnftly.  Evils,  i.  e.  evil  deeds  and  evil  thoughts.  In  their  heart,  or  inside, 
inner  part,  as  in  Ps.  v.  10  (9),  xhx.  12  (11).'  This  is  a  much  better  sense 
than  in  the  midst  of  them,  among  them. 

17  (16).  /  to  God  will  call,  and  Jehovah  will  save  me.  The  pronoun  is 
emphatic,  I  on  my  part.  While  they  are  brought  to  desolation  and  to 
death,  I,  on  the  contrary,  wiU  call  to  God.  If  the  use  of  two  divine  names 
has  any  significance  beyond  the  requisitions  of  the  parallelism,  the  meaning. 


Psalm  55:]7- 19  255 

may  be,  "I  will  call  to  God,  and  as  the  covenant  God  of  Israel  he  will 
save  me."     Compare  Ps.  xviii.  4  (3). 

18  (17).  Evening  and  morning  and  noon  I  will  muse  and  murmur — and 
he  has  heard  my  voice.  The  first  clause  is  supposed  by  some  to  prove  that 
the  observance  of  three  stated  hours  of  prayer  was  as  old  as  David ;  others 
suppose  the  observance  to  have  been  suggested  by  the  clause  itself.  But 
the  natural  and  obvious  division  of  the  day  here  mentioned  may  have  given 
occasion  both  to  the  clause  and  the  observance.  Muse  and  murmur  is  a 
combination  descriptive  of  prayer,  both  as  mentally  conceived  and  audibly 
expressed.  Murmur  is  perhaps  not  strong  enough  to  convey  the  full  sense 
of  the  Hebrew  verb,  which  elsewhere  means  to  make  a  loud  noise.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  6,  12  (5,  11),  xlvi.  4,  7' (3,  6).  The  assimilation  or 
confusion  of  the  tenses  in  this  verse  by  some  translators  is  not  only  arbi- 
trary but  injurious  to  the  sense.  What  is  mentioned  in  the  first  clause  as 
still  future  is  recorded  in  the  last  clause  as  already  past.  As  if  he  had 
said,  "  Thus  did  I  resolve  to  pray,  and  now  my  prayer  has  been  already 
made  and  answered."  Such  transitions  are  among  the  characteristic 
beauties  of  the  Psalter,  and  ought  not  to  be  gratuitously  sacrificed,  still  less 
at  the  expense  of  violating  usage  and  the  rules  of  grammar. 

19  (18).  He  redeemed  in  peace  my  soul  from  the  war  against  me,  for 
many  were  with  me.  In  peace,  or  with  peace,  as  the  result  of  this  redemp- 
tion. Against  me,  literally  to  me,  the  war  that  was  to  me,  that  I  had. 
The  last  clause,  to  an  EngUsh  ear,  conveys  the  idea  that  his  friends  or 
champions  were  many,  but  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  is  directly  opposite, 
with  me  being  used  in  such  connections  to  denote  a  relation  of  hostihty,  as 
we  speak  of  fighting,  quarrelling,  contending  with  one.  In  either  case,  the 
particle  expresses  really  no  more  than  joint  or  simultaneous  action,  the  idea 
of  enmity  or  opposition  being  gathered  from  the  context.  The  literal 
translation  of  the  last  clause  is,  in  many  were  {those)  with  me,  i.e.  consisting 
in  many.  The  adverse  party  was  composed  of  many  individuals.  This  usage 
of  the  in  is  strictly  appropriate  only  to  numerals.    See  Deut.  x.  22,  xxviii.  62. 

20  (19).  God  will  hear  and  answer  them,  and  (He)  inhabiting  antiquity 
(will  hear  and  answer  those)  to  whom  there  are  no  changes,  and  (who)  fear 
not  God.  As  he  has  heard  me  in  mercy,  so  wiU  he  hear  them  in  wrath. 
As  he  has  answered  my  prayer  in  the  way  described  above,  ver  19  (18),  so 
will  he  answer  them  in  the  way  described  below,  ver.  24  (23).  In 
this  case,  what  is  heard  and  answered  is  not  prayer,  but  the  voice  of  the 
enemy,  ver.  4  (3),  and  his  malignant  slanders,  ver.  13  (12).  Inhabiting 
antiquity,  or  as  the  English  Bible  phrases  it,  he  that  abideth  of  old.  The 
first  Hebrew  verb,  however,  could  not  fail  to  suggest  its  primary  meaning, 
which  is  to  sit,  and  more  especially  to  sit  enthroned,  as  a  sovereign  and  a 
judge.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  5,  12  (4,  11).  The  phrase  may  therefore  be 
said  to  represent  God  as  having  been  a  king  and  a  judge  from  the  remotest 
antiquity.  The  last  clause  is  by  some  supposed  to  mean,  that  the  persons 
here  referred  to  undergo  no  moral  change,  but  still  persist  in  their  refusal 
to  fear  God  ;  by  others,  that  they  undergo  no  outward  changes,  no  vicissi- 
tudes of  fortune,  and  for  that  reason  will  not  fear  him.  But  as  the  word 
translated  changes  is  repeatedly  employed  by  Job  in  a  military  sense,  to 
signify  either  an  alternate  service,  as,  for  instance,  in  relieving  guard,  or  a 
succession  in  the  service,  as  when  one  corps  is  disbanded  and  another  takes 
its  place,  some  of  the  best  interpreters  suppose  this  clause  to  mean  that 
those  enlisted  in  this  evil  warfare  have  no  such  reliefs  or  discharges  to 
expect,  but  must  continue  in  the  unremitting  service  of  sin,  and  as  a  nccos- 


256  Psalm  55:20  -  22 

sary  consequence  cannot  feai-  God.  The  grammatical  structure  of  the  whole 
verse  is  peculiar,  and  can  be  made  intelligible  only  by  supplying  the  ellipsis. 

21  (20).  Se  has  stretched  out  his  hands  against  his  allies  :  he  has  pro- 
faned his  covenant.     This  might  seem  at  first  sight  to  refer  to  God  ;  but 

such  a  reference,  if  not  forbidden  by  the  nature  of  the  acts  alleged,  would 
be  at  variance  with  the  subsequent  context,  where  the  subject  is  undoubtedly 
the  wicked  enemy.  The  sudden  change  of  number  is  in  strict  accordance 
with  the  usage  of  the  Psahnists  in  speaking  of  their  enemies,  or  in  this 
case  may  arise  from  the  same  cause  as  in  ver.  13  (12)  above.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  X.  10.  The  word  translated  allies  is  the  plural  of  one  meaning 
peace,  but  seems  to  bo  poetically  used  here  to  denote  those  at  peace  with 
him,  his  friends  or  alUes.  Compare  the  .analogous  expressions  in  Ps.  vii. 
5  (4),  xli.  10  (9).  To  profane  a  covenant  is  to  treat  it  as  no  longer  sacred, 
and  by  implication  to  break  it.  Compare  Isa.  xxxiii.  8.  This  is  a  varied 
repetition,  under  military  figures,  of  the  description  in  ver.  13-15  (12-14). 

22  (21)  Smooth  are  the  huiterings  of  his  mouth,  and  (yet)  war  (is  in)  his 
heart ;  soft  are  his  words,  more  than  oil,  and  (yet  even)  they  are  drawn 
(swords).  To  the  charge  of  violence  he  adds  that  of  treacherous  hypocrisy, 
thus  amplifying  the  laconic  phrase  oppression  and  deceit,  in  ver.  12  (11) 
above.  The  English  Bible,  following  some  older  versions,  assimilates  the 
clauses  by  making  both  comparative,  smoother  than  butter,  softer  than  oil. 
But  in  order  to  sustain  this  construction  of  the  first  clause,  it  is  necessary 
to  change  the  pointing  of  one  Hebrew  word,  and  to  supply  another  as  the 
nominative  of  the  plural  verb,  which  cannot  without  violence  agree  with 
mouth.  The  letter  prefixed  to  the  first  noun  is  a  part  of  it,  and  not  a 
particle  meaning  than  or  more  than,  and  the  whole  word  denotes  prepara- 
tions of  butter,  cream,  or  rather  curdled  milk,  which  is  the  meaning  of  the 
primitive  noun.  As  to  the  adversative  use  of  and  in  both  these  clauses, 
see  above,  on  ver.  14  (13).  War  (is  in)  his  heart,  or  still  more  simply, 
because  not  requiring  the  insertion  of  the  particle,  war  {is)  his  heart,  i.  e. 
his  cherished  wish  and  purpose.  The  word  translated  war  is  a  poetical 
term,  the  same  that  is  employed  above  in  ver.  19  (18).  In  the  last  clause, 
even  is  supphed  as  well  as  yet,  in  order  to  convey,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
emphasis  of  the  Hebrew  pronoun.  And  they  themselves,  i.  e.  the  very  oily 
words  just  mentioned,  are  drawn  swords.  This  last  expression  is  in 
Hebrew  properly  an  adjective  or  participial  form,  but  is  specifically  used  in 
application  to  the  sword,  as  brandished  is  in  English,  and  so  comes  to  be 
employed  absolutely  or  as  a  substantive,  expressing  the  entire  complex  idea 
of  drawn  swords,  as  weapons  of  attack,  ready  for  use  or  on  the  point  of 
being  used  forthwith. 

23  (22).  Cast  upon  Jehovah  (what)  he  gives  thee,  and  he  will  sustain 
thee  ;  he  will  never  suffer  the  righteous  to  be  moved.  What  he  gives  thee  to 
endure,  what  he  lays  upon  thee,  cast  thou  upon  him,  by  trusting  in  him. 
The  phrase  he  gives  thee  (or  has  given  thee)  may  also  be  explained  as  a  noun 
with  a  possessive  pronoun,  thy  gift,  not  in  the  active  sense  of  what  thou 
givest,  but  in  the  passive  sense  of  what  is  given  to  thee.  Sustain  does  not 
here  mean  to  hold  up  or  support  under  the  burden,  but  to  nourish  or  sus 
tain  life  by  administering  food  and  other  necessaries,  to  provide  for.  Com- 
pare the  primitive  use  of  the  Hebrew  verb  in  Gen.  xlv.  11,  xlvii.  12,  1.  21. 
The  common  version  of  the  last  clause  above  given  is  a  correct  paraphrase 
of  the  original,  the  form  of  which  is  highly  idiomatic.  A  literal  translation 
would  be,  he  will  not  give  for  ever  moving  (or  movement)  to  tlie  righteous. 
The  verb  to  give  is  often  used  in  Hebrew  in  the  sense  of  allowing  or  per- 


Psalm  56:1  257 

mitting.  The  word  translated  moving  is  the  one  so  often  used  to  signify 
the  violent  disturbance  of  a  person  in  the  midst  of  his  prosperity.  See 
above,  on  Pd.  x.  6,  xvi.  8,  &c. 

24  (23).  And  thou,  God,  wilt  bring  them  doion  to  the  pit  of  corruption  ; 
men  ofhlood  and  fraud  shall  not  live  out  half  their  days.  The  first  verb  is 
a  causative,  and  as  such  may  be  rendered,  thou  wilt  cause  them  to  descend. 
The  word  translated  pit  is  the  common  term  in  Hebrew  for  a  well,  but  is 
here  used  in  a  wi^e  sense,  including  all  such  excavations.  The  next  word  is 
{nntiO)  a  derivative  of  the  verb  (J\n^)  to  corrupt  or  destroy.     The  sense 

oi  pit,  as  if  derived  from  the  verb  (mii^)  to  sink,  would  convert  the  phrase 

into  a  weak  tautology.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  10.  Men  of  bloods  and 
deceit,  i.  e.  bloody  (or  murderous)  and  deceitful  men,  as  in  Ps.  v.  7  (6) 
above.  The  Uteral  translation  of  the  last  words  is,  they  shall  not  halve  their 
days,  a  form  of  expression  copied  in  the  margin  of  the  English  Bible,  as 
well  as  in  the  Septuagint  (ri/MiOiueuai)  and  Vulgate  (dimidiabunt).  The 
meaning  of  course  is,  that  they  shall  not  live  half  so  long  as  they  might 
have  Hved,  but  for  their  bloody  and  deceitful  acts.  This  is  not  asserted  as 
a  general  fact,  but  uttered  as  a  threatening  to  the  murderers  and  traitors 
whom  the  Psalmist  had  directly  in  his  eye. 

Psalm  56 

After  the  title,  ver.  1,  comes  a  general  petition  for  deliverance  from 
persecution  and  oppression,  ver.  2,  3  (1,  2),  followed  by  a  strong  expres- 
sion of  trust  in  God,  ver.  4,  5  (3,  4),  a  description  of  the  malice  of  the 
enemy,  ver.  6,  7  (5,  6),  and  a  confident  anticipation  of  his  punishment, 
ver.  8-10  (7-9),  founded  on  faith  in  the  divine  promise,  ver.  11,  12 
(10,  11),  and  a  vow  or  resolution  to  make  due  acknowledgment  of  the 
mercy  experienced,  ver.  12,  13  (11,  12). 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  Upon  Jonath-elem-rehokim.  By  David. 
Michtam.  When  the  Philistines  took  him  in  Gath.  The  last  clause  of  this 
inscription  seems  to  refer  to  the  incident  recorded  in  1  Sam.  xxi.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxxiv.  1.  An  enigmatical  allusion  to  the  same  event  seems 
to  be  latent  in  the  obscure  phrase,  Jonath-elem-rehokim,  in  which  the  first 
word  means  a  dove,  a  favourite  emblem  of  suffering  innocence  ;  the  second 
means  silence,  dumbness,  sometimes  put  for  uncomplaining  submission  ; 
and  the  third  means  distant  or  remote,  agreeing  with  places  or  persons, 
probably  the  latter,  in  which  sense  it  is  appUcable  to  the  Philistines,  as 
aliens  in  blood  and  religion.  Compare  Ps.  xxxviii.  14  (18),  Ivi.  2  (1), 
Ixv.  6  (5),  Ixxiv.  19.  Thus  understood,  the  whole  is  an  enigmatical  de- 
scription of  David  as  an  innocent  and  uncomplaining  sufferer  among  strangers. 
For  the  most  probable  etymology  and  sense  of  Michtam,  see  above,  on  Ps. 
xvi.  1. 

2  (1).  Be  merciful  unto  me,  0  God,  for  man  pants  for  me  (or  is  gaping 
after  me)  ;  all  the  day,  he  devouring  (or  the  devourer)  is  pressing  on  me. 
The  word  for  man  is  that  denoting  human  frailty  and  implying  the  unrea- 
sonableness of  such  rage  in  one  so  impotent.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  20,  21 
(19,  20),  X.  18.  The  image  here  presented  is  that  of  a  devouring  monster 
or  voracious  beast.  Instead  of  pants  or  gapes,  some  suppose  the  second 
verb  to  mean  snorts  or  snaps,  as  an  animal  expression  of  rage.  For  the 
meaning  of  the  word  translated  devouring,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  1. 
Pressing  on  me,  or  pressing  me.     See  Num.  xxii.  25. 


258  Psalm  56:2  -  8 

3  (2).  My  enemies  have  gaped  upon  me  all  the  day ;  for  (there  are)  many 
devourers  to  me,  0  most  High.  The  word  translated  enemies  is  that  sup- 
posed by  some  to  mean  spies  or  watchers.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  11, 
liv.  7  (5).  Having  first  spoken  of  his  enemy  in  the  singular  number,  he 
now  substitutes  the  plural,  to  explain  which  seems  to  be  the  object  of  the 
last  clause.  "  I  say  enemies,  because  my  devoui-ers  are  many."  The  last 
word  in  the  verse  strictly  means  a  high  place,  and  particularly  heaven,  but 
is  sometimes  appUed  to  God  himself.  See  below,  on  Ps.  xcii.  9  (8). 
Some  interpreters,  however,  understand  it  as  an  abstract  noun  meaning 
loftiness  or  pride,  and  then  used  as  an  adverb  in  the  sense  of  arrogantly, 
proudly.     Compare  Ps.  Ixxiii.  8. 

4  (3).  The  day  I  am  afraid,  unto  thee  uill  I  conjide.  The  complaint  is 
followed,  as  in  many  other  cases,  by  an  expression  of  his  confidence  in  God. 
The  day  I  am  afraid  is  an  unusual  expression,  meaning  simply  when  I  am 
afraid,  and  proljably  belonging  to  the  dialect  of  poetry.  Unto  thee  suggests 
the  act  of  turning  and  looking  towards  the  quarter  from  which  help  is  ex- 
pected. The  same  form  of  expression  occurs  above,  Ps.  iv.  6  (5),  xxxi.  7  (6). 

5  (4).  In  God  I  uill  praise  his  icord,  in  God  I  have  trusted;  I  ivill  not 
fear;  nhat  can  flesh  do  unto  me?  The  meaning  of  the  first  clause  seems 
to  be,  that  in  the  general  praise  of  God  he  will  include  a  particular  acknow- 
ledgment of  his  gracious  word  or  promise  upon  this  occasion.  The  con- 
struction of  the  last  clause  in  the  English  Bible,  1  tcill  not  fear  ivhat  flesh 
can  do  unto  me,  gives  substantially  the  same  sense,  but  does  not  agi'ee  so 
well  with  the  masoretic  interpunction  of  the  sentence.  Flesh,  humanity,  as 
opposed  to  deity.  See  below,  on  Ps.  Ixv.  3  (2),  and  compare  Isa.  xxxi.  3, 
xl.  6. 

6  (5).  All  the  day  my  icords  they  icrest ;  against  me  {are^  all  their  thoughts 
for  evil.     The  word  translated  ivrest  means  strictly  vex  or  jjaiV?,  but  is  here 

used  in  the  sense  of  twisting  or  distorting  language  by  putting  false  con- 
structions on  it.  Thoughts,  purposes,  designs.  For  evil,  tending  to  my 
injmy. 

7  (6).  They  ivill  gather,  they  will  hide — they,  my  supplanters,  will  watch, 
as  they  have  (already)  waited  for  my  soul.  They  will  gather  or  combine  against 
me.  They  ■svill  hide  (themselves  or  their  devices),  they  will  plot,  or  lie  in  wait, 
for  my  destruction.  The  common  explanation  of  the  next  phrase,  they  mark 
my  steps  or  my  heels,  does  not  account  for  the  emphatic  pronoun  they.  The 
Hebrew  word  has  probably  the  same  sense  as  in  Ps.  xlix.  6  (5)  above. 
Waited  for  my  soul  or  life,  i.  e.  waited  to  destroy  it. 

8  (7).  By  iniquity  (there  is)  escape  to  them  ;  in  anger  bring  down  nations, 
0  God !  The  first  clause  is  obscure,  but  may  mean  either  that  they  have 
hitherto  escaped  by  their  iniquity,  or  that  they  now  depend,  rely  upon  it 
for  deliverance.  The  inteiTogative  construction  commonly  adopted  ought 
not  to  be  assumed,  in  the  absence  of  an  interrogative  particle,  without  a 
decided  exegetical  necessity.  The  Hebrew  particle  at  the  beginning  some- 
times indicates  the  means  or  instrument,  with  the  additional  idea  of  depend- 
ence or  reliance,  as  in  the  English  phrase  to  live  on  bread  and  water.  See 
Gen.  xxvii.  40. 

9  (8).  My  icandcrings  tliou  least  told;  put  tliou  my  tears  into  tJiy  bottle; 
are  they  not  in  thy  book  /  The  Hebrew  words  for  wanderings  and  tears  axe 
both  in  the  singular  number.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  7  (6),  xxxix.  13  (12). 
The  first  of  these  words  suggests  the  ideas  of  flight  and  exile,  and  may  con- 
tain an  allusion  to  the  wanderings  of  Cain  in  a  country  designated  by  this 
Yery  word,  The  Land  of  Nod,  Gen.  iv.  16,  although  this  phrase  may  really 


Psalm  56:9  -  13  259 

mean  nothing  more  than  the  land  oj  (his)  banishment  or  exile.  The  English 
word  told  is  here  retained  because  the  Hebrew  one  is  equally  ambiguous. 
In  this  case  the  primary  idea  is  to  count  or  number.  See  above,  Ps.  xxii. 
17  (16),  xl.  5  (4),  xlviii.  13  (12).  The  act  of  counting  implies  particular 
attention.  The  idea  of  recollection  is  expressed  by  the  strong  figure  which 
follows,  ^)M«  my  tears  into  thy  bottle,  i.  e.  preserve  them  in  thy  memory. 
This  singular  metaphor  is  thought  by  some  to  have  been  suggested  by  the 
word  for  wanderiny  ("Tj  or  lij),  which  is  almost  identical  with  that  for 
bottle  (iXi).  The  latter  strictly  means  a  skin  or  leathern  bottle,  such  as 
is  still  used  in  the  East.  See  below,  on  Ps.  cxix.  83.  The  interrogation 
in  the  last  clause  has  the  force  of  a  direct  assertion.  Thy  book,  the  book 
of  thy  remembrance,  another  figurative  expression  for  the  memorj'  itself. 
Compare  Mai.  iii.  16, 

10  (9).  Then  shall  my  ene^nies  turn  back,  in  the  day  I  call;  this  I  know, 
that  God  is  for  me.  The  particle  of  time  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse  has 
reference  to  what  follows,  in  the  day  I  call,  but  as  this  was  to  be  connected 
closely  with  the  last  clause,  the  natural  order  of  the  sentence  was  inverted. 
Turn  back,  be  repulsed,  defeated,  disappointed.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  12 
(11),  ix.  4  (3).  In  the  day  {that)  I  shall  call :  the  ellipsis  of  the  relative  is 
equally  common  in  Hebrew  and  in  English.  Call  may  mean  simply  call 
for  help  or  pray  ;  but  some  connect  it  with  the  last  clause  thus :  in  the  day 

that  I  shall  call  (or  crj'  as  follows)  "  this  I  know,"  &c.  There  is  also  an 
ambiguity  in  the  phrase  this  I  know,  which  may  either  mean,  "  I  know  that 
my  enemies  shall  thus  turn  back,  because  God  is  for  me,"  or,  "my  enemies 
shall  turn  back  when  they  hear  me  cry.  This  much  I  know,  to  wit,  that  God 
is  for  me."  The  last  phrase  may  be  also  rendered  to  me,  he  belongs  to  me» 
he  is  my  God,  which  of  course  includes  the  idea  of  his  favour  or  his  being 
on  the  speaker's  side. 

11  (10).  In  God  I  will  praise  (this)  word  ;  in  Jehovah  I  will  praise  (this) 
word.  This  unusual  form  of  speech  must  have  the  same  sense  as  in  ver.  5 
(4)  above.  Some  understand  it  to  mean  by  God's  help,  others,  in  union  with 
God,  I  unll  j^raise  (his)  uvrd.  But  on  the  whole,  the  most  natural  explana- 
tion still  seems  to  be,  "  what  I  shall  particularly  praise  in  God,  both  as 
God,  and  as  the  tutelary  God  of  Israel  and  my  own,  is  the  word  of  promise, 
which  he  has  uttered  and  fulfilled  in  this  case." 

12  (11).  In  God  have  I  trusted  ;  I  ivill  not  fear ;  what  can  man  do  unto 
me  ?  As  the  foregoing  verse  is  a  resumption  and  emphatic  iteration  of  the 
first  clause  of  ver.  5  (4),  so  this  seems  to  bear  the  same  relation  to  the  last 
clause  of  that  same  verse.  The  only  variation  in  the  form  of  expression  is 
the  substitution  of  the  literal  term  man  (or  mankind)  for  the  more  obscure 
term  flesh.  See  above,  on  ver.  5  (4).  Here  again  it  is  a  possible  construc- 
tion, although  not  so  agreeable  to  the  masoretic  accents,  to  make  the  inter- 
rogation an  oblique  one.     "  I  will  not  fear  what  man  can  do  unto  me." 

13  (12).  Upon  me,  O  God,  [are)  thy  vows ;  I  will  pay  thanksgiviny  unto 
thee.  The  first  clause  represents  his  vows  or  voluntary'  obligations  as  incum- 
bent on  himself  and  due  to  God,  and  he  resolves  to  discharge  them  by 
thanksgivings,  not  merely  verbal  acknowledgments,  but  sacrificial  tokens  of 
his  gratitude,  such  as  were  familiar  to  the  ancient  saints  and  recognised  in 
the  Law  of  Moses. 

14  (13).  For  thou  hast  delivered  my  soul  from  death  ;  (wilt  thou)  not 
(deliver)  my  feet  from  falling,  to  ivalk  before  God  in  the  light  of  life  ?  The 
ellipsis  in  the  second  clause  may  also  be  supplied  as  follows,  hast  thou  not 
delivered  ?  as  the  only  terms  expressed  are  those  of  interrogation  and  nega- 


260  Psalm  57:1 

tion.  The  word  translated /c/Z/t/j^  is  a  very  strong  one,  and  means  thrusting, 
casting  down.  The  verbal  root  occurs  above,  in  Ps.  xxxv.  5,  xxxvi.  13  (12). 
To  walk  before  God  is  to  live  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  favour  and  protection. 
The  light  of  life  is  opposed  to  the  darkness  of  death.  It  may  also  be  and 
usually  is  translated,  in  the  light  of  the  living,  i  e.  the  light  which  living 
men  enjoy.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  13. 


Psalm  57 

In  the  first  part  of  this  psalm  a  sufferer  describes  his  own  afflictions, 
occasioned  by  the  malice  of  his  enemies,  and  earnestly  prays  to  be  delivered 
from  them,  ver.  2-5  (1-4).  In  the  second  he  anticipates  a  favourable 
answer  to  his  prayer,  and  praises  God  for  it,  ver.  6-12  (5-11). 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  Destroy  not.  By  David.  A  Secret.  When 
he  fled  from  before  Saul  in  the  cave.  The  enigmatical  inscription,  Al-tash- 
heth,  destroy  not,  reappears  in  the  titles  of  the  next  two  psalms,  and  of  the 
seventy-fifth.  As  in  other  cases  of  the  same  kind,  some  interpreters  regard 
it  as  a  musical  expression,  others  as  the  first  words  of  a  well-known  poem, 
to  the  air  of  which  this  was  to  be  sung.  The  best  explanation  is  the  one 
suggested  by  the  Chaldee  Paraphrase,  to  wit,  that  the  psalms  which  bear  this 
title  belong  to  that  period  of  David's  history,  when  he  was  under  the  per- 
petual necessity  of  saying  Destroy  not,  and  are  therefore  suited  to  all 
similar  emergencies  of  other  "saints.  It  is  not  at  all  impossible,  that  this 
was  a  favourite  saying  of  David  in  real  life,  the  rather  as  it  is  borrowed 
from  the  prayer  of  Moses  in  Deut.  ix.  26,  of  which  it  may  be  said  to  be  an 
abbreviated  citation,  not  unlike  the  Latin  designations,  De  Trofundis, 
Miserere,  Venite  Exsultemus,  Non  Nobis  Domine,  Te  Deum,  &c.  The  ex- 
planation above  given  is  corroborated  by  the  obvious  allusion  in  these  three 
psalms  (Ivii.-lix.)  to  the  Sauline  persecution.  The  very  expression  may  be 
traced  in  1  Sam.  xxvi.  9,  where  David  utters,  as  a  command  to  his  fol- 
lowers, what  he  so  often  had  occasion  to  utter  as  a  prayer  in  his  o^vn  behalf. 
This  psalm  is  described  as  a  michtam,  mystery,  or  secret,  on  account  of  the 
extraordinary  consolation  and  support  which  he  experienced,  enabling  him 
to  triumph  even  in  the  midst  of  enemies  and  dangers.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xvi.  1.  In  the  cure  of  AduUam  (1  Sam.  xxii,  1),  or  of  Engedi  (1  Sam. 
xvi.  1-3),  or  more  indefinitely  in  the  cave,  equivalent  to  saying  in  caves,  as 
a  generic  description  of  the  mode  of  hfe  which  he  then  led  (Heb.  xi.  38), 
not  without  some  reference  to  the  subterraneous  cavern,  as  an  emblem  of 
solitude  and  darkness.  Hence  the  absence  of  any  more  specific  allusion  to 
particular  incidents  which  occurred  in  caves,  such  as  that  recorded  in 
1  Sam.  xxiv.,  and  the  obvious  reference  to  the  whole  period  of  the  Sauline 
persecution,  as  a  time  of  wandering,  danger,  and  distress.  Hence,  too,  the 
striking  similiarity,  in  sentiment  and  form,  between  this  psalm  and  the  one 
before  it. 

2  (1).  Be  mercifid  unto  me,  0  God,  he  merciful  unto  me,  for  in  thee  has 
my  soul  sought  refuge,  and  in  the  shadow  of  thy  wings  will  I  seek  refuge, 
until  (these)  calamities  he  overpast.  The  repetition  of  the  prayer  for  mercy 
shews  the  intensity  of  his  desire.  Sought  refuge  from  the  persecutions  men- 
tioned in  Ps.  Ivi.  2  (1).  The  soul  is  mentioned  as  the  object  of  pursuit. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  liv.  5  (4),  Ivi.  7  (6),  and  compare  1  Sam.  xxiv.  12  (11). 
The  shadow  of  thy  wings  :  the  same  beautiful  figure  for  protection  is  pre- 


Psalm  57:2 -6  261 

sented  in  Ps.  xvii.  8,  xxxvi.  8  (7).     Calamities,  occasioned  by  the  crimes 
of  others.     See  above,  on  Ps.  lii.  4,  9,  (2,  7). 

3  (2).  I  will  cry  unto  God  Most  High,  unto  the  Almighty,  finishing  for 
me,  i.  e.  perfecting  what  he  has  begun.  Compare  Phil.  i.  6.  This  verse 
assigns  two  reasons  for  his  crying  unto  God.  The  first  is  the  supremacy 
and  omnipotence  of  God  himself,  the  second  is  the  previous  experience  of 
his  faithfulness  in  fully  performing  whatever  he  has  promised.  See  below, 
on  Ps.  cxxxviii.  8. 

4  (3).  He  will  send,  from  heaven  and  save  me — (when  or  whom)  the  de- 
vourer  reviles,  Selah ! — GodvMl  send  his  mercy  and  his  truth.  The  first  verb 
may  govern  hand,  as  in  Ps.  cxliv.  7,  or  help,&s  in  Ps.  xx.  3  (2),  or  be  used 
absolutely,  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  17  (16).  The  devourer,  literally  the  one  gaping 
after  me,  snorting  with  rage  against  me,  or  panting  for  my  destruction.  See 
above,  on  Pa.  Ivi.  2,  3  (1,  2).  Without  supplying  anything,  this  clause 
may  be  taken  as  a  short  independent  proposition — the  devourer  has  reviled — 
interposed  between  the  two  principal  members  of  the  sentence.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xxvii.  8,  xlv.  6(5).  In  the  last  clause,  Mercy  and  Truth  seem  to 
be  personified,  like  Integrity  and  Uprightness  in  Ps.  xxv.  21,  Violence  and 
Strife  in  Ps.  Iv.  10  (9).     With  this  clause  compare  Ps.  xliii.  3. 

5  (4).  My  soul  (is)  in  the  midst  of  lions;  I  will  lie  down  {among)  burn- 
ing ones,  sons  of  man,  [xohose)  teeth  {are)  spears  and  arrows,  and  their  tongue 
a  sharp  sword.  By  his  soul  he  means  himself,  or  rather  his  endangered 
life.  Lions,  as  often  elsewhere,  means  ferocious  enemies.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  vii.  3  (2),  xxii.  13,  14  (12,  13).  The  form  of  the  verb  which  follows 
is  the  one  denoting  fixed  determination.  "  Though  surrounded  by  hons  I 
will  fearlessly  lie  down,"  &c.  Among  or  upon  them.  Burning  may  pos- 
sibly refer  to  lions  and  mean  raging;  but  the  indefinite  application  is  more 
natural.  Sons  of  man  is  added  to  shew  that  what  precedes  is  to  be  figura- 
tively understood;  but  in  the  very  next  clause,  the  writer  relapses  into 
language  still  more  highly  metaphorical.  In  likening  their  teeth  to  swords 
he  presents  the  double  image  of  a  wild  beast  and  a  warrior.  The  mention 
of  the  tongue  has  reference,  no  doubt,  to  the  slander  and  abuse,  which 
entered  so  largely  into  the  Sauline  persecutions.  These  had  already  been 
referred  to  in  the  middle  clause  of  ver.  4  (3),  of  which  this  maybe  regarded 
as  an  amplification. 

6  (5).  Be  high  above  the  heavens,  0  God,  above  all  the  earth  thy  glory! 
Some,  in  the  last  clause,  read  on  all  the  earth,  and  then  explain  on  the 
heavens  to  mean  nothing  more  than  in  heaven.  The  whole  verse  then  is 
the  expression  of  a  wish  that  God  may  be  exalted  both  in  heaven  and  earth. 
But  this  is  far  less  natural  than  the  usual  construction,  which  supposes  a 
comparison,  and  makes  the  verse  exalt  God  above  all  his  works.  Compare 
Ps.  viii.  2  (1). 

7  (6).  A  net  they  prepared  for  my  steps;  he  pressed  down  my  soul;  they 
digged  before  me  a  pit ;  they  fell  into  the  midst  of  it.  Selah.  This  verse 
assigns  the  reason  or  occasion  of  the  praise  ascribed  to  God  in  that  before 
it.  The  image  here  presented  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  vii.  16  (15),  ix.  16 
(15).  The  sudden  change  of  number  is  particularly  common  in  the  Psalms 
when  speaking  of  an  ideal  person,  representing  many  real  individuals.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ivi,  3  (2).  The  Tphrase  pressed  doum  is  borrowed  from  the 
Prayer-Book  version,  and  is  well  suited  to  convey  the  idea  of  an  animal 
caught  and  held  down  by  a  trap  or  snare.  That  version  is  also  more  correct 
than  the  English  Bible  in  giving  to  the  verb  an  active  meaning ;  of  the 
neuter  or  passive  there  is  no  example  elsewhere.     Before  me,  in  my  path, 


262  Psalm  57:7 -11 

where  am  I  walking.  The  Selah  at  the  close  is  almost  equivalent  to  an 
Amen,  as  expressing  acquiescence  in  God's  righteous  retributions. 

8  (7).  Fixed  (is)  my  heart,  0  God,  fixed  {is)  my  heart;  I  will  sing  and 
play.  The  repetition  adds  solemnity  and  force  to  the  declaration.  Fixed, 
i.  e.  firmly  resolved  and  proof  against  all  fear.  See  above,  on  Ps.  U.  12  (10), 
and  below  on  Ps.  cxii.  7.  The  two  verbs  in  the  last  clause  are  properly 
descriptive  of  the  two  kinds  of  music,  vocal  and  instrumental ;  but  in  the 
usage  of  the  Psalms  they  always  have  reference  to  the  praise  of  God. 

9(8.)  Awake,  my  glory!  awake,  lute  and  harp!  I  ivill  awaken  morning. 
The  same  idea  is  now  expressed  in  the  form  of  a  poetical  apostrophe.  By 
glory  most  interpreters  understand  the  soul,  as  the  glory  of  the  whole  man, 
but  some  the  tongue,  as  the  glory  of  the  body.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  6  (5), 
xvi.  9,  XXX.  13,  and  below,  on  Ps.  cviii.  2  (1).  It  is  possible,  however,  that 
it  here  means  that  in  which  he  gloried,  his  inspiration  as  a  sacred  poet,  and 
which  he  personifies,  as  the  heathen  poets  invoked  the  muse.  Lute  and 
harp  is  the  translation  in  the  Prayer  Book.  Any  other  combination,  denot- 
ing two  familiar  instruments,  such  as  harp  and  lyre,  would  be  here  appro- 
priate. The  verb  in  the  last  clause  is  a  causative  of  that  in  the  first,  and 
is  related  to  it  as  the  English  verb  awaken  to  axoake.  Strictly  translated, 
this  clause  contains  a  bold  but  beautiful  poetical  conception,  that  of 
awakening  the  dawn  instead  of  being  awakened  by  it,  in  other  words,  pre- 
venting or  anticipating  it  by  early  praises.  In  like  manner,  Ovid  sajs  the 
crowing  of  the  cock  evocat  auroram.  We  thus  obtain  the  same  sense,  in  a 
far  more  striking  form  than  is  expressed  by  the  inexact  and  prosaic  version, 
/  toill  awake  early.  The  intransitive  sense  given  to  the  verb,  and  the  ad- 
verbial sense  given  to  the  noun,  are  both  without  sufiicient  authority  in 
usage.  From  this  verse  some  have  inferred,  that  the  psalm  was  expressly 
designed  to  be  an  even- song ;  but  he  does  not  say,  I  will  do  thus  to- 
morrow. The  meaning  rather  is  that  he  will  do  it  daily.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xvii.  15.  The  summons  to  the  harp  and  lyre,  may  be  understood  as 
implying,  that  they  have  long  slept  without  occasion  for  such  praise  as  they 
are  now  to  utter. 

10  (9).  I  will  thank  thee  among  the  nations.  Lord;  I  will  praise  thee 
among  the  peoples.  The  divine  interposition  to  be  celebrated  is  so  gi-eat  and 
glorious  as  to  be  entitled  to  the  praises  of  the  whole  world.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xviii.  50  (49.) 

11  (10).  For  great  unto  the  heavens  (is)  thy  mercy,  and  unto  the  clouds 
thy  truth.  By  a  natural  and  favourite  hyperbole,  God's  goodness  is  de- 
scribed as  reaching  from  earth  to  heaven.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  6  (5), 
and  compare  Jer.  li.  9. 

12  (11).  Be  thou  high  above  the  heavens,  0  God,  above  all  the  earth  thy 
glory  !  The  strophe  ends  as  it  began  in  ver.  6  (5)  above.  In  the  last 
clause  the  verb  of  the  first  may  be  repeated,  be  thy  glory  high  ;  or  the  sub- 
stantive verb  alone  may  be  supplied,  let  thy  glory  he  above  all  the  earth ! 


Psalm  58 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  Al-tashheth.  By  David.  Michtam.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ivii.  1.  The  Psalmist  complains  of  unjust,  spiteful,  hardened 
enemies,  ver.  2-6  (1-5),  and  prays  that  their  power  may  be  broken,  ver. 
7-12  (6-11).  The  contents  of  the  psalm  agi'ee  with  its  title  in  shewing 
that  it  belongs  to  the  period  of  Saul's  persecutions,  when  David  had  to 


Psalm  58: 1,2  263 

contend  with  unjust  rulers,  who  were  at  the  same  time  his  personal  ene- 
mies. But  although  suggested  by  his  own  experience,  the  psalm  was 
designed  for  permanent  and  public  use,  and  is  therefore  inscribed  to  the 
Chief  Musician. 

2  (1).  Are  ye  indeed  dumb  (when)   ye  (should)  speak  righteousness  (and) 
judge  equitably,  sons  of  man  ?     The  first  words  are  exceedingly  obscure. 

One  of  them  (D7^^),  not  expressed  in  English  and  the  ancient  versions, 

means  dumbness,  as  in  Ps.  Ivi,  1,  and  seems  to  be  here  used  as  a  strong 
expression  for  entirely  speechless.  In  what  respect  they  were  thus  dumb, 
is  indicated  by  the  verb  which  follows,  but  the  connection  can  be  made 
clear  in  English  only  by  a  circumlocution.  The  interrogation,  are  ye  in- 
deed, expresses  wonder,  as  at  something  scarcely  credible.  Can  it  be  so  ? 
is  it  possible '?  are  you  really  silent,  you  whose  very  office  is  to  speak  for 
God  and  against  the  sins  of  men  ?  See  Deut.  i.  16,  17.  That  the  speak- 
ing here  meant  is  judicial  speaking,  appears  from  the  more  specific  parallel 
expression.  The  word  translated  equitably  is  a  plural  noun  mesimng  equities 
or  rectitudes.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  2.  Strictly  understood,  it  is  not  a 
quahfying  term,  but  the  object  oi  the  Yerh  judge,  as  in  the  other  clause  right- 
eousness is  governed  directly  by  the  verb  speak.  The  address  to  them  as 
sofis  of  man  reminds  them  of  their  own  dependence  and  responsibility. 

3  (2).  Nay,  in  heart,  iyiiquities  ye  practise ;  in  the  land,  the  violence  of 
your  hands  ye  iveigh.  The  particle  at  the  beginning  is,  as  usual,  emphatic, 
meaning  not  only  this  but  something  more.  See  above,  Ps.  xviii.  49  (48), 
xliv.  10  (9).  Not  contented  with  neglecting  their  official  functions,  they 
were  guilty  of  positive  injustice.  The  Hebrew  for  iniquities  is  the  plural  of 
a  word  used  inPs.  xxxvii.  1,  xliii.  1,  and  denotes  various  acts  of  injustice.  The 
future  forms  [ye  will  do,  ye  will  weigh)  implies  an  obstinate  persistency  in 
evil.  To  do  or  practise  wickedness  in  heart  may  mean  to  plan  or  contrive 
it,  as  inMicah.  ii.  1,  leaving  the  execution  to  be  inferred  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Or  the  phrase  may  be  translated  with  the  heart,  i.  e.  cordially,  ex  animo, 
con  amore,  or  to  use  an  idiomatic  English  expression  with  a  will.  The 
first  words  of  the  last  clause,  in  the  land,  may  seem,  from  their  position,  to 
be  in  contrast  with  the  phrase  in  heart ;  but  the  antithesis,  if  any,  is  be- 
tween the  heart  and  hands,  and  in  the  land  suggests  the  aggravating  circum- 
stance, that  all  this  was  practised  by  persons  in  authority  under  the  theo- 
cracy, among  the  chosen  people.  Violence,  violent  injustice.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Iv.  10  (9).  The  last  verb  in  this  sentence  means  to  level  or  make 
even,  and  in  that  sense  is  repeatedly  applied  to  paths.  See  Isa.  xxvi.  7, 
Prov.  iv.  26,  v.  6,  21.     But  as  the  derivative  noun  (D7D)  means  a  ba- 

V  V 

lance  (Prov.  xvi.  11,  Isa.  xl.  12),  the  verb  may  here  denote  the  act  of 
weighing,  levelling  the  balance,  rendering  it  even,  which  some,  without  neces- 
sity, ascribe  to  it  in  several  of  the  places  above  cited,  where  its  constant 
combination  with  a  way  or  path  seems  to  exclude  the  idea  of  weighing  as 
incongruous,  and  to  require  that  of  smoothing  or  levelling  as  peculiarly 
appropriate.  This  last  might  be  retained  even  here,  and  the  metaphor  be 
understood  to  mean  that  they  facilitated  or  promoted  violence  [q.  d.  levelled 
or  prepared  its  way)  ;  but  the  sense  of  weighing  is  equally  appropriate, 
and  agrees  well  with  the  favourite  idea  of  the  scales  of  justice,  which  is  found 
not  only  in  the  classics  but  in  Scripture.  See  Job  xxxi.  6.  The  meaning 
then  is,  that  these  wicked  rulers,  instead  of  weighing  out  justice  to  their 
subjects,  weighed  out,  administered,  dispensed,  the  most  violent  injustice, 
and  that,  too,  devised  and  practised  by  themselves. 


264  Psalm  58:3 -5 

4  (3).  Estranged  are  the  wicked  from  the  loomb  ;  they  go  astray  from 
(their)  hirih,  speaking  lies.  The  first  verb  in  Hebrew  is  not  a  passive  but 
a  neuter  form,  denoting  the  condition  of  estrangement,  aUenation,  from  God 
and  from  all  goodness.  The  wicked  thus  described  are  the  whole  class, 
of  which  his  persecutors  formed  a  part.  The  preterite  tense  is  used  in 
the  original  {were  estranged,  went  astray)  on  account  of  the  retrospective 
reference  to  the  beginning  of  life.  The  verb  translated  go  astray  is  one 
frequently  applied  to  moral  aberrations.  From  their  birth,  literally /row 
the  belly.  See  above,  Ps.  xxii.  11  (10).  Speaking  lies,  or  with  closer 
adherence  to  the  form  of  the  original,  speakers  of  falsehood,  i.  e.  habitual 
liars.  The  other  version  seems  to  mean  that  they  begin  to  lie  as  soon  as 
they  are  born,  a  hyperbolical  expression,  of  which  some  interpreters  relieve 
the  sentence  by  making  this  the  subject  of  the  proposition  and  parallel  to 
wicked  in  the  other  clause.  Speakers  of  falsehood  go  astray  from  (their) 
birth.  In  this  description  of  the  wicked  there  is  nothing  inconsistent  with, 
the  doctrine  of  universal  depravity,  as  recognised  in  Ps.  xiv.  1,  h.  7  (5) 
above,  and  in  Gen.  viii.  21,  Job  xiv.  4,  because  the  holiness  of  some  men 
is  a  mere  exception  to  the  general  rule,  produced  by  the  distinguishing  grace 
of  God,  which  frees  them  from  the  paramount  influence  of  that  corruption 
to  which  others  still  continue  subject. 

5,  G  (4,  5).  There  is  pioison  to  them  like  i he  poison  of  a  serpent,  as  a  deaf 
adder  stops  its  ear,  tvhich  will  not  hearken  to  the  voice  of  enchanters,  of  (one) 
charming  charms,  {of  one)  most  xoise.  The  first  words  are  equivalent  to  the 
English  construction,  they  have  poison,  The  Hebrew  noun  originally  signi- 
fies heat,  and  especially  the  heat  of  anger,  in  which  sense  it  repeatedly  occurs 
above,  Ps.  vi.  2  (1),  xxxvii.  8,  xxxviii.  2  (1).  The  same  sense  is  retained 
here  by  the  ancient  versions  {^m<i(jc„  furor),  and  agi-ees  well  with  the  popular 
idea  of  vindictive  spite,  as  a  natural  instinct  of  this  class  of  animals.  But 
most  interpreters  explain  the  word,  here  and  in  Deut  xxxii.  24,  as  meaning 
venom,  animal  poison,  so  called  from  its  inflammatory  efiects  upon  the 
person  bitten.  The  Hebrew  phrase  translated  like  means  strictly  after  (or 
according  to)  the  likeness  of  Compare  its  use  in  Gen.  i.  26.  It  may  be 
here  employed,  instead  of  the  simple  particle  of  comparison,  for  the  sake  of 
emphasis,  as  we  say  like,  but  more  emphatically y^sf  like.  As  to  the  species 
of  serpent  mentioned  in  the  second  i-lause  of  ver.  5  (4),  all  that  is  necessary 
to  a  correct  interpretation  of  the  verse  is  to  understand  it  as  denoting  a 
variety  regarded  as  peculiarly  malignant,  and  therefore  resisting  the  incan- 
tations by  which  other  species  were  subdued,  especially  in  Egypt.  See  the 
allusions  to  this  practice  in  Eccles.  x.  11,  Jer.  viii.  17.  This  clause  admits 
of  a  different  construction,  like  the  deaf  adder  he  stops  his  ear,  which  some 
interpreters  prefer  because  an  adder  cannot  stop  its  ears,  and  need  not  stop 
them  if  naturally  deaf,  whereas  it  is  by  stopping  his  that  the  wicked  man 
becomes  like  a  deaf  adder.  The  word  translated  enchanters  properly  means 
whisperers  or  mxitterers,  in  allusion  to  familiar  practices  of  the  ancient 
wizards.  Charming  charms,  laying  spells,  or  as  the  Hebrew  words  are 
commonly  supposed  to  signify  originalh',  tying  knots  with  a  magical  design. 
The  last  word  in  ver.  6  (5),  is  a  passive  participle,  analogous  to  our  word 
learned,  and  here  meaning  skilful.  The  English  versions  and  the  Vulgate 
make  it  an  adverb  {sapienter,  never  so  wisely)  ;  but  the  Septuagint  and 
Jerome  give  it  its  proper  meaning  as  an  adjective,  in  which  case  it  is  pro- 
bably in  apposition  with  the  nouns  preceding,  and  connected  in  hke  manner 
with  the  voice  of  the  first  clause.  The  general  idea  of  the  verse,  however 
construed,  is  that  the  malice  of  his  enemies  is  stubborn  and  inexorable. 


Psalm  58:6 -8  265 

7  (6).  0  God,  crush  their  teeth  in  their  mouth ;  the  grinders  of  the  young 
lions  shatter,  0  Jehovah .'  The  complaint  is  now  followed  by  a  prayer,  that 
these  ferocious  enemies  may  be  disarmed  and  disabled.  This  idea  is  ex-> 
pressed  by  the  use  of  the  same  figure  as  in  Ps.  iii.  8  (7),  that  of  wild  beasts 
rendered  harmless  by  the  breaking  of  their  teeth.  Compare  Job  xxix.  17. 
Hence  in  the  last  clause  they  are  expressly  called  lions.  See  above,  Ps. 
Ivii.  5  (4).  Young  lions,  not  mere  whelps,  fiom  which  they  are  distinguished 
in  Ezek.  xix.  2,  3,  but  full-grown  lions,  in  the  first  matui'ity  of  their 
strength,  and  therefore  more  to  be  dreaded  than  when  older  or  younger. 
See  above,  Ps.  xvii.  12,  xxxiv.  11  (10),  xxxv.  17.  The  Hebrew  verbs  in 
this  verse  are  peculiai'ly  expressive,  and,  though  wholly  unconnected  with 
each  other,  are  both  used  elsewhere  to  express  the  ideas  of  violently  break- 
ing, breaking  down,  breaking  out,  breaking  ofi",  and  breaking  through.  See 
Exod.  XV,  7,  xix.  21,  Lev,  xiv.  45,  Judges  vi.  30,  1  Kings  xviii,  30, 

8  (7).  Let  them  melt  aivay  as  waters,  let  them  go  their  ivay ;  let  him  bend 
his  arrows,  as  if  they  were  cut  off.  The  optative  meaning  of  these  features 
seems  to  be  determined  by  the  imperatives  in  ver,  7  (6).  There  is  nothing 
ungrammatical,  however,  in  retaining  the  strict  future  sense,  and  regarding 
the  verse  as  an  expression  of  strong  confidence  as  to  the  event.  The  first 
verb  elsewhere  has  the  sense  of  being  rejected  with  contempt,  and  is  so 
used  in  Ps,  xv,  9  ;  but  as  two  of  its  radical  letters  coincide  with  those  of  a 
verb  meaning  to  be  melted,  most  interpreters  prefer  this  sense.  The  other 
might,  however,  be  retained,  and  the  phrase  explained  to  mean  that  they 
should  be  cast  aside  as  water,  and  especially  as  filthy  water,  is  rejected. 
Go  their  way,  hterally  go  to  them  or  to  themselves.  Some  understand  it  to 
TUQdiD.  for  themselves,  i.  e.  for  their  own  benefit,  their  destruction  being  repre- 
sented, by  a  sort  of  irony,  as  all  that  they  have  gained  by  their  hostility. 
Compare  the  use  of  the  same  phrase  in  Ps.  Ixiv.  G  (5),  Ixvi.  7  (6),  In  the 
next  clause,  most  interpreters  assume  a  sudden  change  of  number,  such  as 
frequently  occurs  in  speaking  of  an  ideal  person  representing  a  plurality  of 
real  individuals.  See  above,  on  Ps,  Ivii,  4,  7  (3,  6),  He  {i.  e.  the  enemy) 
shall  bend  his  arroivs,  literally  tread  them,  i.  e.  bend  by  treading  on  them. 
This  expression  is  applicable  strictly  to  the  bow,  and  it  is  so  applied  re- 
peatedly above.  See  Ps.  vii.  13  (12),  xi,  2,  xxxvii,  14.  Having  thus 
acquired  the  secondary  sense  of  fitting,  making  ready,  it  is  transferred  from 
the  bow  to  the  arrows,  not  only  here  but  in  Ps.  Ixiv.  4  (3),  below.  If  the  last 
verb  be  construed  with  the  arrows  as  its  subject,  they  would  seem  to  be  de- 
scribed as  blunted  or  deprived  of  their  points,  and  the  meaning  of  the  clause  is, 
that  the  weapons  of  the  enemy  take  no  effect.  The  whole  clause,  however,  will 
admit  of  a  different  construction,  which  refers  the  singular  verb  and  pronoun 
to  God  himself,  and  the  plural  verb  to  these  rebelUous  sinners.  Let  him 
bend  his  arrows,  as  if  they  were  cut  off",  i.  e.  so  that  they  may  be  cut  off. 
Notwithstanding  the  obscurity  of  this  clause,  the  connection  is  preserved 
unbroken  by  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  other. 

9  (8).  As  a  snail  melts,  let  him  go  ;  (like)  the  untimely  birth  of  a  woman, 
they  have  not  beheld  the  sun.  The  idea  of  speedy  and  entire  disappearance 
is  still  more  strongly  expressed  here.  The  meaning  of  the  word  translated 
snail  rests  upon  rabbinical  tradition  and  a  doubtful  etymolog}'.  The  point 
of  comparison  may  relate  to  some  popular  belief  or  to  some  apparent  idio- 
syncrasy in  this  class  of  animals,  perhaps  to  the  idea  of  its  losing  a  portion 
of  its  body  by  locomotion.  The  next  noun  primarily  signifies  what  falls 
from  the  tree,  unripe  fruit,  and  is  then  transferred  to  animal  abortions. 
The  past  tense  in  the  last  clause  seems  to  mark  it  as  a  kind  of  reflection 


266  Psalm  58:9 -11 

introduced  into  the  midst  of  the  prayer,     "  So  far  from  hving  too  long,  as 
I  feared,  they  seem  scarcely  to  have  lived  at  all." 

10  (9).  Before  your  pots  can  feel  the  thorn,  whether  raw  or  done,  he  will 
blow  him  away.  This  is  one  of  the  obscurest  and  most  difficult  verses  in 
the  book,  and  yet  the  general  idea  is  sufficiently  clear.  The  he  in  the  last 
clause  relates  to  God,  the  him  to  his  wicked  enemy.  The  verb  translated 
Now  away  means  properly  to  storm  away,  or  carry  away  with  (or  Hke)  a 
tempest.  The  rapidity  of  this  movement  is  expressed  by  a  familiar  com- 
parison. Your  pots,  your  vessels  used  in  cooking.  The  address  seems  to 
be  to  the  sinners,  afterwards  referred  to  as  a  single  person.  Feel,  perceive 
the  heat.  Compare  Job  vi.  30.  The  thorn,  used  as  fuel,  kindles  quickly 
and  immediately  bums  out,  so  that  this  comparison  suggests  the  idea  of  a 
very  sudden  change.  The  singular  expression  which  follows  literally  means 
as  (well)  living  as  heat ;  but  as  the  adjective  is  elsewhere  used  to  signify  raiv, 
not  cooked  (1  Sam.  ii.  15),  the  noun  joined  with  it  may  be  taken  in  the 
opposite  sense  of  cooked  or  done.  This  may  be  a  proverbial  expression, 
borrowed  from  the  dialect  of  common  life,  to  convey  the  idea  of  a  sudden 
change,  which  waits  for  nothing,  but  carries  men  away  in  the  inidst  of  their 
employments.  This,  though  still  an  unusual  form  of  speech,  will  seem  less 
nnnatural  if  we  sQppose  the  process  of  cooking  to  be  here  used  as  a  figure 
for  the  plots  and  devices  of  the  enemy,  a  metaphor  by  no  means  far-fetched 
or  unknown  to  other  writers.  The  idea,  then,  is  that  while  these  devices, 
so  to  speak,  are  cooking,  the  cooks  are  snatched  away  by  a  superior  power, 
without  caring  whether  the  operation  is  complete  or  not.  "  Before  the 
seething  pot  of  your  contrivances  begins  to  feel  the  quickly  kindled  heat 
which  you  apply  to  it,  the  tempest  of  divine  WTath  carries  you  away,  whe- 
ther your  mess  be  cooked  or  raw." 

11  (10).  Rejoice  shall  the  righteous,  because  he  has  seen  xei^geance ;  his 
steps  he  shall  bathe  in  the  blood  of  the  wicked.  The  vengeance  in  which  he 
shall  rejoice  is  not  his  own,  but  God's,  in  the  \indication  of  whose  right- 
eousness and  honour  all  holy  beings  must  rejoice  for  ever,  although  not  in 
the  suffering  of  those  who  perish.  The  same  idea  is  expressed  more 
strongly  in  the  last  clause  by  a  martial  figure.  To  bathe  his  feet  (or  rather 
his  steps)  in  the  blood  of  others  is  to  walk  where  their  blood  is  flowing,  to 
tread  the  battle-field  where  they  have  fallen,  to  gain  a  sanguinary  triumph 
over  them,  or  rather  it  is  to  partake  in  the  triumph  of  another.  Thus  one 
of  the  old  commentators  says  that  David  washed  his  feet  in  Saul's  blood, 
Elijah  in  Ahab's,  Hezekiah  in  Sennacherib's,  without  any  agency  or  share 
in  their  destruction,  and  without  any  selfish  or  malignant  exultation  in 
their  ruin.  Let  it  also  be  observed  that  in  this,  as  in  many  like  cases,  the 
act  is  ascribed  to  an  ideal  person,  and  is  therefore  no  example  for  our 
imitation. 

12  (11).  And  man  shall  say,  Yes,  there  is  fruit  to  the  righteous  ;  yes, 
there  is  a  God  judging  in  the  earth.  This  shall  be  said,  not  by  a  man,  nor 
by  any  particular  man,  but  by  men  in  general,  by  man  as  opposed  to  God. 
The  particle  translated  yes  really  means  only,  and  denotes  that  this  and 
nothing  else  is  true.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxix.  12  (11).  There  is  fruit  to 
the  righteous,  or,  in  our  idiom,  he  has  fruit,  i.e.  he  reaps  what  he  has  sown. 
Compare  Isa.  iii.  10,  11.  The  very  power  that  destroys  his  enemies  is  his 
protector.  The  idea  of  existence  is  expressed  in  the  last  clause,  contrary 
to  usage,  and  is  therefore  emphatic.  There  is,  notwithstanding  all  denials, 
doubts,  and  false  appearances,  there  is  a  God  judging  in  the  earth.  An- 
other unusual  circumstance  in  this  clause  is,  that  not  only  the  divine  name, 


Psalm  59:  J  -  5  267 

but  the  participle  agreeing  with  it,  is  in  the  plural  number.  The  same 
thing  occurs  in  Josh.  xxiv.  19,  1  Sam.  xvii.  26.  In  this  case  it  may  pos- 
sibly be  intended  to  suggest  the  idea,  that  although  these  earthly  represen- 
tatives of  Orod  are  so  unfaithful,  there  are,  nevertheless,  gods  judging  in 
the  earth,  i.  e.  one  God,  who  possesses  in  himself  the  source  of  all  the  jus- 
tice exercised  by  jother  beings.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xi.  7. 

Psalm  59 

This  psalm  consists  of  two  parallel  parts,  in  both  which  the  succession 
of  ideas  is  substantially  the  same.  A  suiferer  complains  of  treacherous 
and  cruel  enemies,  ver.  2-5  (1-4),  prays  to  be  delivered  from  them,  ver. 
6  (5),  and  confidently  anticipates  their  niin,  ver.  7-12  (6-11).  In  the 
second  part  we  have  again,  in  the  same  order,  the  complaint,  ver.  13  (12), 
the  prayer,  ver.  14  (13),  and  the  anticipation,  ver.  15-18  (14-17). 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  Al-tashheth.  By  David.  Michtam.  When 
Saul  sent,  and  they  watched  the  house  to  kill  him.  This  remarkable  inci- 
dent in  David's  life,  which  was  the  beginning  of  his  long  and  painful  wan- 
derings, is  recorded,  almost  in  the  same  words,  1  Sam.  xix.  11.  The  title 
or  inscription  is  the  same  as  in  the  two  preceding  psalms. 

2  (1).  Free  me  from  my  enemies,  my  God,  from  those  rising  up  (against) 
me  thou  wilt  raise  me,  i.  e.  place  me  beyond  their  reach.  Here,  as  often 
elsewhere,  the  tone  of  supplication  is  insensibly  exchanged  for  that  of  con- 
fident anticipation.  But  the  change  is  momentary,  and  the  form  of  suppli- 
cation is  immediately  resumed.  My  insurgents  or  assailants  ;  see  above,, 
on  Ps.  xvii.  7.  The  idea  and  expression  at  the  close  are  the  same  as  in 
Ps.  XX.  2  (1).     Compare  Ps.  xviii.  49  (48). 

3  (2).  Free  me  from  workers  of  iniquity,  and  from  men  of  blood  save  me. 
The  same  words  and  phrases  have  occurred  repeatedly  before.  See  above, 
Ps.  V.  6  (5),  vi.  9  (8),  xiv.  4,  xxvi.  9,  xxviii.  3.  This  verse  and  the  one 
before  it  constitute  the  general  introductory  petition,  the  ground  and  reason 
of  which  are  afterwards  assigned. 

4  (3).  (This  I  ask)  because  (such  enemies  as  I  have  just  described)  have 
laid  wait  for  my  soul  (or  life);  there  assemble  against  me  strong  ones,  n  ot 
(for)  my  transgression,  and  not  (for)  my  sin,  Jehovah  !  Or,  (it  is)  not  my 
fault  nor  my  sin,  Jehovah. 

5  (4).  Without  iniquity  (on  my  part,  to  excuse  or  even  to  provoke  them) 
they  run  and  set  themselves  (against  me).  Both  these  are  military  terms,, 
and  seem  to  denote  strictly  the  scaling  of  a  wall.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii. 
30  (29).  Aivake  (arouse  thyself  from  this  apparent  inactivity)  to  meet  me 
(to  respond  to  my  petition),  aiid  see  (my  danger,  and  the  malice  of  my 
enemies). 

6  (5).  And  thou,  Jehovah,  God,  (Lord  of)  Hosts,  God  of  Israel,  awake  to 
vi.Hit  all  the  nations ;  spare  not  all  traitors  of  Uiiquity.  Selah.  The  accumu- 
lation of  divine  names  is  not  unmeaning,  but  suggestive  of  reasons  why 
the  prayer  should  be  answered,  to  wit,  because  He  to  whom  it  was  addressed 
was  not  only  the  Eternal,  Self-existent  God,  the  Sovereign  of  the  Universe, 
but  the  God  of  Israel,  and  therefore  bound  by  covenant  to  save  his  people. 
All  the  nations,  i.  e.  such  as  are  the  enemies  of  God  and  of  his  people ;  and  if 
whole  nations  are  thus  dealt  with,  how  much  more  may  Jehovah  be  expected 
to  destroy  his  individual  enemies  ?  Traitors  of  iniquity,  wicked  traitors. 
The  depth  of  the  feeling  here  expressed  is  further  indicated  by  the  Selah. 


268  Psalm  59:6 -JO 

7  (6).  Let  them  return  at  evening,  let  them  howl  like  the  (log,  and  go  around 
the  city.  The  verbs  may  also  be  rendered  as  simple  futures,  expressive  of 
a  confident  anticipation :  they  shall  return,  &c.  In  either  case,  the  verse 
contains  a  metaphorical  description  of  the  disappointment  of  the  enemy, 
who  are  here  compared  to  the  gregarious  untamed  dogs  by  which  the  orien- 
tal cities  are  infested.  As  these  dogs  prowl  about  the  streets  in  search  of 
food,  and  howl  for  want  of  it,  so  let  (or  so  shall)  my  wicked  enemies. 
Others,  with  equal  probability,  explain  this  verse  as  a  description  of  their 
present  fierceness  and  avidity. 

8  (7).  Lo,  they  pour  out  with  their  mouths  ;  swords  {are)  in  their  lijjs;  for 
who  (is)  hearing  ?  He  here  reverts  to  his  description  and  complaint  of  his 
enemies.  The  first  verb  is  expressive  of  a  constant  flow  or  gush.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xix.  3  (2).  What  it  is  that  they  thus  pour  out,  although  not 
expressed,  may  be  readily  gathered  from  the  context,  namely,  slanders  and 
reproaches.  The  swords  in  their  lips  are  significant  of  sharp  and  cutting 
speeches.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Iv.  22  (21),  and  compare  Ps.  hi.  4  (3).  The 
English  version,  by  supplying  '•  say  they,''  makes  the  last  clause  the  lan- 
guage of  these  wdcked  foes,  who  are  then  to  be  understood  as  denying  God's 
omniscience  or  his  justice.  See  above,  on  Ps.  x.  11,  13,  and  compare 
Ps.  xiv.  1,  xlii.  11  (10).  But  a  still  more  striking  sense  may  be  obtained 
by  making  this  clause  the  complaint  of  the  Psalmist  himself,  as  if  he  had 
said  :  no  wonder  that  they  thus  pour  out  their  bitter  words ;  for  who  is 
there  to  observe  and  punish  them  ?  The  question  implies  that  God  him- 
self had  ceased  to  notice  their  offences,  and  the  participial  form,  that  this 
neglect  had  now  become  habitual. 

9  (8).  And  thou,  Jehovah,  wilt  laugh  at  (hem  ;  thou  wilt  mock  at  all 
nations.  The  resistance  of  whole  nations,  or  of  all  collectively,  is  but  an 
object  of  contempt  to  thee  ;  how  much  more  that  of  even  the  most  potent 
individuals.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  4,  xxxvii.  18.  The  connection  between 
this  verse  and  the  one  before  it  depends  upon  the  meaning  of  the  question 
with  which  ver.  8  (7)  closes.  If  that  be  regarded  as  the  language  of  the 
enemy,  the  thought  to  be  supplied  is,  "But  although  they  thus  imagine 
that  thou  dost  not  hear,  thou  wilt  soon  undeceive  them  by  deriding  them." 
On  the  other  supposition  it  is  this  :  "  Although  I  am  continually  tempted 
to  say,  who  doth  hear  ?  I  am,  nevertheless,  persuaded  that  thou  dost  hear 
and  despise  their  impotent  malignity." 

10  (9).  His  strength  tmto  thee  ivill  I  keep,  for  God  is  my  high  place. 
The  first  clause  is  so  obscure  that  some  interpreters  have  thought  it  neces- 
sary to  change  the  text  (M^^  for  VTp),  and  read  my  strength,  i.  e.  thou  who 

art  ray  strength,  for  thee  loill  I  watch  or  wait.  Some  who  retain  the  com- 
mon text  suppose  a  sudden  change  of  person,  (as  for)  his  strength,  i.  e. 
God's,  I  will  watch  for  thee,  0  God  !  But  this  is  much  less  natural  than 
the  common  version  [because  of)  his  strength,  i.  e.  the  enemy's,  will  I  luait 
wpon  thee.  According  to  the  first  translation  above  given,  the  meaning  of 
the  clause  is,  I  will  reserve  the  strength  and  violence  of  the  enemy,  to  be 
dealt  with  and  disposed  of  by  Jehovah.  My  high  place,  beyond  the  reach 
of  enemies  and  dangers.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  10  (9),  xviii.  3  (2),  xlvi. 
8,  12  (7,  11). 

11  (10).  My  G'of/ (with)  his  mercy  will  meet  me  ;  God  icill  make  me  to  gaze 
upon  my  enemies.  This  translation  of  the  first  clause  follows  the  reading 
in  the  text  of  the  Hebrew  Bible.  The  common  version  exhibits  the  mar- 
ginal or  masoretic  emendation,  the  God  of  my  mercy,  i.  e.  my  merciful 
God,  or  the  God  who  shews  me  mercy,  shall  prevent  me,  in  the  primraiy 


Psalm59:ll-13  269 

and  proper  sense  of  coming  before  me.  The  idea  here  is  that  of  coming  to 
meet  one  in  a  friendly  manner.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxi.  4  (3),  and  compare 
the  unfavourable  meaning  of  the  same  verb  in  Ps.  xvii.  13,  xviii.  6  (5), 
19  (18).  To  gaze,  i.  e.  with  joy  and  triumph.  See  above,  on  Ps.  liv. 
9  (7).  This  is  equivalent  to  saying,  he  will  give  me  the  victory.  The 
word  for  enemies  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  v.  9  (8). 

12  (11).  Slay  them  not,  lest  my  people  forget :  make  them  wander  hythy 
power  and  bring  them  down,  our  shield,  0  Lord  !  The  meaning  of  the  first 
clause,  as  appears  from  the  context,  is,  destroy  them  not  utterly,  or  once  for 
all.  My  people,  i.  e.  Israel,  the  chosen  race.  Make  them  wander,  hke 
Cain  and  like  Israel  in  the  wilderness,  to  both  which  cases  the  same  verb 
is  appUed,  Gen.  iv.  12,  Num.  xxxii.  13.  These  are  tacitly  referred  to,  as 
familiar  examples  of  this  kind  of  punishment,  inflicted  both  on  individuals  and 
nations.  Bring  them  down,  cause  them  to  descend,  from  their  present  high 
position,  humble  them,  and  make  their  humiliation  an  example  and  a  warn- 
ing to  all  others.  This  was  signally  fulfilled  in  the  case  of  Saul  and  his 
household,  as  well  as  in  that  of  the  nations  which  resisted  the  divine  will 
and  oppressed  the  chosen  people,  to  both  which  cases  the  expressions  of 
this  psalm  are  designedly  appropriate.  Our  shield,  our  protector  ;  not  only 
mine  but  ours  ;  not  only  David's  but  all  Israel's.  The  figure  of  a  shield  is 
a  favourite  one  with  David.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  4  (3),  xviii.  3  (2), 
xxviii.  7.  It  is  not  only  striking  and  expressive,  but  historically  associated 
with  the  origin  of  the  nation  in  the  calling  of  Abraham  and  the  patriarchal 
promises.     See  Gen.  xv.  1. 

13  (12.)  The  sin  of  their  mouth — the  word  of  their  lips — and  they  shall 
he  taken  in  their  pride — and  from  cursing  and  falsehood  they  will  tell.  This 
is  a  close  translation  of  this  very  obscure  verse,  that  is  to  say,  obscure  m 
its  particular  expressions,  though  its  general  sense  is  obvious  enough. 
The  construction  given  in  the  English  versions,  (for)  the  sin  of  their  mouth 
(and)  the  word  of  their  lips  they  shall  he  token,  either  overlooks  the  copu- 
lative particle  before  the  verb  or  makes  it  unmeaning,  they  shall  even  he 
taken.  The  latest  interpreters  prefer  to  render  it,  the  sin  of  their  mouth 
(is)  the  word  of  their  lips,  i.  e.  the  word  of  their  lips  is  the  sin  of  their 
mouth  ;  whatever  they  speak  is  spoken  sinfully  ;  they  cannot  speak  without 
committing  sin.  T'hey  shall  he  taken,  caught,  surprised,  as  they  have 
sought  to  surprise  others.  See  above,  Ps.  ix.  16  (15),  xxxv.  8.  It  may 
also  be  read  as  an  expression  of  desire,  may  they  he  taken  !  In  their  pride, 
not  merely  on  account  of  it,  although  this  is  included,  but  in  the  midst  of 
it,  in  the  act  of  indulging  it.  From  cursing  represents  their  capture  as 
arising  (or  proceeding)  from  their  cursing,  and  may  therefore  be  translated 

for,  as  in  the  English  Bible.  Cursing,  or  rather  swearing  in  attestation  of 
a  falsehood.  See  above,  on  Ps.  x.  7.  The  phrase  to  tell  a  falsehood  is  com- 
mon to  both  idioms.  Most  interpreters  supply  a  relative,  (which)  they  tell, 
or  will  tell.     Otherwise, /rom  must  be  understood  as  meaning  of,  concerning. 

14  (13.)  Consume  in  rvrath,  consume  {them),  and  let  them  he  no  more, 
and  let  them  knoio  that  God  [is)  ruling  in  Jacob,  nnto  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The 
first  verb  strictly  means  to  cause  to  cease,  to  finish,  to  destroy  so  that 
nothing  is  left.  Let  them  he  no  more,  let  them  cease  to  be.  By  itself,  the 
Hebrew  phrase  would  seem  to  mean,  and  they  are  not,  but  the  tense,  which 
is  not  expressed  in  the  original,  must  be  determined  by  the  prayer  preced- 
ing. The  last  clause  might  at  first  sight  seem  to  mean,  let  my  enemies  know 
that  God  rules  not  only  in  Israel,  but  throughout  the  earth.  But  this  is 
forbidden  by  the  prayer  that  they  may  cease  to  be,  and  would  require  a 


270  Psalm  59:14 -17 

connecting  particle  of  some  sort  after  Jacob.  The  true  construction,  indi- 
cated by  the  accents,  is,  and  let  them  [i.  e.  men  in  general)  know  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  that  God  (is)  ruling  {i.  e.  habitually  rules)  in  Jacob.  This  de- 
scription of  the  whole  world  as  witnessing  and  interested  in  God's  dealings 
with  his  chosen  people,  is  in  strict  accordance  with  the  very  end  for  which 
he  chose  them,  and  is  particularly  characteristic  of  David.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xviii.  50  (49),  Ivii.  6,  10,  12  (5,  9, 11),  and  compare  his  language  to 
Gohath,  1  Sam.  xvii.  46  :  "  This  day  will  Jehovah  deliver  thee  into  my 
hand,  and  I  will  smite  thee  .  .  .  that  all  the  earth  may  know  that  there 
is  a  God  in  Israel." 

15  (14).  Tlien  Jet  them  return  at  evening,  howl  like  the  dog,  and  go 
around  the  city.  The  first  word  ia  Hebrew  is  a  simple  copulative,  meaning 
and  ;  but  the  connection  seems  to  be,  since  God  is  my  protector  and  these 
enemies  are  doomed  to  destruction,  let  them  threaten  as  they  will,  I  shall 
not  fear  them.  It  is  equally  grammatical,  though  not  so  natural,  to  under- 
stand the  verse  as  a  prediction  or  confident  anticipation  of  the  miserable 
state  to  which  these  enemies  should  be  reduced,  Hke  a  herd  of  oriental  dogs 
without  a  master  or  a  home,  prowling  about  in  search  of  food,  and  howhng 
with  hunger,  but  remaining  still  unsatisfied.     See  above,  on  ver.  7  (6). 

16  (15).  They  shall  wander  (in  quest  of  something)  to  eat,  (and)  if  they 
are  not  satisfied,  remain  all  night.  This  sentence  is  obscure,  whether  it  be 
understood  as  a  defiance  or  a  threatening,  though  the  latter  construction  is 
recommended  by  the  emphatic  pronoun  at  the  beginning.  They  themselves, 
the  very  persons  who  now  threaten  me,  shall  roam  about  in  search  of  food, 
&c.  The  most  probable  meaning  of  the  last  clause  is  :  and  not  being 
satisfied,  not  findmg  what  they  seek,  they  must  continue  seeking  it  by  night 
as  well  as  by  day.  The  conversive  particle  before  the  last  word  seems  to 
be  here  equivalent  to  then  or  still  after  a  conditional  clause — ' '  if  they  are 
not  satisfied,  theji  they  shall  remain  aU  night" — or  "though  they  be  not 
satisfied,  yet  must  they  remain  all  night." 

17  (16).  And  I  will  sing  thy  strength,  and  celebrate  in  the  morning  thy 
mercy ;  for  thou  hast  been  a  high  place  to  me,  a  refuge  in  my  distress.  The 
pronoun  at  the  beginning  is  emphatic,  I,  on  my  part,  as  contrasted  with 
these  wretches.  Thy  strength  or  poiver,  thus  exerted  in  my  behalf.  In  the 
morning,  or  at  break  of  day,  which  is  the  primary  meaning  of  the  term. 
The  phrase  is  in  obvious  antithesis  to  at  evening  in  ver.  15  (14).  There 
may  also  be  allusion  to  the  frequent  use  of  night  and  morning,  as  emblems 
of  suflering  and  reUef.  Compare  the  words  of  David  in  2  Sam.  xxiii.  4. 
A  height,  high  place,  or  place  of  safety,  as  in  ver.  10  (9)  above.  In  my 
distress,  or  retaining  the  original  construction,  in  distress  to  me.  The  form 
of  expression  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  7  (6). 

18  (17).  My  strength,  unto  thee  will  I  sing  ;  for  God  is  my  high  place,  the 
God  of  my  mercy.  The  most  natural  construction  of  the  first  phrase  is  that 
which  makes  it  a  direct  address  to  God,  as  the  author  of  his  strength.  But 
as  the  structure  of  the  clause  is  precisely  similar  to  that  at  the  beginning 
of  ver.  10  (9),  some  adopt  a  similar  construction,  my  strength  will  I  sing  unto 
thee.  I  will  praise  my  strength  to  thee,  because  I  shall  thereby  praise  thy- 
self. This  is  equivalent  to  saying,  I  will  celebrate  thee  as  my  strength. 
High  place,  place  of  safety,  refuge,  or  asylum,  as  in  ver.  10,  17  (9,  16). 
God  of  my  mercy,  my  merciful  God,  or  the  God  who  shews  me  mercy.  See 
above,  on  ver.  11  (10). 


Psalm  60: 1, 2  271 

Psalm  60 

1 .  To  the  Chief  Musician.  On  the  Lily  of  Testimony.  A  Mystery.  By 
David.  To  he  Learnt.  The  lily  is  probably,  in  this  case,  as  in  Ps.  xlv.  1, 
an  emblem  of  beauty  or  loveliness.  '  The  testimony  is  a  name  given  to  the 
Law,  as  God's  testimony  against  sin.,  See  above,  on  Ps.  xix.  8  (7),  and 
compare  2  Kings  xi.  12,  where  the  term  is  appUed  absolutely  to  the  Law, 
considered  as  a  book  or  writing.  This  enigmatical  inscription,  therefore, 
may  be  understood  as  representing  the  theme  or  subject  of  the  psalm  to  be 
the  beauty  of  the  law,  or  something  lovely  in  it,  with  reference  most  pro- 
bably to  the  gracious  promise  cited  from  it.  At  the  same  time,  there  seems 
to  be  an  allusion  to  the  precept  in  Deut.  xxxi.  19,  "  Now  therefore  write 
ye  this  song  for  you,  and  teach  it  the  children  of  Israel ;  put  it  in  their 
mouths,  that  this  song  may  be  a  witness  for  me  against  the  children  of 
Israel."  To  this  verse  there  seems  to  be  a  double  allusion  in  the  one 
before  us  ;  first  in  the  word  testimony,  which  is  a  cognate  form  to  that 
translated  witness,  and  then  in  the  concluding  words,  to  teach,  where  the 
verb  is  the  same  with  that  in  Deuteronomy.  The  title  before  us,  therefore, 
seems  to  say,  this  song  is  like  the  song  of  Moses,  which  was  to  be  taught 
to  the  people,  as  a  witness  or  testimony  against  them,  in  case  of  unbehef 
or  disobedience.  To  teach  then  means  to  be  taught  or  to  be  learned  by 
heart,  committed  to  memory.  Compare  2  Sam.  i.  18,  where  the  English 
version  incorrectly  supplies  {use  of)  the  bow,  instead  of  [song  of)  the  bow, 
meaning  the  elegy  on  Saul  and  Jonathan  which  immediately  follows,  so 
called,  according  to  an  ancient  custom,  from  the  mention  of  Jonathan's 
favourite  weapon  in  ver.  22.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  1.  From  this  enig- 
matical allusion,  and  the  disguised  form  under  which  the  truth  is  here 
revealed,  the  psalm  is  justly  represented  as  a  Michtam,  mystery,  or  secret. 
See  above,  on  the  titles  of  the  four  preceding  psalms.  The  body  of  the 
psalm,  apart  from  the  additional  title  or  historical  inscription  in  ver.  2,  may 
be  divided  into  three  equal  stanzas  or  strophes,  each  consisting  of  four 
verses.  In  the  first,  the  Psalmist  takes  occasion  from  God's  seeming 
desertion  of  his  people,  to  recall  his  former  interventions  in  their  favour, 
ver.  3-6  (1-4).  In  the  second,  he  pleads  an  express  promise,  as  a  ground 
of  present  hope,  ver.  7-10  (5-8).  In  the  third,  he  expresses  his  confidence 
of  safety  and  success,  in  the  proposed  expedition  against  Edom,  ver.  11-14 
(9-12).  ^  Throughout  the  psalm  the  ideal  speaker  is  Israel,  considered  as 
the  chosen  people. 

2.  When  he  conquered  Aram  Naharaim  and  Aram  Zohah,  and  Joab 
returned  and  smote  Edom  in  the  Valley  of  Salt,  twelve  thousand  men.  The 
common  version  of  the  first  verb  (strove  with)  seems  too  weak,  as  a  victory 
is  clearly  presupposed,  and  the  idea  of  contention  is  conveyed  by  a  cognate 
form  of  the  same  verb.  The  name  Aram  corresponds  to  Syria  in  its 
widest  and  vaguest  sense,  and  is  joined  with  other  names  to  designate 
particular  parts  of  that  large  country.  It  even  includes  Mesopotamia,  which  is 
a  term  of  physical  rather  than  political  geography,  and  denotes  the  space 
between  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  corresponding  to  Aram-Naharaim,  or 
Syria  of  the  Two  Rivers,  in  the  verse  before  us.  The  king  of  this  coimtry 
was  ti-ibutary  to  the  king  of  Ai-am  Zobah,  as  appears  from  the  account  of 
David's  second  Aramean  war  (2  Sam.  x.  16,  19).  It  was  after  the  return 
of  the  victorious  army  from  this  war,  that  Joab  marched  against  Edom  and 
achieved  the  victory  here  ascribed  to  him,  as  the  leader  of  the  army,  but  in 


272  Psalm  60:1  -  6 

1  Chron.  xviii.  12,  to  his  brother  Abishai,  who  probably  commanded  under 
him,  as  he  did  in  a  subsequent  campaign  (2  Sam.  x.  10),  and  in  2  Sam. 
viii.  13,  to  David  himself  as  the  sovereign  whom  they  both  represented. 
The  Valley  of  Salt  has  been  identified  by  modern  travellers  with  a  valley 
south  of  the  Dead  Sea,  on  the  ancient  confines  of  Israel  and  Edom,  See 
Kobinson's  Palestine,  vol.  ii.  p.  483.  The  number  killed  on  this  occasion 
is  stated  in  2  Sam.  viii.  13,  and  1  Chron.  xviii.  12,  at  eighteen  thousand. 
But  this  diversity  might  easily  arise  from  dift'erent  modes  of  computation, 
and  seems  at  least  to  shew  that  the  writer  of  the  verse  before  us  did  not 
blindly  copy  the  historical  books,  while  the  smaller  number  which  he  gives 
evinces  his  exemption  from  all  disposition  to  embellish  or  exaggerate. 

3  (1).  0  God,  thou  hast  cast  us  off;  thou  hast  broken  us  ;  thou  hast  been 
angry ;  thou,  wilt  restore  to  iis  (thy  favour  or  our  previous  prosi)erity). 
Clear  as  the  marks  of  thy  displeasure  have  been,  we  still  confidently  look 
for  thy  returning  favour.  This  may  refer  to  disasters  experienced  in  the 
former  part  of  the  campaign.  Cast  us  off,  with  abhorrence  and  contempt, 
as  in  Ps.  xliii.  2,  xliv.  10,  24  (9,  23).  Broken  us,  or  made  a  breach  in  us, 
which  appears  to  be  a  military  figure,  and  a  favourite  with  David  in  real 
life.  See  2  Sam.  v.  20,  vi.  8,  and  compare  Judges  xxi.  15,  Job  xvi.  14, 
XXX.  14.  The  last  verb  means  to  restore,  as  in  Ps.  xix.  8  (7),  xxiii.  3,  but 
in  application  to  a  different  object.     Compare  Isa.  Iviii.  12. 

4  (2).  TJiov,  hast  made  the  earth  quake,  thou  hast  riven  it;  heal  its 
breaches,  for  it  moves.  The  idea  of  social  disaster  and  calamity  is  here 
expressed  by  the  figure  of  an  earthquake  and  its  natural  effects,  to  which 
God  is  besought  to  put  an  end  by  the  removal  of  the  cause. 

5  (3).  lliou  hast  made  thy  people  see  (what  is)  hard  ;  thou  hast  made  us 
drink  wine  of  staggering  (or  reeling).  The  meaning  of  the  first  clause  is, 
that  God  had  made  them  experience  hardship.  See  a  similar  expression  in 
Ps.  Ixxi.  20.  Wine  of  staggering,  wine  that  causes  men  to  reel  or  stagger, 
here  used  as  a  figure  for  confusion,  weakness,  and  distress.  The  same 
image  reappears  in  Ps.  Ixxv.  9  (8),  Isa.  li.  17,  22,  Jer.  xxv.  15,  xUx.  12. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xi.  6. 

6  (4).  Thou  hast  given  to  those  fearing  thee  a  banner  to  be  lifted  because 
of  (thy)  truth.  Selah.  In  the  sight  of  thy  discomfited  and  downcast 
people,  thou  hast  set  up  a  signal,  as  a  ralljang  point,  and  an  assurance  of 
the  truth  of  thy  engagements.     The  word  (DJJ)  translated  banner  means 

anything  elevated  as  a  signal,  being  derived  from  the  following  verb,  which, 
in  the  form  here  used,  means  properly  to  raise  itself,  as  in  Zech.  ix.  16. 
The  word  for  truth  is  not  the  one  commonly  so  rendered,  but  has  the  same 
meaning  in  Prov.  xxii.  21,  and  in  the  Aramaic  dialects.  See  Dan.  ii.  47, 
iv.  34.  Because  of,  hterally  from  before  or  from  the  face  of,  an  expression 
indicating,  as  the  cause  of  the  effect  described,  the  truth  or  veracity  of  God 
himself.  The  translation  of  the  last  clause  in  the  ancient  versions  and  some 
modern  ones,  to  flee  from  before  the  bow,  gives  an  unauthorised  meaning 
both  to  the  verb  and  noun. 

7  (5).  In  order  that  thy  beloved  ones  may  be  delivered,  save  (with)  thy 
right  hand  and  hear  (or  ansuer)  us.  This  is  a  prayer  naturally  prompted 
by  the  previous  experience  of  God's  favour,  as  recorded  in  the  foregoing 
verse.  Thy  beloved,  an  epithet  applied  to  Benjamin  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  12, 
and  forming  a  part  of  Solomon's  additional  name  Jedidiah,  2  Sam.  xii.  25. 
See  also  Ps.  xlv.  1.  The  common  version  of  the  last  words  {hear  7ne)  rests 
upon  the  marginal  reading  or  Keri. 

8  (6).  God  hath  spoken  in  his  holiness  ;  I  vnll  triumph  ;  I  will  divide 


Psalm  60:7,  8  273 

Shechem,  and  the  Valley  of  Succoth  I  will  measure.  As  a  further  ground 
for  his  petition,  the  Psalmist,  speaking  in  the  name  of  Israel,  appeals  to 
the  promise  of  Jehovah,  that  his  people  should  possess  the  entire  land  of 
Canaan.  The  reference  is  not  to  any  insulated  promise,  but  to  that  per- 
vading the  whole  Law.  There  God  had  spoken,  uttered  his  promise,  in  his 
holiness,  i.  e.  as  a  holy  God,  and  as  such  incapable  of  failing  to  perform  it. 
See  the  similar  expressions  in  Ps.  Ixxxix.  36  (35),  Amos  iv.  2.  Some 
understand  what  follows  as  the  words  which  God  had  spoken ;  but  as  ver. 
11  (9)  is  confessedly  the  language  of  the  people  or  their  representative,  and 
as  no  intermediate  point  of  transition  can  be  well  assumed,  it  seems  better 
to  explain  these  also  as  the  words  of  David  or  of  Israel.  "  God  hath 
spoken  in  his  holiness  (and  therefore)  I  will  triumph."  Because  he  has 
promised  me  victorious  possession  of  the  land,  I  exult  in  confident  antici- 
pation of  it.  This  idea  of  triumphant  occupation  is  expressed  in  terms 
appropriate  to  the  times  of  the  original  conquest,  when  the  land  was  mea- 
sured and  distributed  among  the  tribes.  See  Josh.  xiii.  7,  xviii.  5.  The 
two  great  divisions  of  the  country,  east  and  west  of  Jordan,  are  denoted  by 
Shechem  and  Succoth,  the  places  where  Jacob  pitched  his  tent  on  his  return 
from  exile,  as  if  to  claim  the  Land  of  Promise  as  his  heritage.  See  Gen. 
xxxiii.  17,  19. 

9  (7).  To  me  (belongs)  Gilead  and  to  me  Manasseh,  and  Ephraim  the 
strength  of  my  head,  Judah  my  lawgiver.  The  idea  still  is  that  the  whole 
of  Canaan  rightfully  belongs  to  Israel.  The  form  of  expression  is  analogous 
to  that  in  the  preceding  verse,  but  with  a  beautiful  variation.  As  the  two 
great  divisions  of  the  country,  east  and  west  of  Jordan,  are  there  repre- 
sented by  detached  points,  Shechem  and  Succoth,  so  here  by  the  names  of 
extensive  districts,  Judah  and  Ephraim,  the  two  largest  territories  on  the 
west,  Bashan  and  Gilead  on  the  east,  the  latter  called  by  its  own  name,  the 
former  by  that  of  the  tribe  which  occupied  the  greater  part  of  it.  See  Deut. 
iii.  12,  13.  The  last  clause  does  due  honour  to  the  military  strength  of 
Ephraim  (Gen.  xlviii.  19,  Deut.  xxxiii.  17),  but  asserts  the  civil  supremacy 
of  Judah  (Gen.  xlix.  10).  The  phrase  translated  strength  of  my  head  might 
seem  to  mean  my  chief  strength ;  but  that  would  require  the  terms  to  be 
inverted,  head  of  my  strength.  Compare  Gen.  xlix.  3.  It  rather  means 
the  protection  of  my  head,  as  strength  of  my  life  in  Ps.  xxvii.  1  means  that 
which  protects  my  life,  the  head  being  mentioned  as  the  vital  part  pecuUarly 
exposed.  Compare  Ps.  Ixviii.  22  (21),  ex.  6.  Some  suppose  the  figure  to 
be  that  of  a  helmet,  which  is  too  specific.  In  the  last  clause  there  is 
obvious  allusion  to  the  prophecy  in  Gen.  xlix.  10.  Lawgiver  has  its  proper 
sense  of  ruler,  sovereign.  That  of  rod  or  sceptre,  which  some  give  it,  rests 
upon  a  doubtful  explanation  of  Num.  xxi.  18. 

10  (8).  Moab  (is)  my  wash-pot ;  at  Edom  will  I  throw  my  shoe  ;  at  me, 
Philistia,  shout  aloud !  The  three  hostile  powers,  with  which  Israel  was 
most  frequently  at  war,  are  here  put  together,  as  the  objects  of  a  contemp- 
tuous address.  Moab  is  likened  to  the  humblest  household  utensil,  the 
vessel  in  which  slaves  were  wont  to  wash  their  master's  feet.  Edom  is 
Ukened  to  the  slave  himself,  to  whom  or  at  whom  the  master  throws  his 
shoe  when  about  to  bathe  his  feet.  Compare  Mat.  iii.  11,  Acts  xiii.  25. 
This  is  much  better  suited  to  the  context  than  the  allusion,  which  some 
assume,  to  the  practice  mentioned  in  Ruth  iv.  7,  where  the  removal  of  the 
shoe  is  a  symbol  of  renunciation,  and  could  not  be  here  used  to  express  the 
opposite  idea  of  seizure  or  triumphant  occupation.  Shout  aloud,  or  make  a 
noise,  is  by  some  explained  as  an  expression  of  triumph,  and  the  whole 


274  Psalm  60:9  -  12 

clause  treated  as  ironical.  Others  understand  it  of  the  acclamation  or  shout 
of  welcome  and  applause  by  which  subjects  recognise  and  hail  their  sove- 
reign. See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  11,  where  the  exhortation  to  rejoice  with 
trembling  is,  by  the  same  interpreters,  explained  in  the  same  manner.  In 
either  case,  the  clause  impUes  superiority  in  him  who  speaks,  and  willing 
or  compulsory  subjection  on  the  part  of  those  whom  he  addresses. 

11  (9).  Who  will  bring  me  {to)  the  fenced  city?  Who  has  led  me  up  to 
Edom  ?  In  reUance  on  God's  promise,  and  in  the  possession  of  the  hope 
and  courage  just  expressed,  his  people  are  ready  to  go  forward,  and  only 
waiting,  as  it  were,  for  some  one  to  conduct  them  into  the  enemy's  country, 
nay,  into  his  very  citadel.  Ihe  fenced  city,  literally,  city  of  defence^  ox  for- 
tification, a  phrase  already  used  in  Ps.  xxxi.  22  (21),  is  Petra,  the  famous 
capital  of  Idumea,  hewn  in  the  rock,  and  almost  perfectly  impregnable. 
See  Robinson's  Palestine,  vol.  ii.  pp.  573-580.  The  past  tense  in  the  last 
clause  represents  the  question  as  already  answered.  Up  to,  even  to,  as  far 
as,  implying  not  mere  motion  or  direction,  but  actual  arrival. 

12  (10).  (Is  it)  not  thou,  0  God,  (who)  hast  cast  us  off  and  will  not  go 
forth  with  our  hosts  ?  A  simpler  construction  of  the  first  clause  would  be, 
hast  thou  not  cast  us  offf  But  it  seems  better  to  explain  the  verse  as  an 
indirect  answer  to  the  question  in  the  one  preceding.  Who  has  brought 
us  into  Edom,  if  not  he  who  had  rejected  us  ?  The  terms  are  borrowed 
from  Ps.  xliv.  10  (9),  which  seems  to  have  been  written  in  the  midst  of 
the  distress  here  spoken  of  as  past.  "  Wilt  not  thou,  of  whom  we  lately 
were  compelled  to  say,  thou  hast  forsaken  us  and  wilt  not  go  forth  with  our 
hosts?"     Compare  2  Sam,  v.  24. 

13  (11).  Give  us  help  from  trouble  {ox  from  the  enemy) ;  and  (the  rather 
because)  vain  {is)  the  salvation  of  man,  i.  e.  the  dehverance  which  man 
afibrds.  The  causal  particle, /or,  because,  which  seems  necessary  to  connect 
the  clauses,  is  implied  but  not  expressed  in  Hebrew.  The  second  noun  (^S) 
may  either  mean  distress,  as  in  Ps.  iv.  2  (1),  xviii.  7  (6),  or  one  who  gives 
distress,  a  persecuting  or  oppressing  enemy,  as  in  Ps.  iii.  2  (1),  xiii.  5  (4), 
xxvii.  2,  12,  xliv.  6,  8,  11  (5,  7,  10).  Either  sense  would  be  appro- 
priate, but  the  latter  is  stz'ongly  recommended  by  its  occurrence  in  the 
next  verse. 

14  (12).  In  God  we  will  make  {i.  e.  gain  or  gather)  strength,  and  he  loill 
tread  down  (or  trample  on)  our  adversaries  (persecutors  or  oppressors). 
The  prayer  is  followed  by  the  confident  anticipation  of  the  answer.  In 
God,  i.  e.  in  union  with  him,  in  possession  of  him.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xviii.  30  (29).  The  common  version  of  the  next  phrase  {shall  do  valiantly) 
is  vague  and  dubious,  being  .inadmissible  in  several  of  the  cases  where  the 
phrase  occurs,  whereas  they  all  admit  of  the  translation  make  or  gather 
strength,  in  reference  to  the  acquisition  or  recovery  of  force  by  those  who 
had  before  been  in  a  state  of  weakness.  See  below,  on  Ps.  cviii.  14  (13), 
cxviii.  15, 16,  and  compare  Ezek.  xxviii.  4,  Ruth  iv.  11,  Deut.  viii.  17,  18, 
Num.  xxiv.  18,  to  the  last  of  which  places  there  is  obvious  allusion  here, 
as  relating  to  the  very  same  enemies.  Treading  or  trampling,  as  an  em- 
blem of  violent  subjection,  occurs  above  in  a  contemporaneous  passage,  Ps. 
xliv.  6  (5).  The  last  eight  verses  reappear  as  a  part  of  Ps.  cviii.,  in  the 
exposition  of  which  the  points  of  difference  and  the  general  relation  of  the 
passages  will  be  considered. 


Psalm  61:1 -5  275 

Psalm  61 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician — on  a  stringed  instrument  (or  with  an  instru- 
mental accompaniment) — of  Daoid.  The  pecuhar  form  of  the  original 
construction  (^TO  J13^J^)  cannot  be  reproduced  in  English,  but  seems  to 

connect  the  name  of  David  both  with  the  Hebrew  word  preceding,  as  the 
owner  or  conductor  of  the  music,  and  with  the  psalm  itself  as  the  author. 
That  is  to  say,  the  words  are  so  combined  as  to  convey  both  these  ideas — 
a  stringed  instrument  of  David — and  a  psalm  of  David.  The  musical  term 
(neginath)  is  the  same  as  in  the  titles  of  Ps.  iv.,  vi.,  liv.,  Iv.,  but  in  the 
singular  number  and  the  construct  form.  The  psalm  itself  consists  of  a  prayer 
with  an  expression  of  strong  confidence,  ver.  2-5  (1-4),  and  an  appeal 
to  the  divine  promise,  as  the  ground  and  object  of  that  confidence,  ver. 
6-9  (5-8). 

2  (1).  Hear^  0  God,  my  cry ;  attend  unto  my  prayer !  The  psalm 
opens  with  an  introductory  petition  to  be  heard.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
V.  2,  3  (1,  2),  xvii.  1,  Iv.  2  (1),  and  compare  Ps.  xxxix.  13  (12).  The 
word  translated  cry,  which  sometimes  means  a  joyful  shout  or  thankful 
song — Ps.  XXX.  6  (5),  xlii.  5  (4),  xlvii.  2  (1) — is  here  determined  by  the 
parallelism  and  the  context  to  denote  a  cry  for  help  or  mercy. 

3  (2).  From  the  end  of  the  earth  unto  thee  will  I  call,  in  the  covering  of 
my  heart  (when  it  is  covered,  i.  e.  overwhelmed,  or  covered  with  darkness). 
To  a  rock  (that)  is  high  from  me  (i.  e.  higher  than  I,  or  too  high  for  me), 
thou  wilt  lead  me.  To  the  saints  of  the  Old  Testament  exclusion  or  invo- 
luntary distance  from  the  sanctuary  seemed  equivalent  to  exile  in  the 
remotest  countries,  sometimes  called  the  end  of  the  earth  (Deut.  xxviii.  64), 
sometimes  the  end  of  heaven  (Deut.  iv.  32),  although  this  last  phrase  may 
be  understood  to  mean  the  sensible  horizon  or  boundary  of  vision  (Isa. 
xiii.  5).  A  rock,  often  mentioned  as  a  place  of  refuge.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xviii.  3  (2),  xl.  3  (2).  Too  high  for  me  to  reach  without  assistance.  In 
the  last  clause  an  earnest  prayer  is  latent  under  the  form  of  a  confident 
anticipation.  The  feelings  here  expressed,  and  the  terms  used  to  express 
them,  are  peculiarly  appropriate  to  David's  situation  during  Absalom's  re- 
bellion.    See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  1,  xlii.  1. 

4  (3).  For  thou  hast  been  a  refuge  to  me,  a  tower  of  strength  (or  strong 
tower), /ro?7i  before  (from  the  face  or  presence  of)  the  enemy.  He  appeals 
to  former  mercies  as  a  ground  for  his  present  expectation.  The  verb  of 
existence  is  here  emphatic,  and  cannot,  without  a  violation  of  usage,  be 
translated  as  a  present,  which  is  almost  invariably  suppressed  in  Hebrew. 
The  enemy  is  a  collective  term,  or  one  denoting  an  ideal  person,  including 
many  real  individuals. 

5  (4).  I  loill  sojourn  (or  abide)  in  thy  tent  (or  tabernacle)  ages  (or  eter- 
nities, i.  e.  for  ever) ;  /  will  trust  (take  refuge  or  find  shelter)  in  the  shadow 
of  thy  wings.  The  first  verb  is  in  the  paragogic  form,  expressing  strong 
desire  or  fixed  determination.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  3.  To  dwell  in  God's 
tent  or  house  is  to  be  a  member  of  his  family,  to  enjoy  his  bounty  and  pro- 
tection, and  to  live  in  intimate  communion  with  him.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
XV.  1,  xxiii.  6,  xxvii.  4,  5.  David  here  tacitly  appeals  to  the  promise 
recorded  in  2  Sam.  vii.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxi.  5  (4).  The  beautiful 
figure  for  protection  in  the  last  clause  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  xvii.  8, 
xxxvi.  8  (7). 

6  (5).  For  thou,  0  Ood,  hast  heard  (or  hearkened  to)  my  vows  (and  the 


276  Psalm  62:1 

prayers  which  they  accompanied) ;  thou  hast  given  me  the  heritage  of  those 
fearing  (or  the  fearers  of)  thy  name,  i.  e.  the  reverential  worshippers  of  thy 
revealed  perfections.  See  above,  on  Ps.  liv.  3  (1).  The  heritage  here 
mentioned  is  participation  in  the  honours  and  privileges  of  the  chosen 
people,  with  particular  though  tacit  reference  to  the  vicarious  royalty  conferred 
on  David,  and  ensured  to  his  posterity  in  answer  to  his  prayers.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxi.  3-5  (2-4),  and  compare  2  Sam.  vii.  16. 

7  (6).  Days  to  the  days  of  the  king  thou  wilt  add  ;  his  years  (shall  be,  or, 
thou  wilt  multiply)  like  generation  and  generation.  The  preposition  in  the 
first  clause  strictly  means  ujjon,  and  suggests  the  idea  not  of  mere  addition 
but  accumulation,  which  would  also  be  conveyed  in  EngUsh  by  the  literal 
translation,  days  upon  days.  His  use  of  the  third  person  shews  that  he 
does  not  mean  himself  alone,  but  the  king  of  Israel  as  an  ideal  or  collective 
person,  comprehending  his  posterity.  The  life  of  this  ideal  person  would 
of  course  not  be  restricted  to  a  single  generation,  but  continued  through 
many,  which  is  the  meaning  of  the  idiomatic  expression  in  the  last  clause. 

8  (7).  He  shall  sit  (enthroned)  to  eternity  before  God ;  mercy  and  truth 
do  thou  provide ;  let  them  preserve  him  (or  they  shall  preserve  him).  The 
first  verb  suggests  the  two  ideas  of  continuance  or  permanence  and  regal 
exaltation.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Iv.  20  (19),  and  compare  2  Sam.  vii.  29. 
Before  God,  in  his  presence  and  under  his  protection.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ivi.  14  (13).  Provide,  prepare,  afford,  or  have  in  readiness.  Mercy  and 
Truth  are  personified,  as  in  Ps.  xl.  12  (11),  Ivii.  4  (3).  Compare  Ps.  xliii.  3. 
They  seem  to  be  here  represented  as  God's  messengers  or  agents  in  preserve- 
ing  his  Anointed. 

9  (8).  So  will  I  celebrate  thy  name  for  ever,  that  I  may  pay  my  vows  day 
(by)  day.  The  so  at  the  beginning  may  mean,  on  this  condition,  when  this 
prayer  is  granted  ;  or  more  probably,  in  this  assurance,  in  the  confident 
expectation  of  this  issue.  Celebrate  musically,  both  with  instrument  and 
voice.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ivii.  8  (7),  and  compare  Ps.  lix.  18  (17).  That 
I  may  pay,  literally  to  (or  fo7-)  my  paying,  or,  as  some  explain  it,  by  my 
paying,  which,  however,  is  a  rare  and  dubious  use  of  the  infinitive.     Day 

(by)  day  or  day  (and)  day,  i.  e.  one  day  with  or  after  another,  implying  not 
only  frequency  but  regularity.  The  Vulgate  version  of  this  idiomatic  phrase 
is  de  die  in  diem. 

Psalm  62 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician  over  J eduthun.  A  psalm  by  David.  Jeduthun 
seems  here  to  mean  the  family  or  choir  so  called  from  the  Chief  Musician 
of  that  name.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxix.  1.  The  psalm  consists  of  three 
equal  stanzas  or  strophes,  each  beginning  with  the  particle  C?|l<)  only,  and 

the  first  and  second  ending  with  selah.  In  all  these  parts,  the  theme  or 
burden  is  the  same,  to  wit,  a  contrast  between  God  and  man,  as  objects  of 
confidence. 

2  (1).  Only  to  God  (is)  my  soul  silent ;  from  him  (is)  my  salvation.  The 
frequent  repetition  of  the  first  word  C^TJ^)  is  characteristic  of  the  psalm 

before  us.  In  all  these  cases  it  is  to  be  taken  in  its  strict  exclusive  sense 
oi  only.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Iviii.  12  (11).  Only  in  looking  towards  God 
as  my  Saviour,  is  my  soul  silent,  literally  silence.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii. 
3  (2),  xxxix.  3  (2).  This  trust,  and  this  alone,  can  set  his  mind  at  rest,  and 
free  him  from  the  natural  disquietude  of  man  when  alienated  from  his  God. 


Psalm  62:2 -9  211 

3  (2).  Only  He  (is)  my  rock  and  my  salvation,  my  height  (high  place, 
refuge,  or  asylum)  ;  /  shall  not  be  shaken  (moved  from  my  firm  position) 
micch  (or  greatly).  The  adverbial  use  of  much  is  the  same  in  Hebrew  and 
in  English.  This  qualified  expression  seems  to  be  intended  to  suggest,  that 
he  does  not  hope  to  escape  all  disaster  and  calamity,  but  only  such  as  would 
be  ruinous.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  24.  As  to  the  figures  in  the  first 
clause,  see  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  10  (9),  xviii.  3  (2).  He  only,  God  and  no 
one  else,  can  be  such  a  protector. 

4  (3).  Until  when  (how  long)  will  ye  break  loose  upon  (or  against)  a  man, 
will  ye  murder  {i.  e.  seek  to  murder  him)  all  of  yuu  (combined  against  a 
single  person,  who  is  consequently)  like  a  wall  inclined  (or  bent  by  violence), 
a  fence  (or  hedge)  crushed  (broken  down  ?)  That  the  last  clause  relates  to 
himself  and  not  his  enemies,  is  clear  from  the  continuation  of  the  same 
description  in  the  next  verse. 

5  (4).  Only  from  his  elevation  they  considt  to  thrust  (him,  and  as  a  means 
to  this  end)  they  deliyht  in  falsehood ;  ivith  his  mouth,  [i.e.  with  their  mouths) 
they  irill  bless,  and  in  their  inside  (inwardly,  or  with  their  heart)  tiiey  will 
curse.  Selah.  The  sudden  change  of  number  in  the  middle  of  the  verse, 
and  indeed  the  whole  description,  are  like  those  in  Ps.  v.  10  (9). 

6  (5).  Only  to  God  be  still  my  soul,  for  from  him  (is)  my  hope.  The 
view  just  taken  of  his  fellow-men  drives  him  back  to  God,  and  he  exhorts 
himself  to  cherish  the  same  confidence  which  he  had  before  expressed.  Be 
still,  silent,  trusting,  and  submissive.  See  above,  on  ver.  2  (1),  and  com- 
pare Ps.  xxxvii.  7.  The  meaning  of  the  last  clause  is,  from  him  proceeds 
whatever  I  desire  or  hope  for. 

7  (6).  Only  he  is  my  rock  (the  foundation  of  my  hope)  and  my  salvation 
{i.  e.  its  source  and  author) — 7ny  high  place  (refuge  or  asylum) — /  shall  not 
he  moved  (or  shaken).  This  more  absolute  expression,  as  compared  with 
ver.  3  (2),  seems  to  indicate  a  stronger  faith,  derived  from  the  previous 
comparison  of  God  and  man  as  objects  of  trust  and  afi'ection. 

8  (7).  Upon  God  (i.e.  dependent,  founded  on  him)  is  my  salvation,  and 
my  honour  (both  official  and  personal)  ;  the  rock  of  my  strength  (my  strong 
rock,  or  the  basis  upon  which  my  o^vn  strength  rests) ;  my  hiding-place  (my 
refuge)  is  in  God.  It  is  in  his  presence,  favour,  and  protection,  that  I  hide 
mvself  from  all  my  enemies  and  all  my  dangers.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  11 
(10),  Ixi.  4  (3). 

9  (8).  Trust  in  him  at  every  time,  0  people,  pour  out  before  him  your 
heart  ;  God  {is)  a  refuge  for  us.  Selah.  The  faith  which  he  cherishes 
himself  he  recommends  to  others  also.  At  every  time,  not  merely  in  pros- 
perity, but  even  in  the  sorest  trials  and  the  worst  extremities.  People,  not 
merely  men  or  persons,  but  people,  of  God,  his  chosen  people.  To  .pour 
out  the  heart  is  a  natural  and  lively  figure  for  a  full  disclosure  of  the  thoughts 
and  feelings.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  5  (4),  and  below,  on  Ps.  cxlii.  3  (2), 
and  compare  1  Sam.  i.  15,  Lam.  ii.  19.  The  last  clause  gives  the  reason 
of  the  exhortation,  and  indicates  its  earnestness  by  a  solemn  pause. 

10  (9).  Only  vanity  (are)  sons  of  Adam,  a  falsehood  sons  of  man;  in  the 
scales  (they  are  sure)  to  go  up  ;  they  are  of  vanity  (or  less  than  vanity) 
together.  As  to  the  supposed  antithesis  between  men  of  high  and  low  degree 
in  the  first  clause,  see  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  3  (2),  xhx.  3  (2).  Only  vanity, 
see  above,  on  Ps.  xxxix.  6  (5),  A  falsehood,  something  that  deceives  ex- 
pectation, a  false  confidence.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  3  (2).  Of  vanity, 
composed  of  it,  containing  nothing  else  ;  or  giving  the  particle  its  frequent 
comparative  sense,  (less)  than  vanity,  or  {vainer)  than  vanity  {itself).     The 


278  Psalm  62:10 -12 

same  doubt  exists  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  similar  expressions  in  Isa.  xl.  17^ 
xli.  24. 

11  (10).  Trust  not  in  oppression,  and  in  robbery  become  not  vain  ;  (on) 
wealth,  when  it  grows,  set  not  (your)  heart.  The  first  two  nouns  are  used 
together  in  Lev.  v.  23  (vi.  4)  to  signify  that  which  is  acquired  by  violence. 
They  are  not  therefore  to  be  taken  as  distinct  grounds  of  confidence,  but  as 
different  parts  or  difi'erent  descriptions  of  the  same.  Become  not  vain,  by 
being  assimilated  to  the  vain,  unsatisfying  objects  of  your  love  and  hope. 
See  2  Kings  xvii.  15,  and  compare  Jer.  ii.  5,  Job  xxvii.  12.  The  word 
translated  wealth  meabs  strictly  strength  or  power,  but  is  applied  to  pecu- 
niary as  well  as  military  force.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlix.  7  (6).  Grows, 
literally  sprouts,  or  springs  up  of  its  own  accord,  perhaps  with  an  antithetical 
allusion  to  wealth  gained  by  violence.  Even  when  lawfully  or  accidentally 
acquired,  set  not  your  heart  upon  it.  This  phrase  in  Hebrew  sometimes 
means  nothing  more  than  to  apply  the  mind  or  give  attention,  and  so  some 
understand  it  here,  "when wealth  increases,  take  no  notice,  think  not  of  it ; " 
but  the  stronger  sense  of  fixing  the  affections  on  it,  loving  it,  and  trusting 
it,  is  better  in  itself  and  better  suited  to  the  context. 

12,  13  (11,  12),  One  {thing)  hath  God  spoken,  these  two  (things)  have  I 
heard,  that  strength  (belongeth)  unto  God,  and  (that)  %mto  thee,  0  Lord, 
(belongeth)  mercy,  (but)  that  thou  wilt  render  to  a  man  according  to  his  deed 
(or  doing).  There  are  really  three  attributes  of  God  here  mentioned,  his 
power,  his  mercy,  and  his  justice  ;  but  as  the  last  is  only  introduced  ta 
qualify  the  second,  by  a  kind  of  after- thought,  they  may  still  be  reckoned  as 
but  two.  The  construction  given  in  the  English  and  many  other  versions 
separates  the  sentences,  and  makes  the  first  refer  to  a  repeated  utterance  or 
revelation  of  the  one  truth  there  propounded,  namely,  that  power  belongeth 
unto  God.  Instead  of  one  thing,  two  things,  we  must  then  read  once  and 
twice.  But  this,  though  favoured  by  the  imitation  of  the  verse  before  us 
in  Job  xxxiii.  14,  xl.  5,  is  not  the  most  obvious  construction  here.  It  is 
evident  that  one  and  two,  when  absolutely  or  elliptically  used,  may  some- 
times mean  one  time,  [i.  e.  once)  and  two  times,  (i.  e.  twice)  ;  but  it  does  not 
follow  that  the  same  words,  in  a  difi'erent  connection,  may  rot  mean  one 
word  or  thing,  two  words  or  things.  It  is  also  a  familiar  practice  of  the 
sacred  writers  to  borrow  one  another's  words,  or  to  repeat  their  own,  with 
some  slight  change  of  sense  or  appHcation.  The  prononn  (^T)  in  ver.  12 
(11)  may  be  either  a  demonstrative  or  relative,  and  on  the  latter  supposi- 
tion we  may  read,  (there  are)  tivo  [things)  uhich  I  hare  heard;  but  the  other 
is  a  simpler  and  more  obvious  construction.  The  apostrophe  or  sudden 
change  of  person  in  ver.  13  (12)  is  a  figure  of  speech  common  in  the  psalms 
of  Da^dd,  and  indicates  a  growing  warmth  of  feeling,  so  that  He  who  had 
just  been  calmly  spoken  of  as  absent,  is  abruptly  addressed  as  if  seen  to  be 
personally  present. 

Psalm  63 

1.  A  Psalm  by  David,  in  his  being  (when  he  was)  in  the  uilderness  of 
Judah.  This  is  the  wilderness  along  the  eastern  frontier  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah.  It  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  history  of  Absalom's  rebellion 
and  of  David's  flight  before  him.  See  2  Sam.  xv.  23,  28,  xvi.  2,  14, 
xvii.  16.  In  that  history  we  also  meet  with  several  of  the  very  same  ex- 
pressions that   are  here  used,   which,  together  with  the   strong  internal 


Psalm  63:1 -4  279 

Bimilarity  of  this  psalm  to  some  others  having  reference  to  Absalom's 
rebellion,  such  as  Ps.  iii.,  iv.,  xlii.,  Ixi.,  suffice  to  shew  that  it  belongs  to 
the  same  period,  and  not  to  that  of  Saul's  persecution,  which  is  indeed 
forbidden  by  the  mention  of  the  king  in  ver.  12  (11).  The  psalm  consists 
of  two  parts,  each  exhibiting  essentially  the  same  succession  of  ideas,  but 
with  the  variation  usual  in  all  such  cases.  Both  begin  with  the  expression 
of  intense  desire  for  God's  presence  and  communion  with  him,  and  end  with 
a  confident  anticipation  of  his  mercy ;  but  in  the  first,  ver.  2-9  (1-8),  this 
is  supposed  to  be  displayed  in  the  deliverance  of  the  Psalmist  from  his 
sufferings ;  in  the  second,  ver.  7-12  (6-11),  it  is  viewed  as  securing  the 
destruction  of  his  enemies. 

2  (1).  0  God,  my  God  [art)  tJiou ;  I  ivill  seek  thee  early  ;  for  thee  thirsts 
my  soul:  for  thee  longs  my  flesh,  in  a  dry  land,  weary  without  water.  The 
second  divine  name  is  the  one  denoting  power,  and  might  be  translated 
here,  vvj  Mighty  (One).  The  very  use  of  it  involves  a  direct  appeal  to 
God's  omnipotence.  The  verb  in  the  first  clause  is  connected  in  its  ety- 
mology with  a  noun  meaning  the  dawn  of  day,  which  occurs  above,  Ps. 
Ivii.  9  (8).  The  modern  lexicographers  exclude  the  sense  of  early,  and 
suppose  the  verb  to  mean  nothing  more  than  seek  in  English,  or  at  most  to 
seek  with  eagerness.  But  that  the  notion  of  time  is  really  included  seems 
to  follow  from  the  antithesis  in  Isa.  xxvi.  9,  The  act  of  seeking  a  thing 
early  implies  impatience  or  importunate  desire.  The  soul  and  the  flesh 
together  mean  the  whole  man.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  9.  There  is  evi- 
dent allusion  to  the  actual  privations  experienced  by  David  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Judah.  See  the  places  cited  in  the  note  upon  ver.  1,  to  which  add 
2  Sam.  xvii.  2,  The  Hebrew  word  for  weary  is  there  applied  to  David 
himself,  which  requires  or  allows  the  same  application  in  the  case  before 
us,  especially  as  the  form  of  the  adjective  is  mascuhne,  and  land  is  femi- 
nine. The  strict  grammatical  concord  is  perhaps  with  flesh,  which  is  a 
masculine  in  Hebrew. 

3  (2).  To  see  thy  power  and  thy  glory,  so  [as)  I  have  beheld  thee  in  the 
sanctuary.  The  first  clause  states  the  object  of  the  strong  desire  expressed 
in  the  preceding  verse.  To  make  this  connection  clear,  the  clauses  are 
transposed  in  the  common  version,  which  is  here  retained,  as  being,  on  the 
whole,  the  best  among  the  man}'  which  have  been  proposed.  One  of  the 
latest  makes  the  verse  an  acknowledgment  that  he  had  actually  found  a 
sanctuary  in  the  desert,  because  it  is  always  to  be  found  where  God  is 
pleased  to  manifest  his  presence.  But  however  sound  and  scriptural  this 
sentiment  may  be,  it  can  hardly  be  extracted  from  the  verse  before  us 
without  violence. 

4  (3).  Because  thy  favour  is  letter  than  life,  my  lips  shall  praise  thee.  A 
simpler  construction,  and  perhaps  more  agreeable  to  Hebrew  usage,  is  that 
which  makes  the  first  clause  give  a  reason  for  the  strong  desire  expressed 
in  the  foregoing  verses, /or  thy  favour  is  better  than  life,  and  the  last  clause 
merely  add  a  pledge  of  thankful  acknowledgment,  my  lips  shall  praise  thee. 
Better  than  life,  not  merely  than  the  life  I  now  live,  which  was  scared}' 
entitled  to  be  so  considered,  but  better  than  any  life  I  could  live,  destitute 
of  God's  favour,  which  is  therefore  more  than  a  sufficient  substitute  or 
compensation. 

5  (4).  So  will  I  bless  thee  in  my  life,  in  thy  name  will  I  raise  my  hands. 
So,  that  is,  according  to  the  gift  bestowed.  Bless,  i.  e.  praise  and  thank 
thee.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  7,  xxxiv.  2  (1).  In  my  life  may  either  mean 
as  long  as  I  live,  which  is  the  obvious  and  usual  intei-pretation,  or  when 


280  Psalm  63:5  -  10 

restored  to  life,  from  this  state  of  living  death,  which  is  the  sense  preferred 
by  some  of  the  best  interpreters,  on  account  of  the  supposed  allusion  to 
hetter  than  life  in  the  preceding  verse ;  but  it  is  far  from  being  the  most 
natural  construction.  In  thy  name,  invoking  thee  as  the  object  of  my  wor- 
ship, and  particularly  of  my  thankful  praise.  Lift  up  my  hands  in  prayer, 
and  more  specifically  here,  in  thanksgiving.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxviii.  3  (2). 
G  (5).  As  (with)  marrov^  and  fatness  shall  my  soul  he  satisfied,  ar?fZ  (with) 
lips  of  rejoicing  shall  my  moiith  praise  (thee).  He  continues  the  expression 
of  his  joyful  confidence  and  hope.  Marrow  and  fatness  are  used  to  repre- 
sent two  Hebrew  words,  both  meaning  animal  fat,  here  put  for  rich  food, 
and  that  for  abundant  supplies  of  every  kind.  Lips  of  rejoicinr^s  may 
denote  either  joyful  lips,  or  lips  by  which  rejoicings  are  uttered.  The  un- 
conditional engagement  to  praise  God  implies,  as  usual,  a  firm  behef  that 
he  will  have  occasion  so  to  do.     See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  8  (7). 

7  (6).  Wheji  I  rememler  thee  upon  my  bed,  in  the  watches  I  will  meditate 
upon  thee.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew  is  the  one  commonly  translated  if; 
but  the  condition  indicated  by  it  is  sometimes  specifically  that  of  time. 
There  seems  to  be  reference  in  this  verse  to  the  old  division  of  the  night, 
for  municipal  and  military  purposes,  into  three  watches,  the  first  (Lam. 
ii.  19),  the  middle  (Judges  vii.  19),  and  the  morning  watch  (Exod.  xiv.  24, 
1  Sam.  xi.  11).  See  below,  on  Ps.  xc.  4.  Twill  meditate  of  thee,  or  more 
literally  in  thee,  implying  an  entire  absorption  of  his  powers  and  affections 
in  the  object.     See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  2. 

8  (7).  For  thou  hast  been  a  help  to  me,  and  in  the  shadow  of  thy  wings 
will  I  rejoice.  The  protection  which  he  has  experienced  already  he  is  sure 
of  still  enjoying  in  the  time  to  come.  The  translation  of  the  first  verb  as  a 
present  (thou  art  my  help)  not  only  weakens  the  antithesis  but  violates  a 
constant  usage.  See  above,  on  Ps.  lix.  17  (16),  Ixi.  4  (3).  The  image 
presented  in  the  last  clause  is  the  same  as  that  in  Ps.  xvii.  8,  xxx^i.  8  (7), 
Ivii.  2  (1),  Ixi.  5  (4). 

9  (8).  My  soul  cleaves  after  tJwc,  thy  right  hand  holds  vie.  This  is  a 
strong  metaphorical  description  of  the  mutual  relation  between  God  and  the 
believer  ;  a  relation  of  trustful  dependence  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  con- 
stant favour  and  protection  on  the  other.  Cleaves  after  is  a  frequent  phrase 
for  foUoivs  cleaving  to  thee.  The  right  hand  is  the  constant  symbol  of 
strength.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  36  (35),  xliv.  4  (3),  Ix.  6  (5). 

10  (9).  And  they  to  (their)  ruin  are  seeking  my  soul ;  they  shall  go  into 
the  depths  of  the  earth.  The  phrase  to  ruin  has  precisely  the  same  sense 
as  in  Ps.  xxxv.  8,  namely,  to  their  own  destruction.  Are  seeking,  will 
seek;  the  idea  suggested  by  the  future  is,  that  if  they  still  persist  in  seek- 
ino  it,  they  will  do  so  to  their  own  destruction.  Some  obtain  the  same 
sense  by  a  different  constiaiction,  they  (shall  come)  to  ruin  (who)  are  seeking 
my  soul;  but  this  supposes  two  elUpses,  which  are  not  to  be  assumed  with- 
out necessity.  Still  less  satisfactory  is  the  construction  which  regards  the 
whole  verse  as  a  single  proposition  :  they  (who)  seek  my  soul  to  ruin  (or 
destroy  it)  shall  go,  &c.  To  seek  the  soul  implies  a  purpose  of  destruction, 
without  any  qualifying  adjunct,  even  in  prose.  See  2  Sam.  xvi.  11.  The 
depths  of  the  earth,  literally  its  lower  or  lowest  parts,  which  may  simply 
mean  the  grave  (as  we  say  under  ground),  or  contain  an  allusion  to  the 
fate  of  Korah  and  his  company  (Num.  xvi.  31-34).  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Iv.  16  (15). 

11  (10).  They  shall  he  abandoned  to  the  power  of  the  sword,  the  prey  of 
jackals  shall  they  he.     The  hteral  translation  of  the  fii'st  clause  is,  they  shall 


Psalm  64: 1,2  281 

pour  him  out  upon  the  hands  of  the  sword,  where  the  use  of  the  plural  verb 
in  an  indefinite  or  passive  sense,  and  the  sudden  alternation  of  the  singular 
and  plural  form  in  speaking  of  the  enemy,  together  with  the  bold  and 
idiomatic  figures  of  a  sword  with  hands  and  men  poured  on  them,  present 
such  a  concurrence  of  apparent  solecisms  as  can  be  made  intelligible  only 
by  a  paraphrase.  The  word  translated  prey  means  properly  a  share  or  por- 
tion ;  it  occurs  above,  Ps.  xi.  6,  xvi.  5,  The  other  noun  in  this  clause  is 
the  common  Hebrew  word  ior  foxes,  but  is  used  with  so  much  latitude  as 
to  include  the  jackal,  which  sense  must  be  here  preferred,  as  the  fox  does 
not  prey  upon  dead  men,  unless  the  clause  be  understood  to  mean  nothing 
more  than  that  they  shall  be  left  lying  in  the  desert,  where  these  creatures 
have  their  home,  which  is  a  good  sense,  but  much  weaker  than  the  one  just 
put  upon  the  words. 

12  (11).  And  the  king  shall  rejoice  in  God  ;  (in  him)  shall  every  one  boast 
(or  glory)  that  swears  by  him,  because  the  mouth  of  those  speaking  falsehood 
shall  be  shut  (or  stopped).  Instead  of  the  personal  pronoun  he  inserts  his 
ofiicial  title,  the  king,  i.  e.  I  as  king.  Rejoice  in  God,  i.  e.  in  union  with 
him  and  in  the  experience  of  his  favour.  Boast  or  praise  himself,  i.  e.  felici- 
tate himself  on  the  possession  of  these  glorious  distinctions  and  advantages. 
Swearing  by  him,  i.e.  as  some  suppose,  by  the  king  here  mentioned,  accord- 
ing to  the  old  Egyptian  custom  (Gen.  xlii.  15,  16),  of  which  we  find  some 
traces  even  in  Israel  (1  Sam.  xvii.  55,  xxv.  26, 2  Sam.  xi.  11).  If  thiswere  the 
true  grammatical  construction  we  might  perhaps  explain  the  phrase  to  mean 
swearing  to  him,  i.  e.  swearing  fealty  or  allegiance,  doing  homage  to  him  as 
a  rightful  sovereign.  But  there  is,  in  fact,  no  sufficient  reason  for  depart- 
ing from  the  obvious  construction  which  refers  the  pronoun  to  the  nearest 
antecedent,  God.  The  last  clause  assigns  the  immediate  occasion  of  the 
joy  and  triumph  here  predicted,  namely,  the  defeat  of  false  and  treacherous 
insurgents.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixii.  5  (4),  and  compare  2  Sam.  xviii.  7,  8. 

Psalm  64 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  A  Psalm  by  David.  The  correctness  of 
this  title  is  abundantly  established  by  the  marked  internal  similarity  be- 
tween this  and  other  psalms  of  David.  Its  very  structure  is  Davidic, 
exhibiting  the  two  familiar  elements  of  a  prayer  for  deliverance  from  wicked 
enemies,  ver.  2-6  (1-5),  and  a  confident  anticipation  of  a  favourable  answer, 
ver.  7-11  (6-10). 

2  (1).  Hear,  0  God,  my  voice  in  my  complaint;  from  fear  of  the  enemy 
thou  wilt  preserve  my  life.  Here,  as  in  Ps.  liv.  3  (1),  the  expression  of  con- 
fidence insinuates  itself  into  the  prayer  itself.  Complaint,  literally  musing, 
meditation,  but  with  special  reference  to  suffering  and  danger.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  Iv.  3  (2).    Fear  of  the  enemy,  that  which  I  have  reason  to  fear  fi-om  him. 

8  (2).  Thou  wilt  hide  me  from  the  secret  of  evil  doers,  from  the  tumult  of 
the  ivorkers  of  iniquity.  By  sec7-et  we  are  here  to  understand  their  confi- 
dential consultations  and  the  devices  there  matured.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xxv.  14.  The  participle  doing  evil,  used  as  a  noun  {evil  doers)  to  describe 
the  whole  class  of  wicked  men,  is  a  favom-ite  expression  of  David's.  See 
above,  Ps.  xxii.  17  (16),  xxvi.  5,  xxvii.  2,  xxxvii.  1,  9.  As  secrecy  belongs 
to  the  formation  of  the  plot,  so  does  noise  or  tumult  to  its  execution.  The 
same  figures  are  combined,  but  in  a  very  different  application,  Ps.  Iv. 
15  (14). 


282  Psalm  64 .3-8 

4  (3).  Who  have  sharpened^  like  the  sword,  their  tongue,  have  strung  their 
arrow,  hitter  speech.  The  figure  in  the  first  clause  is  a  favourite  with  David. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  hi.  4  (2),  Ivii.  5  (4),  hx.  8  (7).  Strung  their  arrow, 
literally  trod  (^.  e.  hent^  it,  which  must  either  be  explained  as  an  ellipsis — 
bent  their  (bow  to  shoot  their)  arrow — or  as  a  poetical  transfer  to  the  arrow 
of  what  is  strictly  applicable  only  to  the  bow.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Iviii.  8 
(7).  The  figure  of  an  arrow  is  peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  poignant  pain 
produced  by  insult  and  calumny,  which  is  also  well  expressed  by  the  epithet 
hitter.     Compare  Deut.  xxxii.  24,  1  Sam.  xv.  32. 

5  (4).  To  shoot  in  secret  places  (at)  the  perfect ;  suddenly  they  will  shoot 
him,  and  will  not  fear.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  x.  8,  xi.  2.  The 
jperfect,  the  sincere  and  upright  servant  of  God,  who  is  free  from  all  fatal 
and  essential  defect  of  character.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xv.  2,  xviii.  24  (23), 
•vii.  9  (8),  XXV.  21,  xxvi.  1,  11,  xxxvii.  37,  in  the  last  of  which  places  the 
Hebrew  adjective  has  the  same  form  as  in  the  case  before  us.  And  will 
not  fear,  i.e.  without  being  deterred  by  the  fear  of  God  or  man.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Iv.  20  (19). 

6  (5).  They  will  strengthen  for  themselves  an  evil  tvord ;  they  will  tell  about 
hiding  snares  ;  they  have  said,  who  will  see  to  them  ?  To  strengthen  is  to 
make  strong,  to  construct  so  as  to  be  strong.  An  evil  word  is  an  idiomatic 
phrase  for  a  malignant  plot,  so  called  because  it  is  the  Iruit  of  mutual  dis- 
course and  consultation.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xli.  9  (8).  Tell  about,  count 
and  recount  their  various  devices,  past  and  present.  See  above,  on  Ps.  lix. 
13  (12).  The  interrogation  in  the  last  clause  is  an  indirect  one  ;  the  equi- 
valent direct  form  would  be,  who  will  see  to  us,  i.  e.  regard  us  ?  Compare 
Ps.  X.  11,  hx.  8  (7). 

7  (6).  They  search  out  iniquities ;  (they  say)  We  are  ready — a  consum- 
mate plan  !  and  the  imvard  thought  and  heart  of  {every)  man  {is)  deep. 
They  rack  their  invention  and  ransack  their  memory  for  modes  of  doing 
mischief.  We  are  ready,  Uter ally  finished,  just  as  we  might  say  in  English, 
we  are  done.  The  next  phrase  consists  of  a  passive  participle,  derived  from 
the  verb  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence,  and  a  cognate  noun.  The  parti- 
ciple here  corresponds  to  exquisite,  recherche,  something  not  to  be  had 
without  laborious  search,  and  the  noun  describes  the  product  of  the  search 
itself.  The  last  clause  is  added  to  enhance  the  danger,  by  representing  the 
device  as  springing,  not  from  shallow,  superficial,  but  profound  contrivance. 
Inward  thought,  literally  inside,  an  equivalent  to  heart,  often  used  by  David. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  10  (9),  xlix.  12  (11),  Iv.  16  (15),  Ixii.  5  (4). 

8  (7).  But  God  has  shot  them — with  an  arrow — suddenly — the  wounds 
ure  theirs.  By  an  abrupt  but  beautiful  transition  he  describes  the  tables  as 
completely  turned  upon  the  enemy.  The  antithesis  is  rendered  very  strik- 
ing by  the  repetition  of  the  verb,  noun,  and  adverb  used  in  ver.  4,  5  (3,  4). 
Just  as  they  are  about  to  shoot  an  arrow  suddenly  at  the  righteous,  God 
shoots  an  arrow  suddenly  at  them.  The  wounds  which  they  intended  to 
inflict  on  others  have  become  (VH)  their  own.     When  they  thought  to 

strike  others,  they  were  struck  themselves.  The  general  idea  is  the  same 
as  in  Ps.  vii.  12-17  (11-16),  liii.  6  (5),  Ivii.  7  (6).  The  adversative  par- 
ticle at  the  beginning  is  substituted  for  the  simple  copulative  of  the  Hebrew, 
to  make  the  transition  or  antithesis  more  obvious  in  Enghsh.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Hi.  10  (8),  Iv.  14  (13). 

9  (8).  And  he  has  cast  them  down;  upon  them  {comes)  their  owti  tongue ;  all 
shall  flee  gazing  at  them.  Cast  down,  literally  made  to  fall  or  stumble.  See 
the  use  of  the  same  verb  in  historical  prose,  2  Chron.  xxv.  8,  and  compare 


Psalm  65: 1,2  283 

the  original  of  2  Chron.  xxvii.  23.  The  construction  is  indefinite,  as  in 
Ps.  Ixiii.  11  (10),  they  have  cast  him  down,  i.e.  he  is  cast  down,  meaning 
the  enemy  as  an  ideal  person,  who,  according  to  the  usage  of  these 
psalms,  is  immediately  afterwards  referred  to  in  the  plural  number.  Their 
tongue,  i.  e.  the  consequences  of  their  false,  malignant  speeches,  and  their 
mischievous  deliberations.  The  verb  in  the  last  clause  is  an  intensive  form 
of  the  one  used  in  Ps,  xxxi.  12  (11),  Iv.  8  (7).  Gazing  at  them,  not  simply 
seeing  them,  but  seeing  with  emotion,  whether  that  of  wonder,  joy,  or 
terror.  See  above,  on  Ps.  liv.  9  (7),  lix.  11  (10).  The  clause  seems  to 
contain  an  allusion  to  the  flight  of  the  people,  when  the  earth  opened  to 
devour  Korah  and  his  company,  Num.  xvi.  34. 

10  (9).  And  all  menfear^  and  pronounce  (if)  God's  doing,  and  his  work 
they  understand.  The  conversive  futures  shew  the  dependence  of  the  sen- 
tence upon  that  which  goes  before  it,  and  describe  the  action,  not  as  actu- 
ally past,  but  as  directly  consequent  upon  the  great  catastrophe  described 
in  the  preceding  context.  And  declared  the  work  of  God,  i.  e.  pronounced 
it  to  be  such.  Compare  Exod.  viii.  19.  His  work  they  understand,  i.  e. 
no  longer  foolishly  ascribe  it  to  mere  chance  or  human  agency. 

11  (10).  Glad  shall  the  righteous  he  in  Jehovah,  and  shall  trust  in  him  ; 
and  (in  him)  shall  boast  (or  glory)  all  the  upright  in  heart.  Having  de- 
scribed the  eifect  of  the  divine  interposition  on  the  wicked,  and  on  men  in 
general,  he  now  shews  how  it  will  afl'ect  the  righteous.  In  Jehovah  means, 
as  usual,  in  union  with  him  and  possession  of  him.  The  word  translated 
trust  is  that  which  seems  originally  to  denote  the  act  of  seeking  shelter 
under  an  overshadowing  object.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixiii.  8  (7).  With  the 
last  clause  compare  Ps.  Iviii.  11  (10),  Ixiii.  12  (11). 

Psalm  65 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  A  Psalm,.  Bij  David.  A  Song,  i.e.  a  song 
of  praise.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlviii.  1,  xlii.  9  (8).  God  is  first  praised  in 
general,  as  a  God  of  mercy  and  benevolence  to  all  men,  ver.  2-9  (1-8),  and 
then  in  particular,  as  the  giver  of  fruitful  seasons  and  abundance,  ver. 
10-14  (9-13). 

2  (1).  To  thee  (belongeth)  silence,  praise,  0  God,  in  Zion,  and  to  thee 
shall  be  paid  the  voiv.  The  two  words,  silence-praise,  form  a  kind  of  com- 
pound term,  like  humility-righteousyiess  in  Ps.  xlv.  5  (4),  meaning,  as  some 
suppose,  silent  praise,  but  this  is  hardly  consistent  with  the  fact  that  the 
praise  here  offered  is  vocal.  More  probably  it  means  such  praise  as  is 
accompanied  by  a  cessation  of  all  tumultuous  and  passionate  excitement. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixii.  2,  6  (1,  5).  In  Zion,  as  the  appointed  place  of 
prayer  and  praise  under  the  old  economy.  The  last  clause  implies  that 
fresh  occasion  was  continually  given  for  thankful  vows  and  their  fulfilment, 
by  the  constant  repetition  of  God's  providential  favours. 

3  (2).  Hearer  of  prayer,  up  to  thee  shall  all  flesh  come.  The  first  word 
in  Hebrew  is  a  participle,  hearing,  thou  who  habitually  hearest  prayer. 
This  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  divine  characters  or  attributes.  Up  to  thee, 
even  to  thee,  implying  actual  arrival,  and  therefore  a  stronger  expression 
than  unto  thee.  All  flesh  sometimes  means  all  animals,  all  living  creatures 
(Gen.  vi.  17,  19),  but  is  here  used  in  its  narrower  sense  of  all  mankind 
(Gen.  vi.  3,  12).  To  thee  they  shall  come,  i.e.  must  come,  for  the  supply 
of  their  necessities,  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins,  and  in  short,  for  every 


284  Psalm  65:3  -  8 

good  and  perfect  gift   (James  i.   17),  both  of  a  temporal  and  spiritual 
nature. 

4  (3).  Words  of  iniquities  are  too  strong  for  me;  (as  for)  our  transgres- 
sions, thou  uiilt  expiate  them,  or  forgive  tliem  for  the  sake  of  an  atonement. 
Words  of  iniquities  is  by  some  regarded  as  a  pleonastic  paraphrase  for  ini- 
quities themselves.  More  probably,  however,  the  phrase  means  the  charge 
or  accusation  of  iniquity.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  1,  xli.  9  (8),  and  below, 
on  Ps.  cv.  27.  Too  strong  for  me,  more  than  I  am  able  to  account  for  or 
endure.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xl.  13  (12),  and  below,  on  Ps.  cxxx.  3.  The 
last  clause  contains  the  encouragement  suited  to  the  alarming  situation 
mentioned  in  the  first. 

5  (4).  Hapjyy  (he  whom)  thou  wilt  choose  and  hrivg  (him)  near^  i.  e. 
admit  him  to  thy  presence  and  to  intimate  communion  with  thee,  (so  that) 
he  shall  inhabit  thy  courts  ;  we  shall  he  sated,  satisfied  or  filled,  toith  the 
good.,  i.  e.  the  pleasure,  the  enjoyment,  of  thy  house,  the  holy  (place)  thy 
temple,  or  thy  holy  temple,  thy  sanctuary,  an  expression  used  both  of  the 
tabernacle  and  the  temple  properly  so  called.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  8  (7). 
The  privilege  described  is  not  merely  that  of  public  worship  at  the  place  of 
God's  appointment,  but  of  residence  in  his  family  and  participation  in  the 
privileges  of  his  household.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xv.  1,  xxiii.  6.  The  change 
from  the  third  person  singular  to  the  first  plural  shews  that  the  former  was 
only  an  indi\ddualization  of  the  church  or  chosen  people. 

6  (5).  Fearfid  things  in  righteousness  thou  wilt  anstver  us,  0  God  of  our 
salvation,  the  confidence  of  nil  the  ends  of  the  land  and  sea — (even)  the 
furthest.  Thou  wilt  give  us  fearful  answers  to  our  prayers,  i.  e.  such  as 
are  suited  to  excite  religious  reverence  and  awe.  TJie  confidence,  the  object 
of  their  trust.  Earth  (or  laiid)  and  sea  are  put  together  to  describe  the 
whole  world,  and  the  ends  of  both  for  the  remotest  countries,  which  idea  is 
then  expressed  directly,  by  the  word  at  the  end  of  the  sentence.  The 
superlative  cannot  be  expressed  in  Hebrew,  but  is  here  suggested  by  the 
context.  The  sense  is  not  that  all  men  actually  feel  this  trust  in  God,  but 
that  whether  they  feel  it  or  not,  they  are  really  dependent  upon  him  alone. 
Compare  Isa.  xhi.  4. 

7  (6).  Fixing  the  mountains  by  his  strength,  girded  uith  power.  This 
verse  accounts  for  the  dependence  of  all  creatures  upon  God  by  a  reference 
to  his  almighty  power,  which  is  not  described  in  general  terms,  but  by  one 
of  its  efi'ects  or  acts,  the  settling  of  the  mountains,  as  the  most  solid  and 
immovable  portions  of  the  earth.  He  is  then  metaphoricall}'  represented 
as  girded  or  invested  with  power.     See  below,  on  ver.  13  (12). 

8  (7).  Stilling  the  roar  of  seas,  the  roar  of  their  waves,  the  tumult  of 
nations.  The  sentence  is  continued  from  the  foregoing  verse.  God  not 
only  formed  the  material  universe  at  first,  but  still  controls  it.  There  is 
here  a  beautiful  transition  from  the  literal  to  the  figurative  use  of  the  same 
language.  It  is  true,  in  the  strict  sense,  that  God  stills  the  raging  of  the 
seas  ;  but  it  is  also  true  that  he  subdues  the  commotion  of  human  societies 
and  states,  of  which  the  sea  is  a  natural  and  common  emblem.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xlvi.  3,  4  (2,  3).  Hence  he  adds  in  express  teiTQS,  the  tumult  of 
nations. 

9  (8).  Then  were  afraid  those  inhabiting  the  ends  (or  most  distant  parts) 
of  thy  signs  ;  the  outgoings  of  morning  and  evening  thou  wilt  make  to  shout 
(or  sing).  TJien  is  not  expressed  in  Hebrew,  but  employed  in  the  transla- 
tion to  shew  the  dependence  of  the  verb  on  that  of  the  preceding  sentence. 
The  sense  is,  that  whenever  God  thus  stills  the  tumult  of  the  nations,  even 


Psalm  65:9 -13  285 

the  remotest  are  affected  by  his  signs,  i.  e.  the  sensible  indications  of  his 
presence  and  immediate  agency.  Outgoings  is  a  local  noun  in  Hebrew,  and 
denotes  the  places  where  the  evening  and  the  morning  come  forth  or  begin, 
i.  e.  the  points  at  which  the  sun  sets  and  rises,  the  east  and  west,  here  put 
for  eastern  and  western  lands,  and  these  for  their  inhabitants.  That  the 
fear  mentioned  in  the  first  clause  is  not  mere  slavish  dread,  but  an  affection 
perfectly  compatible  with  joy,  is  clear  from  the  remainder  of  the  sentence. 

10  (9).  Thou  hast  visited  the  earth  and  drenched  it  ;  thou  wilt  much 
enrich  it ;  the  river  of  God  is  full  of  water  ;  thou  wilt  prepare  their  corn, 
for  thtis  thou  dost  prepare  it,  i.  e.  the  earth,  for  this  very  purpose.  God  is 
said  to  visit  his  creatures  when  he  manifests  his  presence  with  them,  whether 
in  the  way  of  judgment  or  of  mercy.  See  above,  on  Ps.  viii.  5  (4). 
Drenched,  soaked,  or  made  to  overflow.  The  word  translated  much  is  the 
same  as  in  Ps.  Ixii.  3  (2).  The  river  of  God,  as  opposed  to  earthly  streams. 
However  these  may  fail,  the  divine  resources  are  exhaustless.  Their  corn, 
that  required  for  men's  subsistence.  See  above  on  Ps.  iv.  8  (7).  The 
meaning  of  the  last  clause  seems  to  be  that  he  who  provides  rain  to  fertilize 
the  earth,  may  be  expected  to  provide  the  fruit  itself. 

11  (10).  Its  furrows  drench,  its  ridges  beat  down:  with  showers  thou  wilt 
soften  it ;  its  vegetation  thou  wilt  bless.  The  first  vei'b  means  to  water 
abundantly,  the  second  to  lower  or  beat  down,  implying  a  great  violence  of 
rain.  The  word  translated  showers,  according  to  its  etymology  and  usage, 
denotes  frequent  and  abundant  rains.  ^Soften,  dissolve,  or  loosen  it.  The 
Hebrew  verb  is  a  derivative  of  that  in  Ps.  xlvi.  7  (6).  Vegetation,  germi- 
nation, that  which  sprouts  or  springs  up  from  the  seed  when  sown.  Some 
make  the  verbs  in  the  first  clause  infinitives,  determined  by  the  finite  tenses 
which  precede  and  follow.  But  their  form  permits  them  to  be  taken  as 
imperatives,  from  which  the  transition  to  the  futm-e  is  entirely  natural  and 
in  accordance  with  the  usage  of  David's  psalms,  whenever  an  expression  of 
confident  anticipation  is  to  be  immediately  subjoined  to  one  of  strong  desire. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  liv.  3  (1). 

12  (11).  Thou  hast  crowned  the  year  of  thy  goodness,  and  thy  paths  drop 
fatness.  The  first  clause  may  either  mean,  thou  hast  crowned  the  year  tvith 
thy  goodness,  or,  as  some  prefer  to  construe  it,  thou  hast  crowned  the  year 
of  thy  goodness,  the  year  distinguished  by  thy  goodness,  with  particular 
instances  and  proofs  of  that  goodness.  The  obvious  meaning  of  the  strong 
but  beautiful  figure  in  the  last  clause  is,  that  wherever  he  appears  his 
movements  are  attended  by  a  rich  and  fertilizing  influence.  Fatness  is  as 
usual  a  figure  for  rich  food,  and  that  for  general  abundance, 

13  (12).  They  drop — the  pastures  of  the  wilderness,  and  (with)  joy  the 
hills  are  girt.  The  word  translated  pastures  properly  means  dwellings,  but 
is  specially  applied  to  folds  and  pastures,  as  the  places  to  which  flocks 
resort.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiii.  1.  The  word  translated  wilderness, 
according  to  its  most  probable  etymology,  originally  signifies,  not  a  barren 
desert,  but  a  tract  of  country  neither  tilled  nor  thickly  peopled,  though 
perhaps  luxuriant  and  abundant  as  a  pasture  ground.  The  general  meta- 
phor of  clothing  which  occurs  in  the  next  verse,  is  here  anticipated  by  the 
specific  one  of  a  girdle,  as  that  which  surrounds  the  body  and  confines  the 
dress.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  33  (32). 

14  (13).  The  pastures  are  clothed  with  flocks,  and  the  vales  shall  be  robed 
in  grain;  they  shall  shout  (for  joy),  yea,  they  shall  sing.  Some  translate 
the  first  clause,  the  flocks  are  clothed  with  lambs,  denying  that  the  first  noun 
in  Hebrew  ever  means  pastures.     But  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  20.     The 


286  Psalm  66:1  -  5 

image  presented  in  the  first  translation  is  certainly  more  natural  and  beau- 
tiful. It  also  makes  the  paralleUsm  more  complete,  the  fields  being  covered 
by  the  waving  crops  in  the  same  sense  that  the  meadows  are  covered  by 
the  grazing  flocks.  In  the  last  clause  the  pastures  and  valleys,  by  a  beau- 
tiful personification,  are  described  as  breaking  forth  into  shouts  of  joy  and 
songs  of  praise.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ix,  10  (8). 

Psalm  66 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  A  Song.  A  Psalm.  Shout  unto  God,  all 
the  earth  !  The  second  clause  of  the  inscription  represents  it  as  a  psalm  of 
praise.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixv.  1.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  contents  and 
structure  of  the  psalm  itself,  in  which  we  have,  first,  a  general  celebration 
of  God's  wonderful  dealings  with  his  people  in  all  ages,  ver.  1-7 ;  then  a 
similar  acknowledgment  of  what  he  had  done  in  a  particular  case,  ver.  8—12 ; 
and  lastly,  a  pledge  or  promise  of  thanksgi\ing,  ver.  13-20.  The  resem- 
blance to  the  forty-sixth  psalm  has  led  some  to  suppose  that  this  psalm 
was  occasioned  by  the  same  event,  or  composed  in  imitation  of  the  other, 
for  the  use  of  the  church  in  similar  emergencies.  The  verb  shout  is  plural 
in  its  form,  which  shews  that  earth  has  a  collective  sense. 

2.  Sing  the  honour  of  his  name;  give  (him)  honour,  (give)  him  praise^ 
The  honour  or  glory  of  his  name  is  that  due  to  his  manifested  excellence. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxix.  2.  Give,  literally  place  or  put,  the  verbs  expressing 
these  ideas  being  often  interchanged  in  Hebrew.  The  same  phrase  that 
is  here  used  occurs  also  in  Josh.  vii.  19,  Isa.  xlii.  12,  and  is  clearly  equi- 
valent to  give  honour  in  Ps.  xxix.  1,  2,  Ixviii.  35  (84),  Jer.  xiii.  16.  The 
form  of  the  last  clause  is  peculiar,  give  Jionour  [as  or  to)  his  praise. 

3.  How  fearful  are  thy  doings  !  In  the  greatness  of  thy  strength  shall 
thine  enemies  lie  tojhee.  Here  begin,  as  some  interpreters  suppose,  the 
words  in  which  the  required  praise  is  to  be  rendered  to  Jehovah ;  an  ad- 
missible, though  not  by  any  means  a  necessary  supposition.  The  first 
clause  may  likewise  be  translated,  how  fearful  (art  thou  in)  thy  doings, 
after  the  analogy  of  ver.  5  below,  the  ellipsis  of  the  pronoun  being  similar 
to  that  in  Ps.  Ixviii.  36  (35).  In  the  greatness  of  thy  strength,  i.  e.  because 
of  it,  or  rather  in  the  knowledge  and  beUef  of  it.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  8  (7). 
Lie  to  thee,  make  false  professions  of  allegiance,  yield  a  feigned  obedience, 
through  the  influence  of  fear.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  45  (44). 

4.  All  the  earth  shall  worship  thee  and  sing  to  thee ;  they  shall  sing  thy 
name.  Selah.  Here  again  the  verbs  are  plural,  shewing  that  all  the  earth 
is  to  be  taken  in  a  collective  sense,  as  meaning  all  lands,  or  all  the  dwellers 
upon  earth.  See  above,  on  ver.  1.  Worship  thee,  bow  or  prostrate  them- 
selves before  thee,  as  an  act  both  of  civil  and  rehgious  homage.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  v.  8  (7).  They  shall  not  only  sing  to  thee,  but  sing  thy 
name,  i.  e.  not  only  celebrate  thy  being  but  thy  manifested  nature,  the 
attributes  revealed  by  thy  previous  works.  This  anticipation  of  universal 
homage  to  Jehovah  is  in  strict  accordance  with  the  whole  spirit  and  design 
of  the  Mosaic  dispensation. 

5.  Go,  see  the  worhs  of  God,  fearful  {in)  action  on  the  sons  of  man.  The 
verb  go  is  often  used  in  Hebrew,  as  a  formula  of  invitation  or  of  challenge, 
where  in  English  we  say  come.  See  below,  ver.  16,  and  compare  Isa. 
ii.  8,  5.  In  this  case,  however,  go  may  be  intended  to  express  something 
more  than  would  have  been  expressed  hj  come.     The  meaning  may  be,  if 


Psalm  66:6 -10  287 

you  do  not  believe  these  general  declarations  of  God's  power  and  dominion, 
go  and  see  for  yourselves  the  proofs  already  given  in  the  history  of  man- 
kind, and  more  especially  in  that  of  Israel :  go  to  Egypt,  to  the  Red  Sea, 
to  the  Wilderness,  to  Jordan,  and  in  the  wonders  there  performed  and  still 
repeated  in  the  experience  of  the  church,  see  the  evidence  that  God  is 
indeed  possessed  of  a  tremendous  power  to  control  and  influence  mankind. 
With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xlvi.  9  (8),  the  only  other  place  where 
the  word  /ll/yDD  occurs. 

6.  He  turned  the  sea  into  the  dry  [land) ;  through  the  river  they  shall  pass 
on  foot  ;  there  will  we  rejoice  in  him.  There  is  an  obvions  allusion  to  the 
crossing  of  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Jordan,  not  as  mere  historical  events,  but 
as  types  or  samples  of  God's  extraordinary  interpositions  on  behalf  of 
Israel,  such  as  might  be  realized  again  in  their  experience.  Hence  the  pro- 
miscuous use  of  preterite  and  future  forms,  as  if  to  say,  the  God  of  Israel 
will  again  turn  the  Red  Sea  into  dry  land  for  the  passage  of  his  people ;  if 
need  be,  they  shall  again  cross  the  Jordan  dry  shod ;  there,  on  the  scene 
of  these  miraculous  events,  shall  we  again  rejoice  in  him.  The  combina- 
tion of  sea  and  river  seems  to  shew  that  by  the  latter  we  must  understand 
Jordan,  and  not,  as  some  interpreters  suppose,  the  Euphrates,  which  is 
commonly  so  called.     But  see  Isa.  xi.  15,  16,  Zech.  x.  11. 

7.  Ruling  by  his  might  for  ever ;  his  eyes  over  (or  among)  the  nations 
watch  ;  let  not  the  rebels  exalt  themselves.  Selah.  The  participle  in  the 
first  clause  is  expressive  of  habitual  action,  '*  he  ^constantly,  habitually 
rules."  See  above,  Ps.  xxii.  29  (28).  By  his  might,  with  which  he 
was  before  described  as  girded.  See  above,  Ps.  Ixv.  7  (6).  The  noun 
eternity  is  used  adverbially  to  mean  for  ever.  The  divine  inspection  here 
described  implies  that  man  can  no  more  evade  God's  power  than  resist  it. 
The  last  clause  may  be  either  a  prayer  to  God  or  an  admonition  to  his 
enemies.  Exalt  themselves  :  the  Keri  or  marginal  reading  is,  be  high  for 
them  (or  for  themselves);  the  Kethib  or  textual  reading,  lift  (or  raise)  for 
themselves,  in  which  case  horn  may  be  supplied  from  Ps.  Ixxv.  5,  6  (4,  5), 
or  head  from  Ps.  ex.  7.  The  rebels,  i.  e.  against  God,  his  stubborn  and 
incorrigible  enemies. 

8.  Bless,  0  ye  nations,  our  God,  cause  to  be  heard  the  voice  of  his  praise  f 
To  the  general  description  of  God's  gracious  dispensations  towards  his 
people  there  seems  now  to  be  added  the  commemoration  of  a  particular 
event  of  this  kind ;  not  one  of  merely  local  interest,  however,  but  of  such 
importance,  that  the  nations  are  invited  to  unite  in  praising  God  for  it. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  50  (49),  xxii.  28  (27). 

9.  The  (one)  putting,  who  puts,  our  soul  in  life,  and  has  not  given  (up) 
to  removal  our  foot,  has  not  allowed  it  to  move  or  slip.  The  unusual  expres- 
sion in  the  first  clause  seems  to  mean  restoration  to  life,  a  figure  for  relief 
from  great  distress,  which  is  not  unfrequently  described  as  death.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  4  (3),  xUx.  16  (15).  To  set  in  life  is  not  unlike  the 
phrase  to  set  in  safety,  Ps.  xii.  6  (5).  The  form  of  expression  in  the  last 
clause  is  analogous  to  that  in  Ps.  Iv.  23  (22)  above,  and  identical  with  that 
in  Ps.  cxxi.  3  below.  Given  up  to  removal,  sufi'ered  to  be  moved  from  its 
firm  position  or  its  place  of  safety. 

10.  For  thou  hast  tried  us,  O  God,  thou  hast  purged  (or  assayed)  us  like 
the  purging  of  silver,  as  silver  is  purged,  with  particular  reference,  as  some 
suppose,  to  the  long- continued  and  repeated  process  of  refinement  neces- 
sary in  the  case  of  silver.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xii.  7  (6),  xxvi.  2,  and  compare 
Isa.  i.  25,  xlviii.  10,  Zech.  xiii.  9,  1  Pet.  i.  7.      The  general  idea  here  is 


288  Psalm  66:11  -  14 

that  of  affliction,  as  a  means  both  of  trial  and  purgation,  and  is  carried  out 
in  the  following  verses. 

11.  Thou  host  caused  us  to  come  into  the  net;  thou  hast  put  pressure  on 
our  loins.  The  first  clause  is  descriptive  of  complicated  difficulties  and  em- 
barrassments, the  second  of  suffering  and  weakness.  The  word  translated 
net  occurs  above  in  the  very  different  sense  of  a  tower  or  fortress,  Ps. 
xviii.  3  (2).  But  even  when  soused,  it  strictly  means  a  hunting  tower,  i.e. 
a  post  of  observation  and  of  safety  used  by  hunters,  and  from  the  same  root 
(T^S,  to  hunt)  may  be  deduced  the  sense  of  net  or  snare,  as  a  customary 
implement  of  hunting,  in  which  sense  it  is  certainly  employed  by  Ezekiel 
(xii.  13).  The  word  translated  pressure  occurs  only  here,  but  its  essential 
meaning  is  clear  from  its  etymological  affinities.  Compare  the  cognate 
form  in  Ps.  Iv.  4  (3).  Some  suppose  the  idea  to  be  that  of  a  superincum- 
bent pressure,  load,  or  burden,  corresponding  to  the  verb  as  used  in  Amos 
ii.  13.  Others  make  pressure  mean  contraction,  stricture,  and  by  necessary 
implication,  pain  or  anguish.  The  loins  are  mentioned  as  the  seat  of 
strength  (Deut.  xxxiii.  11),  an  injury  to  which  implies  both  pain  and  weak- 
ness.    See  below,  on  Ps.  Ixix.  24  (23). 

12.  Thou  hast  caused  (or  suffered)  men  to  ride  at  our  head,  we  came  into 
the  /ire  and  into  the  waters,  and  (now)  thou  h  t  caused  us  to  come  forth  to 
abundance,  overflow,  i.  e.  of  enjoyment.  M-an,  frail  or  mortal  man,  whose 
tyranny  is  therefore  the  more  insupportable.  See  above,  on  Ps.  viii.  5  (4). 
This  first  clause  is  ambiguous,  in  Hebrew  as  in  English.  To  ride  at  our 
head,  though  an  exact  translation,  suggests  only  the  idea  of  command  or 
guidance,  whereas  some  kind  of  suffering  is  required  by  the  context.  The 
common  version,  to  ride  over  our  heads,  presents  the  image  of  horsemen 
trampling  on  their  conquered  enemies.  Some  suppose  the  idea  to  be  that 
of  ridiuff  on  us,  as  a  man  controls  and  guides  the  horse  that  carries  him. 
The  head  must  then  be  mentioned  only  as  the  noblest  part,  without  imply- 
ing that  the  rider  actually  sits  upon  it.  But  this  very  circumstance  makes 
the  interpretation  an  unnatural  and  forced  one.  Fire  and  tvater,  as  the  two 
great  destroying  elements,  are  common  figures  for  distress  and  danger. 
Compare  Isa.  xliii.  2.  The  last  Hebrew  word  in  the  verse  occurs  only 
here  and  in  Ps.  xxiii.  5. 

13.  1  will  come  {to)  thy  house  with  burnt-offerings ;  I  will  pay  to  thee  my 
vows,  i.  e.  the  offerings  thus  promised.  His  acknowledgments  shall  not  be 
merely  verbal  or  mental,  but  ceremonial,  i.  e.  expressed  in  the  symbolical 
form  required  by  the  dispensation  under  which  he  lived.  The  reference  is 
neither  to  internal  feelings  nor  to  outward  rites  exclusively,  but  to  both 
together.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xl.  7  (6),  1.  8,  U.  18  (16).  With  the  last 
clause,  compare  Ps.  Ixv.  2  (1).  The  sudden  change  of  number,  from  the 
plural  to  the  singular,  shews  that  what  follows  is  the  words  of  an  ideal 
speaker,  representing  the  same  persons  who  had  spoken  in  the  foregoing 
context,  if  not  identical  with  them. 

14.  Which  my  lips  Jittered  and  my  mouth  spake  in  my  distress.  The  first 
verb  is  a  very  strong  and  expressive  one,  in  this  connection  not  unlike  our 
familiar  phrases,  bolted,  blurted  out,  implying  that  he  spoke  from  some 
in-esistible  impulse,  and  thus  suggesting  what  is  afterwards  explicitly  affirmed, 
that  the  vows  in  question  were  occasioned  by  extreme  distress.  The  Hebrew 
verb  originally  means  to  open  or  distend  the  lips,  whether  as  a  gesture  of 
mockery  (Lam.  ii.  16),  or  menace  (Ps.  xxii.  14),  or  for  the  purpose  of 
articulate  speech  (Job  xxxv.  16).  That  its  absolute  use,  in  special  refer- 
ence to  vows  spontaneously  and  hastily  uttered,  was  faraihar  to  the  ancients, 


Psalm  66:15  -  20  289 

may  be  seen  from  Judges  xi.  35,  36.  In  my  distress  ;  the  original  expres- 
sion is,  in  the  distress  to  me.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  7  (6). 

15.  Burnt-offerings  of  fatlings  will  I  offer  to  thee,  with  incense  of  rams  ; 
I  will  make  (an  oblation  of)  cattle  ivith  he-goats.  Selah.  The  word  trans- 
lated/a////i/7s  is  especially  applied  to  lambs,  Isa.  v.  17.  The  verb  is  the 
first  clause  in  the  one  from  which  the  noun  rendered  burnt-offering  is  derived, 
and  strictly  means  I  will  cause  to  ascend,  i.  e.  upon  the  altar,  or  in  vapour 
from  it.  Incense  may  here  be  taken  in  its  etymological  sense  of  something 
burnt  sacrificially,  although  in  usage  limited  to  aromatic  fumigations,  which 
is  also  the  case  with  the  Hebrew  word  in  every  place  but  this,  where  it 
seems  to  mean  the  sacrificial  fat  that  was  burned  upon  the  altar.  The 
verb  to  make  is  absolutely  used,  as  a  technical  term  of  the  Mosaic  Law,  to 
denote  the  act  of  sacrifice.  See  Exod.  xxix.  36,  Lev.  ix.  7,  and  compare 
Judges  vi.  19,  1  Kings  xviii.  23,  26.  The  different  species  of  victims  are 
enumerated  here,  to  convey  the  idea  of  a  regular  and  perfect  sacrifice,  im- 
plying more  than  ordinary  thankfulness. 

16.  Go  (or  in  our  idiom,  come),  hear,  all  ye  fearers  of  (ye  that  fear)  God, 
and  I  will  tell  you  what  he  hath  done  to  (or  for)  my  soul.  The  fearers  of 
Jehovah  is  a  common  description  of  believers  or  the  people  of  God.  See 
Ps.  Ix.  6  (4),  Ixi.  6  (5).  The  invitation  is  like  that  in  Ps.  xxii.  24  (23). 
Tell,  in  the  primary  sense  of  counting  or  numbering,  and  the  secondary  one 
of  recounting  or  relating.  To  my  soul,  i.  e.  to  me,  whose  life  or  soul  was 
threatened.  To  me  as  the  object  of  the  act  alluded  to,  or  for  me,  as  the 
person  to  be  benefited.  This  address  prepares  the  way  for  the  ensuing 
declaration,  founded  on  his  own  experience,  that  it  is  only  by  sincere  sub- 
mission and  devotion  to  God  that  his  protection  is  to  be  secured. 

17.  To  him  (with)  my  mouth  I  called,  and  high  ^;/-itw«  (exaltation)  was 
under  my  tongue.  By  a  slight  change  in  the  pointing,  or  by  supposing  an 
irregularity  of  punctuation,  the  last  clause  may  be  rendered,  he  was  extolled 
under  my  tongue,  i.  e.  by  means  of  it  as  an  instrument  of  praise.  But  as 
a  corresponding  plural  form  occurs  below,  Ps.  cxlix.  6,  the  Hebrew  word 
(DDi*))  is  probably  a  noun,  meaning  lofty  praise,  or  exaltation  by  means 

of  praise.  Under  my  tongue  may  be  simply  equivalent  to  on  or  with  my 
tongue,  or  it  may  be  intended  to  suggest  the  additional  idea  of  a  store  or 
deposit  of  such  praises  still  in  reserve,  to  be  employed  hereafter,  which  some 
suppose  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  in  Ps.  x.  7. 

18.  Iniquity  if  I  have  seen  in.  my  heart,  the  Lord  will  not  hear.  If  I  had 
any  wicked  end  in  view,  God  would  not  hear  my  prayer.  The  same  idea 
is  expressed  in  Prov.  xv.  29,  Isa.  i.  15,  lix.  2,  John  ix.  31,  1  John  iii.  22. 
It  is  here  stated  as  the  ground  on  which  he  means  to  argue  his  own  inno- 
cence of  any  such  corrupt  design,  and  actually  does  so  in  the  next  verse. 

19.  (Bni)  verily  God  hath  heard;  he  hath  attended  to  the  voice  of  my 
prayer.  The  Hebrew  particle  at  the  beginning  is  strictly  not  adversative 
but  affirmative.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxi.  23  (22).  It  is  equivalent  in  force 
to  our  expressions,  whereas,  really,  in  fact,  &c.  The  doubt  subjected  in  the 
foregoing  verse  had  been  removed  in  his  case  by  the  appUcation  of  the  test 
there  mentioned.  God  had  already  heard  his  prayer  and  thereby  borne 
witness  that  he  was  not  guilty  of  the  duphcity  in  question. 

20.  Blessed  (be)  God  who  hath  not  put  away  my  prayer  (from  him)  and 
his  mercy  from  me.  Here  as  elsewhere,  when  apphed  to  God,  blessed  can 
only  mean  praised  or  entitled  to  be  praised.  The  double  apphcation  of  the 
verb  in  the  last  clause  cannot  well  be  imitated  in  translation.     The  same 


290  Psalm  67:1 -5 

word  in  Hebrew  may  be  used  to  express  tbe  act  of  rejecting  a  petition,  and 
that  of  withdrawing  or  withholding  favour. 

Psalm  67 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  With  (or  on)  stringed  instruments.  A  Psalm ^ 
a  Song,  i.  e.  a  psalm  of  praise.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixvi.  1.  For  the  mean- 
ing of  the  second  clause  of  this  inscription,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Iv.  1,  and 
compare  Ps.  Ixi.  1.  The  psalm  before  us,  like  the  sixty-fifth,  seems  to 
have  special  reference  to  the  manifestation  of  God's  goodness  in  the  gift  of 
fruitful  seasons  and  abundant  harvests.  See  below,  on  ver.  7  (6),  and 
above,  on  Ps.  Ixv.  1 .  But  from  this  the  Psalmist,  or  the  church,  of  which 
he  is  the  spokesman,  takes  occasion  to  anticipate  the  extension  of  God's 
covenanted  gifts,  both  temporal  and  spiritual,  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
This  expectation  is  indeed  the  burden  of  the  psalm,  its  immediate  occasion 
being  only  mentioned  incidentally  near  the  close,  yet  not  so  obscurely  as  to 
make  it  doubtful.  Any  formal  division  of  this  short  and  simple  composi- 
tion can  only  tend  to  mar  its  beauty. 

2  (1).  God  he  merciful  unto  us  and  bless  us,  and  cause  his  face  to  shine 
upon  us  !  The  form  of  expression  is  evidently  borrowed  from  the  sacer- 
dotal benediction.  Num.  vi.  24,  25,  but  with  a  substitution  of  the  first 
person  plural  for  the  second  singular,  so  as  to  convert  the  authoritative 
blessing  upon  others  into  an  expression  of  desire  for  themselves.  The 
optative  meaning  of  the  sentence  is  determined  by  the  form  of  the  second 
verb  in  Hebrew.  Upon  us,  literally  with  us,  a  form  of  speech  probably 
intended  to  suggest  the  idea  of  the  divine  presence  and  communion.  As  to 
the  figure  in  the  last  clause,  see  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  7  (6),  xxxi.  17  (16). 

3  (2).  That  thy  way  may  he  known  in  the  earth,  in  all  nations  thy  sal- 
vation. The  original  construction  of  the  first  clause  is,  to  know  in  the  earth 
thy  way ;  but  the  sense  can  only  be  made  clear  in  English  by  a  passive 
form.  Thy  way,  i.  e.  thy  mode  of  dealing  with  thy  people,  referring  more 
particularly  here  to  providential  favours,  the  knowledge  of  which  he  hopes 
to  see  extended  to  all  nations,  as  a  means  to  the  promotion  of  still  higher 
ends.  The  pleonastic  phrase,  saving  health,  retained  in  the  authorised  version 
from  an  older  one,  has  nothing  corresponding  to  it  in  the  Hebrew  but  the 
single  word  which  always  means  salvation,  and  is  commonly  so  rendered. 

4  (3).  The  nations  shall  acknowledge  thee,  0  God,  the  nations  shall 
acknowledge  thee — all  of  them.  The  common  version  of  the  verb  here  twice 
used  (praise)  is  too  wide.  As  it  is  commonly  applied  to  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  benefits,  a  nearer  equivalent  is  thank.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ivii.  10  (9). 

5  (4).  Nations  shall  joy  and  triumph,  hecause  thou  shall  judge  peoples  (in) 
rectitude,  and  nations  in  the  earth — thou  shall  guide  them.  The  divine 
guidance  implies  protection  and  control.  Compare  Isa.  Iviii.  11.  The 
anticipation  of  universal  happiness,  as  springing  from  the  judicial  acts  of 
the  Messiah,  is  not  unusual  in  prophecy.  See  below,  on  Ps.  Ixii.  12-14, 
and  compai-e  Isa.  ii.  3.  The  word  translated  rectitude  occurs  above,  Ps. 
xlv.  7  (6). 

6  (5).  The  nations  shall  acknowledge  thee,  0  God,  the  nations  shall 
acknowledge  thee — all  of  them.  This  repetition  shews  the  anticipation  here 
expressed  to  be  the  principal  though  not  the  primary  subject  of  the  psalm. 
The  position  of  the  universal  terms,  at  the  close  of  this  verse  and  ver.  4  (3), 
is  highly  emphatic,  and  precludes,  in  the  most  explicit  manner,  all  restriciton 


Psalm  68: 1,2  291 

7  (6).  The  earth  (or  land)  has  yielded  her  produce;  God  will  bless  us, 
(even)  our  God.  The  translation  of  the  first  verb  as  a  future  is  entirely- 
gratuitous,  and  therefore  ungranimatical.  Correctly  rendered,  it  affords  a 
hint  of  the  immediate  occasion  of  the  psalm  itself.  The  mutual  relation  of 
the  clauses  is  that  of  a  thankful  acknowledgment  for  gifts  received  already 
to  a  joyful  and  believing  expectation  of  the  same  hereafter.  God  has 
blessed  us,  and  since  he  is  our  own  God,  he  will  bless  us  still. 

8  (7).  God  will  bless  us,  and  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  shall  fear  him.  The 
God  who  has  bestowed  this  harvest  on  us  will  continue  to  afford  us  tokens 
of  his  covenant  love  and  faithfulness  ;  and  the  day  is  coming  when  the  inti- 
mate relation  which  we  now  sustain  to  him  will  be  extended  to  all  nations. 
Ends  of  the  earth,  even  the  remotest  countries,  but  of  course  without 
excluding  those  at  hand.  It  is  really  tantamount  to  saying,  all  lands  or  the 
whole  earth.     See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  8. 


Psalm  68 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  By  David.  A  Psalm  of  Praise.  Literally, 
a  psalm,  a  song,  but  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixv.  1,  Ixvi.  1,  Ixvii.  1.  This  psalm, 
like  the  eighteenth,  which  it  very  much  resembles,  is  a  triumphal  song, 
occasioned  by  some  signal  victory  or  success  in  war,  perhaps  that  recorded 
in  2  Samuel  xii.  26-31,  which  closed  the  last  important  war  of  David's 
reign.  The  psalm  opens  with  a  general  praise  of  God  as  the  deliverer  of 
the  righteous  and  destroyer  of  the  wicked,  ver.  2-7  (1-6).  This  is  then 
illustrated  and  confirmed  by  a  reference  to  certain  periods  in  the  history  of 
Israel,  and  first  to  the  march  through  the  wilderness,  ver.  8-11  (7-10). 
Then  comes  the  period  of  the  judges,  ver.  12-15  (11-14).  Then  the  erec- 
tion of  the  monarchy  on  Zion,  and  its  confirmation  by  the  victory  just 
achieved,  ver.  16-20  (15-19).  This  is  then  represented  as  a  part  of  the 
general  plan  of  Jehovah's  dealings  with  his  people,  ver.  21—24  (20-23), 
The  triumphal  procession  is  described,  ver.  25-28  (24-27).  All  this,  how- 
ever, is  but  a  specimen  or  foretaste  of  a  universal  conquest  yet  to  come, 
ver.  29-32  (28-31).  In  anticipation  of  this  revolution,  the  nations  are 
summoned  to  unite  in  the  praises  of  Jehovah,  ver.  33-36  (32-35).  The 
resemblence  of  this  last  part  to  the  corresponding  parts  of  the  two  preced- 
ing psalms  may  account  for  the  position  of  the  one  before  us. 

2  (1.)  God  shall  arise,  his  enemies  shall  scatter ;  those  hating  him  shall 
flee  before  him.  This  verse  propounds,  as  the  theme  of  the  whole  psalm,  a 
fact  continually  verified  in  history.  There  is  also  an  obvious  allusion  to 
the  form  of  speech  uttered  by  Moses  at  the  removal  of  the  ark,  the  symbol 
of  God's  presence.  See  Num.  x.  35.  The  wish  there  expressed  is  here 
said  to  be  realised.     Hence  the  change  of  the  imperative  (HD^)  into  a 

future  (D'lpl),  shewing  that  this  verse  has  not  an  optative  meaning  [let  God 

arise),  but  is  declaratory  of  what  certainly  will  be  hereafter,  as  it  has  been 
already,  in  the  case  which  gave  occasion  to  the  psalm.  The  present  time 
is  not  excluded,  but  involved  in  the  general  proposition,  that  it  must  and 
will  be  so.  Shall  scatter  is  a  more  exact  translation  of  the  Hebrew  verb 
than  be  scattered,  although  the  idea  is  undoubtedly  that  of  involuntary 
violent  dispersion.  Before  him,  from  his  face,  or  from  his  presence.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  ix  4  (3),  Ixi.  4  (3). 

3  (2).  As  smoke  is  driven,  thou  wilt  drive  (them) ;  as  waa:  is  melted  before 


292  Psalm  68:3  -  7 

Jire,  the  wicked  shall  j^erhh  before  God.  The  form  of  expression  is  the  same 
as  in  the  preceding  verse, /rom  the  face  of  fire,  from  the  face  [or  presence)  of 
God.  The  verb  in  the  first  clause  is  the  same  with  that  in  Ps.  i.  4,  where 
the  wind,  imphed  here,  is  expressly  mentioned,  as  the  driving  or  propelling 
agent.  The  comparison  with  wax  is  a  common  one  in  Scripture,  and  occurs 
above,  in  Ps.  xxii.  15  (14).  With  the  last  clause  compare  the  conclusion 
of  the  Song  of  Deborah  (Judges  v,  31),  of  which  there  are  various  imitations, 
or  at  least  reminiscences,  in  this  psalm. 

4(3).  And  the  righteous  shall  he  glad ;  they  shall  triumph  before  God, 
and  shall  joy  with  gladness.  This  is  true  not  only  of  righteous  individuals 
but  of  righteous  nations,  and  especially  of  Israel,  as  such  considered, 
although  many  of  its  members  were  unrighteous.  But  these  are  not  con- 
sidered as  really  belonging  to  the  church  or  chosen  people,  but  are  classed 
among  the  wicked  enemies  of  God.  Before  God  shall  the  righteous  rejoice, 
as  the  wicked  flee  before  him. 

5  (4).  Sing  unto  God,  celebrate  his  name,  cast  up  (a  highway) /or  the 
(one)  riding  thi'ough  the  deserts,  by  his  name  Jah,  and  exult  before  him. 
The  second  clause  alludes  to  the  opening  of  roads  for  kings  and  armies. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  1.  23,  and  compare  Isa.  xl.  3,  Mai.  iii.  1.  The  common 
version  of  the  verb  {extol)  conveys  an  idea  wholly  foreign  from  the  usage  of 
the  Hebrew  word.  Riding,  i.  e.  journeying,  or  giving  it  a  miUtary  applica- 
tion, marching.  The  common  version  of  the  next  noun  (heavens)  is 
entirely  unauthorised  by  usage.  The  Hebrew  word  is  one  still  applied  by 
the  Arabs  to  the  region  over  which  the  Israelites  wandered  forty  years. 
The  idea  here  suggested  is  more  fully  carried  out  in  ver.  8-10  (7-9).  By 
his  name  Jah,  i.  e.  in  the  character  denoted  by  this  name,  which  is  an 
abbreviation  of  Jehovah,  peculiar  to  the  song  of  Moses  (Exod.  xv.  2)  and  the 
later  imitations  of  it.  See  my  notes  on  Isa.  xii.  2,  xxxviii.  11.  The 
people  are  summoned  to  prepare  for  the  reception  of  this  glorious  visitor. 

6  (5).  Father  of  oriihans  and  judge  of  uidoivs  (is)  God  in  his  abode  of 
holiness.  One  of  the  most  glorious  divine  characters  is  that  of  a  protector 
of  the  innocent  and  helpless.  Judge,  vindicator,  patron,  one  who  does 
them  justice.  His  abode  of  holiness  cannot  in  this  connection  denote 
heaven,  but  must  be  referred  to  his  peculiar  residence  among  his  chosen 
people.  It  was  there  that,  both  by  the  provisions  of  this  law  and  the  dis- 
pensations of  his  providence,  he  asserted  his  right  to  the  exalted  character 
here  claimed  for  him. 

7  (C).  God  makes  the  lonely  dwell  in  houses,  makes  the  captives  come  forth 
into  enjoyments  ;  only  rebels  (still)  ifihabit  a  dry  land  (or  desert).  This, 
though  a  general  proposition,  seems  to  have  a  special  reference  to  the 
change  in  the  condition  of  the  Israehtes,  when  brought  out  of  the  wilder- 
ness into  possession  of  the  promised  land.  The  participles  in  the  original 
{settling,  bringing  out)  express  habitual  or  customary  acts.  In  houses, 
literally  in  a  house,  or  still  more  closely  to  a  house,  the  idea  of  removal 
being  really  implied.  The  word  might  also  be  translated  homewards  or  at 
home.  The  last  word  in  this  clause  occurs  nowhere  else,  and  has  been 
variously  explained  to  mean  in  chains,  by  force,  and  into  pleasures  or  enjoy- 
ments, which  last  is  now  preferred  by  most  interpreters. 

8  (7).  O  God,  in  thy  going  out  before  thy  people,  in  thy  marching  through 
the  ivilderness.  Selah.  The  sentence  is  completed  in  the  next  verse,  being 
here  divided  by  a  pause  of  solemn  and  admiring  recollection.  The  general 
description  of  the  foregoing  verses  is  now  confirmed  and  illustrated  by 
a  reference  to  the  exodus  from  Egypt,  and  the  journey  through  the  wilder- 


Psalm  68:8 -]2  293 

ness.  Before  thy  people,  in  the  pillar  of  cloud,  as  their  guide  and  their 
commander.  Thy  marching,  literally  thy  stepping,  treading,  or  more  ex- 
actly still,  thy  step  or  tread.  To  make  the  allusion  still  more  pointed,  the 
word  for  wilderness  is  not  the  one  commonly  so  rendered,  but  one  borrowed 
from  Deut.  xxxii.  10. 

9  (8).  The  earth  shook,  nay,  the  heavens  dropped,  this  Sinai,  at  the 
presence  of  God,  the  God  of  Israel.  Dropped,  discharged  drops,  rained. 
This  is  mentioned  as  a  natural  and  usual  accompaniment  of  a  thunderstorm. 
This  Sinai  probably  means,  this  (was  at)  Sinai,  and  should  be  read  as  a 
parenthesis.  The  usual  construction  not  only  requires  a  verb  to  be  re- 
peated or  supplied,  but  yields  an  obscure  and  doubtful  sense,  as  no  reason 
can  be  given  why  Sinai  should  be  called  this  Sinai,  and  the  version  Sinai 
itseJf  is  unauthorised  by  usage.  The  first  clause  is  descriptive  of  the  grand 
and  terrible  phenomena  attending  the  theopany  at  Sinai.  See  Exod. 
xix.  16-18. 

10  (9).  A  rain  of  free  gifts  thou  pourest  down,  0  God  ;  thine  inheritance 
and  [that)  exhausted,  thou  dost  confirm  (or  strengthen)  it.  The  first  clause 
probably  refers  to  the  abundant  and  refreshing  gifts  (of  which  rain  is  a 
natural  and  common  emblem)  bestowed  upon  the  people  in  the  wilderness, 
including  manna,  quails,  and  water.  The  future  tense  is  like  those  in  Ps. 
xviii.  7  (6).  Pour  down,  literally  shake  or  shake  out.  Thine  inheritance, 
thy  people.  The  construction  is  that  of  an  absolute  nominative,  (as  to) 
thine  inheritance.  The  next  clause  heightens  the  description  by  suggesting 
that  the  gift  came  precisely  when  it  was  most  needed. 

11  (10).  Tlty  flock  hath  dwelt  therein  ;  thou  wilt  provide,  in  thy  goodness, 
for  the  wretched.  The  first  noun  strictly  means  an  animal,  and  more  espe- 
cially a  beast,  but  was  probably  employed  as  a  collective  to  denote  a  herd 
or  flock,  in  which  sense  it  was  figuratively  applied  in  David's  time  to  a 
company  or  troop  of  men,  (2  Sam  xxiii.  11,  13).  Therein,  i.e.  in  the 
land  of  promise,  which  was  present  to  the  writer's  mind,  though  not  ex- 
pressly mentioned  in  the  context.  See  below,  ver.  15  (14),  and  compare 
Isa.  viii.  21.  Thou  ivilt  provide,  indefinitely,  whatsoever  may  be  needed  ; 
or  more  specifically,  wilt  prepare,  i.  e.  prepare  a  home,  a  resting  place. 
The  future  tense  describes  it  as  a  customary  method  of  proceeding  upon 
God's  part,  but  specially  exemplified  in  the  case  of  Israel,  who,  until  his 
settlement  in  Canaan,  might  well  be  called  a  sufferer,  a  wretched  orafilicted  one. 

12  (11).  The  Lord  will  give  the  word  ;  the  {women)  publishing  (it)  are  a 
great  host.  As  to  the  future,  see  above,  on  ver.  10,  11  (9,  10).  Word 
here  means  tidings,  news,  and,  as  the  whole  connection  shews,  good  news, 
which  is  also  suggested  by  the  word  translated  publishing,  but  in  usage 
constantly  applied  to  joyful  tidings.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xl.  10  (9).  There 
is  obvious  allusion  to  the  ancient  oriental  custom  of  women  celebrating 
victories  with  song  and  dance.  See  Exod.  xv.  20,  1  Sam.  xviii.  6,  7. 
The  reference  is  not  to  any  one  occasion,  but  to  an  ideal  choir  chanting  all 
the  victories  of  some  great  period,  perhaps  that  of  the  Judges. 

13  (12).  Kings  of  armies  shall  flee,  shall  flee,  and  she  that  larrieth  at 
home  shall  divide  the  spoil.  The  flight  described  is  not  that  of  kings  alone, 
but  of  kings  at  the  head  of  armies.  The  repetition  of  the  verb  denotes  the 
certainty  and  completeness  of  the  rout.  The  dweller  in  the  house  is  by 
some  literally  understood  to  mean  the  woman  who  takes  no  part  in  the 
battle.  But  others  regard  it  as  a  figure  ,for  the  chosen  people,  dwelling 
quietly  at  home,  after  the  disappearance  of  their  enemies,  when  "  the  land 
had  rest,"  Judges  v.  31,  viii.  28. 


294  Psalm  68:13  -  16 

14  (13).  When  ye  He  doivn  heticeen  the  borders,  (ye  shall  be  like)  the 
wings  oj  a  dove  covered  with  silver  and  her  pinions  with  yellow  gold.  The 
general  idea  seems  to  be  that  when  "  the  land  had  rest,"  her  condition  was 
one  of  peaceful  prosperity.  The  common  version  of  the  first  clause  {though 
ye  have  lien  among  the  pots)  is  justified  neither  by  rabbinical  tradition  nor 
the  ancient  versions.  The  Hebrew  noun  occurs  only  here  and  in  Ezekel 
xl.  43,  where  it  is  equally  obsciire,  and  the  cognate  forms  in  Gen.  xlix.  14, 
Judges  V.  16,  are  scarcely  less  so.  The  only  meaning,  besides  those  already 
mentioned^,  which  has  any  probabiHty,  is  that  of  folds  or  sheep-cotes,  lying 
among  which  might  be  viewed  as  a  poetical  figure  for  rural  or  pastoral  re- 
pose, thus  amounting  to  the  same  thing  with  the  first  translation,  which 
describes  the  people  as  residing  quietly  between  the  borders,  i.  e.  within  the 
boundaries  or  frontiers  of  their  territory,  now  once  more  forsaken  by  the 
enemy.  The  beautiful  allusion  in  the  last  clause  to  the  changeable  colours 
of  a  dove's  plumage  seems  intended  to  suggest  the  idea  of  a  peaceful  but 
splendid  prosperity. 

15  (14).  When  the  Almighty  scatters  kings  therein,  it  snows  in  Zalmon. 
The  change  from  war  to  peace  is  Ukened  to  the  dazzling  whiteness  of  snow 
in  the  midst  of  blackness  or  darkness.  This  last  idea  is  conveyed  by  Zalmon, 
an  unimportant  eminence  near  Shechem,  partly  perhaps  in  reference  to  the 
dark  forests  which  covered  it  (Judges  ix.  48),  but  chiefly  to  the  meaning  of 
the  name  itself,  to  wit,  shade  or  shadow.  The  parallel  term,  snow,  suggests 
the  idea  of  the  brightest  light.  See  Ps.  li.  9  (7),  Isa.  i.  18,  Mark  ix.  3, 
Mat.  xxviii.  3,  Rev.  i.  14,  and  compare  Mat.  xvii.  2.  Some,  with  far  less 
probabiHty,  explain  the  verse  as  meaning  that  the  land  was  whitened  with 
the  slain,  as  Zalmon  was  with  snow ;  but  this  ascribes  too  great  an  altitude 
to  Zalmon.  The  Hebrew  construction  in  the  first  clause  is,  in  the  Almighty's 
scattering  kings,  i.  e.  at  the  time  of  his  so  doing.  The  divine  name  here 
used  is  not  the  one  so  frequently  translated  Mighty  in  the  Psalms,  but  the 
patriarchal  title  mentioned  m  Exod.  vi.  3.  Compare  Gen.  xvii.  1,  xxviii.  3. 
It  is  here  introduced  because  the  events  in  question  were  remarkable  exer- 
tions and  displays  of  God's  omnipotence.  Scattered  here  means  routed, 
put  to  flight.  See  above,  ver.  13  (12),  and  compare  the  use  of  the  same 
Hebrew  verb  in  Zech.  ii.  10  (6). 

16  (15).  A  mount  of  God  {is)  mount  Bashan,  a  mount  of  peaks  (or 
ridges)  is  mount  Bashan.  The  first  phrase  means  a  mountain  shewing 
forth  the  creative  power  of  God  by  its  vastness.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  7 
(6).  Mount  Bashan,  not  a  single  eminence,  but  the  lofty  range  of  Anti- 
libanus,  also  called  Hermon,  and  by  other  races,  Sion  and  Sirion.  See  Deut. 
iii.  9,  iv.  48,  Ps.  xlii.  7  (6),  Ps.  Ixxxix.  13  (12).  The  last  two  names 
would  be  apt  to  suggest,  by  a  fortuitous  resemblance,  that  of  the  holy  hill 
of  Zion.  A  mount  of  peaks  or  ridges,  *.  e.  not  a  detached  mountain,  but  a 
chain  with  many  lofty  summits,  forming  the  northern  boundary  of  Bashan. 
At  the  same  time,  the  expression  of  this  verse  would  necessarily  suggest 
the  idea  of  great  states  or  kingdoms,  of  which  mountains  are  the  standing 
symbols.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xlvi.  3  (2),  Ixv.  7  (6). 

17  (16).  Why  will  ye  watch,  {ye)  hills,  {ye)  ridges,  the  hill  God  hath 
desired  for  his  dwelling  ?  Yea,  Jehovah  will  inhabit  {it)  for  ever.  The 
interrogative  form  implies  disapprobation  and  contempt.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
ii.  1.  The  verb  occurs  nowhere  else  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  its  meaning 
has  been  preserved  in  Arabic,  namely,  to  watch  as  an  enemy,  to  lie  in  wait, 
or,  as  some  allege,  to  view  with  envy.  Common  to  both  is  the  idea  of  hos- 
tility or  ill-will.     The  translation  of  this  verb  in  the  Enghsh  Bible  {leap) 


Psalm  68:17, 18  295 

and  in  the  Prayer-Book  version  {hop)  seems  to  rest  on  mere  conjecture. 
The  two  nouns,  hills  and  ridges,  are  by  some  supposed  to  form  a  sort  of 
compound,  ridge-hills,  i.  e.  high  or  rugged  hills.  Compare  the  phrase  wine- 
reeling,  Ps.  Ix.  5  (3).  The  plural  form  may  denote  the  several  peaks,  or 
the  whole  class  which  this  range  of  mountains  merely  represented.  Zion  is 
here  described  as  an  object  of  hostihty  or  en\7  to  the  mountains  of  the 
heathen  world,  on  account  of  the  honour  put  upon  it  by  its  being  chosen  as 
the  earthly  residence  of  God.  Having  first  poetically  said  that  he  desired 
it,  i.  e.  preferred  and  chose  it,  to  preclude  all  doubt  as  to  the  event,  the 
Psalmist  adds,  not  only  so,  but  he  does  and  will  dwell  there  for  ever.  The 
verbs  of  the  second  and  third  clause,  although  synonymous,  are  not  identical 
in  Hebrew.  There  is  evident  significance  in  the  choice  of  the  divine  names 
here  employed.  Not  only  did  he  choose  it,  as  Elohim,  for  his  dwelling,  but 
he  actually  dwells  there  as  Jehovah,  as  the  God  of  revelation  and  the  cove- 
nanted God  of  Israel. 

18  (17).  The  chariots  of  God  {are)  two  myriads,  multiplied  thousands  ; 
the  Lord  is  among  them,  Sinai  in  the  sanctuary.  As  David's  most  formi- 
dable foes  were  particularly  strong  in  chariots  of  war  (2  Sam.  viii.  4,  x.  18), 
so  here  God's  power  of  protection  is  expressed  by  an  innumerable  multitude 
of  chariots.  The  same  mode  of  representation  occurs  in  the  history  of 
Elisha,  2  Kings  vi.  17.  Two  myriads  is  a  closer  version  than  twenty  thou- 
sand, because  the  Hebrew  word  is  the  dual  of  one  used  both  in  the  vague 
sense  of  a  multitude,  and  in  the  precise  sense  of  a  myriad.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  iii.  7  (6),  where  the  plural  of  the  same  word  occurs.  The  next  phrase 
strictly  means  thousands  of  rejyetition  or  reduplication,  i.  e.  thousands  upon 
thousands.  Compare  Dan.  vii.  10.  There  is  no  mention  of  angels  in  the 
text,  although  interpreters  in  every  age  have  supposed  their  presence  to  be 
necessarily  implied,  as  the  conductors  of  God's  chariots,  if  not  as  the 
chariots  themselves,  which  is  the  sense  put  upon  the  Hebrew  phrase  by 
both  the  Enghsh  versions  {even  thousands  of  angels).  There  is  also  an 
obvious  allusion  to  the  giving  of  the  law  at  Sinai,  as  described  in  Deut. 
xxxiii.  2,  3,  the  presence  of  angels  at  which  appears  to  be  assumed  in  the 
New  Testament,  Gal.  iii.  19,  Heb.  ii.  2.  It  is  not,  however,  the  mere 
number,  even  of  these  heavenly  hosts,  that  constitutes  the  safety  of  the  holy 
place,  but  the  personal  presence  of  the  Lord  {Adhonai)  among  them,  which 
is  therefore  asserted  in  the  next  clause*  The  last  words  of  the  verse  are 
obscure,  but  seem  most  probably  to  mean  that  the  same  glorious  theophany 
which  once  took  place  on  Sinai  is  now  renewed  on  Zion,  with  particular 
reference,  as  some  imagine,  to  the  presence  of  the  ark  and  the  tables  of 
stone  in  the  one  case,  as  a  perpetual  memorial,  and  even  a  perpetual  renewal, 
of  the  legislation  in  the  other.  This  fine  poetical  identification  of  the  two 
mountains  hallowed  by  God's  presence  may  have  been  in  the  mind  of  the 
apostle  when  he  drew  that  sublime  contrast  or  parallel  between  them,  Heb. 
xii.  18-24.  Under  the  law  Sinai  was  renewed  in  Zion.  Under  the  gospel 
Zion  superseded  Sinai. 

19  (18).  Thou  hast  gone  up  to  the  high-place ;  thou  hast  captured  a  cap- 
tivity; thou  hast  taken  gifts  among  mankind,  and  (even  among)  rebels,  (so 
as)  to  dwell  (here).  Lord,  God !  In  order  to  carry  out  his  choice  and  re- 
solution, as  recorded  in  ver.  17  (16)  above,  i.  e.  in  order  to  estabhsh  Zion 
as  his  earthly  dwelling-place,  God  has  encountered  all  opposing  powers, 
vanquished  them,  and  forced  them  to  pay  tribute,  even  the  stoutest  and 
most  stubborn.  The  sign  of  the  conquest  being  finished  is  the  conqueror's 
return  to  his  throne,  whether  upon  earth  or  in  heaven.     See  above,  on  Ps. 


296  Psalm  68:19  -  22 

vii.  8  (7),  and  compare  Ps.  xviii.  17  (16),  xciii.  4,  cii.  20  (19).  Capticred 
a  captifity,  i.e.  taken  captive  a  multitude  of  enemies.  The  gifts  meant  are 
the  forced  gifts  of  the  conquered.  Among  men,  i.  e.  while  present  among 
them  as  their  conqueror,  and  by  implication /rom  them.  Even  rebels,  even 
the  most  rebellious,  are  compelled  to  submit.  In  other  words,  the  conquest 
is  complete.  According  to  the  military  figures  here  used,  it  would  seem  to 
be  implied  that  the  gifts  thus  extorted  by  the  conqueror  are  distributed 
amoncr  his  followers.  To  receive  gifts  on  the  one  hand,  and  bestow  gifts  on 
the  otlaer,  are  correlative  ideas  and  expressions,  so  that  Paul,  in  applying 
this  description  of  a  theocratic  triumph  to  the  conquests  of  our  Saviour, 
substitutes  one  of  these  expressions  for  the  other  (Eph.  iv.  9).  He  also, 
in  his  comment  on  the  passage,  justly  represents  the  ascension  there  de- 
scribed as  necessarily  implying  a  previous  descent.  In  other  words,  victory 
presupposes  conflict.  The  last  clause  obviously  refers  back  to  the  corres- 
ponding clause  of  ver.  17  (16).  Lord  God,  hterally  Jah,  God  !  See  above, 
on  ver.  5  (4). 

20  (19).  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  day  (by)  day  ;  (whoever)  lays  a  load  upon 
us,  the  Mighty  (God  is)  our  salvation.  Selah.  The  second  clause,  which 
is  obscure  from  brevity,  also  admits  of  this  translation  :  (man)  may  lay  a  load 
upon  us,  (but)  God  is  our  salvation.  Lay  a  load  upon  vs,  literally  load 
to  us,  or  as  to  us.  According  to  both  these  constructions,  loading  means 
oppression.  It  is  possible,  however,  to  attach  to  it  the  sense  of  benefits  or 
favours,  put  upon  it  in  the  English  versions,  but  with  a  very  different  con- 
struction of  the  whole  clause.  The  Mighty  (God)  ivill  heap  nj)on  us  our 
salvation,  or,  will  load  lis  with  salvation.  The  depth  of  feehng  and  the 
strength  of  faith,  on  which  this  anticipation  re.^ts,  are  indicated  or  be- 
trayed by  the  meditative  pause  which  follows. 

21  (20).  God  is  for  us  a  God  of  salvation,  and  to  Jehovah  the  Lord 
(belong)  issues  from  death.  A  more  exact  translation  of  the  verse,  retain- 
ing the  peculiar  idioms,  would  be  this  :  the  Almighty  (is)  for  us  an 
Almighty  for  salvation,  and  to  Jehovah  the  Lord  (belong),  as  to  death, 
outgoings  or  escapes.  This  is  only  an  amplification  of  the  last  clause  of  the 
verse  preceding,  God  is  our  salvation,  or  according  to  the  other  construc- 
tion, God  loads  us  iiith  salvation. 

22  (21).  Surely  God  will  crush  the  head  of  his  enemies,  the  hairy  scalp 
going  on  in  his  trespasses.  The  first  word  properly  means  only,  and  is  here- 
used  to  denote  that  this  and  not  the  contrary  is  true,  a  purpose  which  in 
our  idiom  may  be  answered  by  a  particle  of  strong  asseveration,  such  as 
certainly  or  surely.  See  above,  ver.  7  (6),  and  compare  Ps.  xxxix.  12  (11), 
Iviii.  12  (11).  Crush  the  head,  a  strong  figure  for  violent  and  complete 
destruction.  See  below,  on  ver.  24  (23),  and  compare  Gen.  iii.  15,  Ps. 
ex.  6,  Num.  xxiv.  8,  17.  The  hairy  scalp,  or  ooun  of  hair,  is  merely  a 
poetical  equivalent  or  parallel  to  Jiead.  The  words  that  follow  seem  to  be 
applied  to  it  by  a  kind  of  personification.  Compare  Px-ov.  xvi.  31.  But 
this  figure,  if  too  bold,  may  be  avoided  by  supplying  of  one  or  of  the  man 
before  going.  This  last  word  does  not  necessarily  mean  going  on,  but 
according  to  its  usage  elsewhere  may  be  rendered  going  about,  i.  e.  habitu- 
ally acting,  in  a  sinful  manner.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xii.  9  (8),  xx.  7  (6), 
xxvi.  3,  XXXV.  14,  xxxix.  7  (6),  xliii.  2  (1). 

23  (22).  The  Lord  hath  said,  From  Bashan  I  will  bring  (them)  back,  I 
will  bring  (them)  back  from  the  depths  of  the  sea.  Some  suppose  the  object 
of  the  verbs  in  this  verse  to  be  Israel  or  my  people,  as  in  Isa.  xUx,  12 
(compare  Gen.  xiv.  14).     But  as  the  enemy  is  still  the  subject  of  the  fol- 


Psalm  68:23  -  27  297 

lowing  verses,  it  is  better  to  understand  the  one  before  us  as  threatening 
to  bring  them  back  for  punishment  and  destruction,  even  when  they  seemed 
to  have  withdrawn  in  triumph.  Here,  as  in  verse  15  (14),  Bashan  is 
mentioned  as  a  frontier  province  of  the  Holy  Land.  In  the  last  clause 
there  is  an  obvious  climax.  I  will  bring  them  back,  not  from  Bashan 
merely,  but  if  need  be,  from  the  bottom  of  the  ocean.  Compare  Ps. 
cxxxix.  9,  and  especially  Amos  ix.  2,  3. 

24  (23).  In  order  that  thou  mayest  crush  (them) — thy  foot  in  blood — 
(and)  the  tongue  of  thy  dogs  (in  blood)  from  the  enemies  (even)  from  him. 
The  general  import  of  this  verse  is  clear,  but  its  construction  doubtful 
and  obscure.  The  first  verb  cannot  mean  to  dip  or  wash  without  an  arbi- 
trary change  of  text  by  reading  ymH  as  inPs.  Iviii.  11  (10).  The  original 
verb  (ynDJn)  must  have  the  same  sense  as  in  ver.  22  (21),  and  may  have 
the  same  object,  namely,  the  enemies  of  God  and  of  his  people.  The  next 
words  may  then  be  taken  as  a  parenthetical  and  qualifying  clause,  like 
sword  in  hand,  and  other  such  forms  in  English.  Thy  foot  in  blood,  i.  e. 
with  thy  foot  in  their  blood,  or  so  that  thy  foot  shall  tread  in  their  blood. 
The  last  word  in  Hebrew  On3Q)  is  by  some  understood  as  a  noun  with  a 

suffix  meaning  its  portion,  i.  e.  the  share  of  the  tongue  ;  but  for  this  there 
is  nq  authority  in  usage.  Others  translate  the  phrase,  of  it,  i.  e.  of  the 
blood,  and  the  whole  clause,  the  tonr/ue  of  thy  dogs  [shall  receive)  of  it  from 
the  enemies.  According  to  the  first  version  given  above,  the  last  phrase  is 
a  mere  specification  of  the  one  before  it ;  from  the  enemies,  (even)  from 
him,  referring  to  some  real  or  ideal  representative  of  the  entire  class. 

25  (24).  They  saw  thy  goings,  0  God,  the  goings  of  viy  God,  my  king, 
in  the  holy  place.  The  subject  of  the  first  verb  may  be  either  men  in  gene- 
ral, or  the  spectators,  those  who  took  no  part  in  the  triumphal  pageant  here 
described.  The  holy  place,  not  in  the  restricted  sense,  but  in  that  of  the 
Greek  h^ov,  meaning  the  whole  of  the  sacred  enclosure,  as  distinguished 
from  vaog,  the  sacred  edifice.  Into  this  enclosure  the  procession  seems  to 
be  described  as  entering,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  back  the  ark. 

26  (25).  Before  went  singers,  behind  players,  in  the  midst  of  damsels 
drumming,  playing  upon  timbrels,  which  is  still  an  oriental  custom.  Some 
suppose  the  order  mentioned  in  the  first  clause  to  denote  the  precedence 
or  priority  of  vocal  above  instrumental  music,  as  a  rational  or  reasonable 
service.  The  English  version  of  the  last  clause,  among  (them  were)  the 
damsels,  inverts  the  true  sense  by  needlessly  supplying  two  words,  a  con- 
struction forbidden  by  the  masoretic  pointing.  The  true  sense  is,  that  the 
singers  and  performers  were  themselves  surrounded  by  these  players  upon 
timbrels. 

27  (26).  In  assemblies  bless  ye  God,  the  Lord,  from  the  fountain  of 
Israel.  Not  only  individually,  or  in  triumphal  marches,  but  in  the  stated 
convocations  of  the  people  at  the  sanctuary.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvi.  12,  the 
only  other  place  where  the  Hebrew  word  occurs,  except  as  a  proper  name 
(Num.  xxxiii.  25),  and  where  it  evidently  has  the  same  sense.  The  only  satis- 
factory explanation  of  the  last  words,  from  the  fountain  of  Israel,  is  that 
afibrded  by  supplying  ye  who  are  before  it,  and  applying  the  whole  clause 
as  a  description  of  the  chosen  people,  under  the  figure  of  a  stream  derived 
or  flowing  from  a  fountain.  Compare  the  similar  ideas  and  expression  in 
Isa.  xlviii.  1,  li.  1. 

28  (27.)  There  is  little  Benjamin,  subduing  them ;  the  chiefs  of  Judah, 
stoning  them ;  the  chiefs  of  Zebulon ;  the  chiefs  of  Naphtali.  These  are 
named  as  representatives  of  all  the  tribes  supposed  to  be  there,  i.  e.  in  the 


298  Psalm  68:28 -30 

triumphal  march.  They  seem  to  be  selected,  partly  with  reference  to  their 
local  habitation,  as  the  northern  and  southern  extremities  of  Israel ;  partly 
because  the  most  remarkable  exploits,  from  the  time  of  Moses  to  the  time  of 
David,  were  performed  by  these  tribes.  See  Judges  v.  18,  1  Sam.  xviii.  7. 
Little  Benjamin,  so  called  in  allusion  to  Jacob's  partial  fondness  for  his 
youngest  son.  See  Gen.  xliii.  33,  and  compare  1  Sam.  ix.  21.  Their 
conqueror,  or  subduing  them  as  Saul  did  the  surrounding  nations.  See 
1  Sam.  xiv.  47,  48.  Stoning  them,  literally  their  stoning,  from  a  verb  which 
invariably  means  to  stone.  The  allusion  may  be  to  their  skill  as  slingers, 
or  more  specifically  to  the  means  by  which  David  killed  Goliath  (1  Sam. 
xvii.  49,  50).  The  suffix  refers  to  the  enemy,  as  in  the  clause  preceding. 
Some  interpreters  have  noted,  as  an  observable  coincidence,  that  our  Lord 
and  several  of  his  apostles  were  of  Judah,  Paul  was  of  Benjamin  (Phil, 
iii.  5),  and  the  remaining  apostles  of  Galilee,  in  which  lay  the  domain  of 
Zebulon  and  Naphtali  (Mat.  iv.  13). 

29  (28).  Thy  God  (0  Israel)  hath  ordained  thy  strength;  he  thou  strong, 
O  God,  who  hast  wrought  (it)  for  us.  Ordained,  provided  and  secured  by 
his  omnipotence.  Be  strong,  i.  e.  shew  thy  strength  by  exerting  it  in  our 
behalf,  hereafter  as  thou  hast  done  heretofore.  Wrought  for  us,  indefinitely 
and  in  general,  or  wrought  (it,  for  us,  i.  e.  this  deliverance  which  we  have 
been  celebrating.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  32  (31),  and  compare  Isa. 
xxvi.  12. 

30  (29).  Because  of  thy  temple  above  Jerusalem,  to  thee  shall  kings  bring 
tribute.  The  first  word  properly  means  from  ;  but  as  the  local  sense  would 
here  be  inadmissible,  from  may  be  understood  as  in  the  phrase  arising  from, 
proceeding  from,  in  which  the  idea  is  that  of  an  efiect  or  consequence.  As 
the  word  translated  temple  originally  means  a  palace,  it  is  applicable  both 
to  the  Mosaic  sanctuary  and  to  Solomon's  temple  which  succeeded  it.  See 
above,  onPs.  v,  8  (7),  xlviii.  10  (9),  Ixv.  5  (4).  Above  Jerusalem,  both  in 
a  physical  and  moral  sense,  as  Zion  and  Moriah  overhung  the  cit}^  and  as 
the  presence  of  the  sanctuary  was  at  once  its  protection  and  its  crowning 
glory.  The  last  word  in  Hebrew  occurs  only  here  and  in  passages  founded 
upon  this.     See  below,  Ps.  Ixxvi.  12  (11),  and  compare  Isa.  xviii.  7. 

31  (30).  Rebuke  thou  the  beasts  of  the  reeds,  the  crowd  of  strong  (bulls) 
with  the  calves  of  the  nations,  crouching  tvith  pieces  of  silver  ;  he  has  scattered 
nations  (that)  in  wars  delight.  What  he  confidently  anticipates  is  prayed 
for  in  the  first  clause,  and  in  the  last  described  as  already  reahzed,  both 
common  modes  of  indirect  prediction.  The  word  for  beasts  is  that  trans- 
lated yZocA;  in  ver.  11  (10)  above  ;  but  here  both  senses  seem  to  be  suggested, 
as  they  may  be  by  the  use  of  the  plural  in  English.  The  beast  of  the  reeds 
has  been  variously  explained  to  be  the  lion  (Jer.  xlix.  19, 1.  44,  Zech.  xi.  3), 
the  crocodile  (Ezek.  xxix.  3,  xxxii.  2),  and  the  hippopotamus,  the  Hebrew 
name  of  which  is  plural  in  its  form  {Behemoth)  and  therefore  analogous  to 
the  collective  term  here  used.  This  animal  is  also  represented  elsewhere 
as  lying  in  the  covert  of  the  reed  (Job  xl.  21).  Either  the  crocodile  or  hip- 
popotamus would  necessarily  suggest  the  idea  of  Egypt,  here  referred  to  as 
the  most  powerful  of  heathen  states,  and  therefore  a  fit  emblem  of  the 
heathen  world.  The  adjective  strong  is  a  poetical  description  of  wild  bulls, 
as  in  Ps.  xxii.  13  (12).  These  may  represent  the  leaders  of  the  nations, 
and  the  calves  their  subjects.  The  participle  crouching  is  a  singular  in 
Hebrew,  prostrating  himself,  the  many  being  suddenly  transformed  into  an 
ideal  individual.  See  above,  on  Ps.  x..  10.  With  pieces  of  silver,  silver 
coins,  oflfered  as  tribute  to  their  conquerors.     See  above,  on  ver.  19  (18), 


Psalm  68:31  -  35  299 

and  compare  Isa.  Ix.  9.     In  the  close  of  the  verse  he  sees  the  warlike 
enemies  of  Israel  already  scattered  by  the  hand  of  God. 

32  (31).  Princes  shall  come  out  of  Egypt ;  Ethiopia  shall  soon  stretch  out 
her  hands  unto  God.  Egypt  is  again  named  as  the  representative  of  the 
Gentile  world,  but  in  conjunction  with  the  neighbouring  state  of  Gush  or 
Ethiopia,  often  referred  to  by  the  prophets  as  a  powerful  and  splendid 
empire.  See  Isa.  xviii.  7,  xlv.  14,  Zeph.  iii.  10.  The  word  translated 
princes  means  originally  fat  ones,  elsewhere  put  for  prosperous  and  potent 
men.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.-30  (29).  From  this  word  is  supposed  to  be 
derived  the  name  Hasmonean,  which  was  given  to  the  Maccabees  or  Jewish 
princes  in  the  interval  between  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  Soon  stretch 
out  is  not  a  version  but  a  paraphrase  of  the  original  expression,  which  means 
strictly,  make  its  hands  to  run,  and  may  perhaps  denote  the  eagerness  with 
which  the  action  is  performed. 

33  (32).  Kingdoms  of  the  earth,  sing  unto  God  ;  praise  {or  celebrate)  the 
Lord!  Selah.  Ic  view  of  the  conquests  here  foreseen,  the  whole  world  is 
summoned  to  acknowledge  the  God  of  Israel  as  the  universal  sovereign. 
Compare  Rev.  xi.  15. 

34  (33).  (Sing)  to  the  (one)  riding  in  the  heavens  of  heavens  of  old  ;  lo, 
he  utters  his  voice,  a  voice  of  strength.  This  verse  is  designed  to  magnify 
the  object  of  the  praise  enjoined.  Riding,  as  a  conqueror  in  triumph.  See 
above,  on  ver.  5  (4).  The  heavens  of  heavens  are  the  highest  heavens,  the 
heaven  of  that  which  is  heaven  to  us.  See  1  Kings  viii.  27,  and  compare 
Deut.  X.  14,  xxxiii.  26.  Of  old  does  not  qualify  riding,  as  it  may  seem  to 
do  in  English,  but  the  nouns  immediately  preceding,  the  heavens  of  antiquity 
or  ancient  heavens.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Iv.  20  (19).  In  the  last  clause,  he 
seems  to  hear  an  audible  response  from  heaven  itself.  The  lo,  as  usual, 
implies  that  something  suddenly  assails  the  senses.  Utters  his  voice,  lite- 
rally gives  (forth  a  sound)  loith  his  voice,  as  in  Ps.  Ixvi.  7  (6). 

35  (34).  Give  strength  to  God  !  Over  Israel  (is)  his  majesty,  and  his 
strength  in  the  clouds.  To  give,  in  such  connections,  is  of  course  to  ascribe. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxix.  1,  2.  The  remainder  of  the  verse  contains  the 
ground  of  this  injunction.  God  is  entitled  to  the  praise  of  power,  because 
his  greatness  is  displayed  in  the  protection  which  he  extends  over  Israel. 
As  the  sanctuary  was  above  Jerusalem,  so  God  was  above  the  chosen  people, 
their  chief  and  their  protector.  See  above,  on  ver.  30  (29).  At  the  same 
time  his  power  is  displayed  throughout  the  universe,  especially  those  extra- 
ordinary dispensations,  in  which  he  appears  to  speak  fi-om  heaven  or  the 
clouds.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvi.  6  (5). 

36  (35).  Terrible  {art  thou),  0  God,  out  of  thy  holy  x>l(ices  ;  the  Mighty 
{God)  of  Israel — he  is  (a  God)  giving  strength  and  forces  to  the  people. 
BUssed  {be)  God !  The  winding  up  is  like  that  of  the  twenty-ninth  psalm. 
Out  of  thy  sanctuaries,  as  displayed  thence,  in  blessings  bestowed  upon  thy 
people.  He  is  not  only  mighty  in  himself,  but  the  giver  of  might  to  others. 
Compare  Isa.  xl.  29,  31. 


Psalm  69 

A  SUFFEREE  describcs  his  own  condition,  ver.  2-5  (1-4).  He  represents 
himself  as  suffering  for  God's  sake,  ver.  6-13  (5-12).  He  therefore  prays 
to  be  delivered,  ver.  14-19  (13-18).  He  again  describes  his  suffering,  but 
with  more  expUcit  reference  to  its  cause,  the  malice  of  his  enemies,  ver. 


300  Psalm  69:1  -  6 

20-22  (19-21).  He  therefore  prays  that  they  may  be  destroyed,  ver. 
23-29  (22-28).  He  anticipates  a  favourable  answer  to  his  prayers  and  the 
happiest  effect  upon  his  brethren,  ver.  30-34  (29-33).  Nay,  he  expects  to 
see  the  same  mercy  exercised  towards  the  church  or  chosen  people,  ver. 
35-37  (34-36). 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  Upon  lilies.  By  David.  The  lilies  pro- 
bably refers  to  the  delightful  consolations  and  deliverances  experienced  or 
hoped  for.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlv.  1,  Ix.  1.  The  subject  of  the  psalm  is 
an  ideal  person,  representing  the  whole  class  of  righteous  sufferers.  The 
only  individual  in  whom  the  various  traits  meet  in  Chiist.  That  he  is  not, 
however,  the  exclusive  or  even  the  immediate  subject,  is  clear  from  the 
confession  in  ver.  6  (5).  There  is  no  psalm,  except  the  twenty- second, 
more  distinctly  applied  to  him  in  the  New  Testament. 

2  (1).  Save  me,  0  God,  for  the  waters  are  come  in,  even  to  my  soid,  i.  e. 
so  as  to  endanger  my  life.  See  Jer.  iv.  10,  Jonah  ii.  6.  The  figure  for 
extreme  distress  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  xl.  3  (2). 

3  (2).  /  have  sunk  in  the  mire  of  the  depth  (or  deep  place)  (where)  there 
is  no  standing  ;  I  have  come  into  depths  of  water,  and  the  flood,  has  over- 
whelmed me.  The  image  is  that  of  one  sunk  in  the  bottom .  of  a  sea  or 
river.  Mire  of  depth  is  not  merely  deep  mire,  but  the  mii'e  found  in  a  deep 
place. 

4  (3).  /  am  loeary  of  my  crying  ;  parched  is  my  throat ;  my  eyes  fail, 
waiting  for  my  God.  The  literal  meaning  of  the  first  clause  is,  I  am  weary 
in  my  crying,  i.  e.  have  grown  weary  in  the  act  of  calling  upon  God  for 
help.  See  above,  on  Ps.  \d.  7  (6).  Parched,  dried,  by  excessive  exertion 
of  the  voice,  or  giving  the  Hebrew  verb  the  stronger  sense  which  properly 
belongs  to  it,  inflamed.  His  eyes  are  represented  as  exhausted,  worn  out, 
by  continued  looking  for  God.  See  below,  Ps.  cxix.  82,  and  compare  Lam. 
iv.  17.  The  participle  waiting  does  not  agree  with  eyes,  as  it  might  seem 
to  do  in  English,  but  with  the  person  to  whom  they  belong,  and  may  be 
construed  absolutely,  I  waiting  (me  expectante),  i.e.  while  I  wait. 

5  (4).  More  than  the  hairs  of  my  head  (are)  those  hating  me  without  cause  ; 
strong  are  my  destroyers,  my  false  enemies  ;  what  I  did  not  roh,  then  must 
I  restore.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xl.  13  (12)  ;  with  the  second, 
Ps.  XXXV.  9,  xxx^dii.  20  (19) ;  with  the  third,  Ps.  xxxv.  11,  2  Sam.  xvi.  8. 
False  enemies,  literally  enemies  of  falsehood,  which  may  either  mean  in 
general  perfidious,  treacherous,  or  more  specifically,  using  calumny  and 
falsehood  as  a  means  for  the  attainment  of  their  wicked  ends.  Then  or 
afterwards,  in  reference  to  the  previous  innocence  which  he  asserts.  Though 
he  took  nothing  at  fij-st,  yet  afterwards  he  must  restore. 

6  (5).  0  God,  thou  knowest  of  (or  as  to)  my  foolishness,  and  my  trespasses 
from  thee  have  not  been  hid.  He  does  not  deny  his  own  demerit  in  the 
sight  of  God,  but  nevertheless  prays  to  be  delivered  from  destruction.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  vi.  2  (1),  xxxviii.  4-6  (3-5),  xl.  13  (12),  xli.  15  (14).  As 
if  he  had  said,  "  True,  I  am  a  sinner;  it  "is  vain  to  deny  it;  thou,  God, 
knowest  it ;  but  nevertheless,"  &c. 

7  (6).  Let  not  them  he  ashamed  in  me  that  wait  for  thee.  Lord,  Jehovah,  oj 
Hosts  ;  let  not  them  be  disgraced  in  me  that  seek  thee,  God  of  Israel  !  He 
prays  that  the  principle  laid  down  in  Ps.  xxv.  3  may  not  be  falsified.  In 
me,  not  merely  by  me,  or  because  of  me,  but  ui  me,  as  the  representative  of 
the  whole  class.  Ashamed,  disappointed  and  defeated  in  their  hopes. 
Wait  for  thee,  for  thine  appearance  and  the  fulfilment  of  thy  promises. 
Seek  thee,  i.  e.  seek  to  know  thee,  and  enjoy  thy  favour. 


Psalm69:7-15  301 

8  (7).  Became  for  thee  (or  thy  sake)  I  have  borne  reproach,  disgrace  hath 
covered  my  face.  In  his  disgrace  all  God's  servants  must  participate,  be- 
cause he  is  one  of  them,  and  as  such  suffers.  With  the  first  clause  com- 
pare Ps.  xliv.  23  (22),  Jer.  xv.  15,  with  the  last,  Ps.  xliv.  16  (15). 

9  (8).  /  am  become  a  stranger  unto  my  brethren,  and  an  alien  unto  the 
sons  of  my  mother.  The  literal  meaning  of  the  first  clause  is,  I  have  been 
estranged  to  (or  as  to)  my  brothers.  There  may  be  an  allusion  to  the 
envious  treatment  of  David  by  the  other  sons  of  Jesse.  See  1  Sam.  xvii. 
28.  The  loss  or  alienation  of  the  nearest  friends  is  spoken  of  as  one  of 
the  severest  trials  in  Ps.  xxvii.  10. 

10  (9).  Far  the  zeal  of  thine  house,  jealous  regard  for  the  honour  of  the 
sanctuary,  as  the  visible  centre  of  the  true  religion,  has  consumed  me,  im- 
plying an  extreme  intensity  of  feeling  ;  and  in  consequence  of  this  zeal,  the 
revillngs  of  thy  revilers  have  fallen  vpon  me.  That  such  revilers  did  exist 
in  David's  time,  we  learn  from  2  Sam.  xii.  14.  The  first  clause  of  the 
verse  before  us  is  applied  to  Christ  in  John  ii.  17,  and  the  second  in  Rom. 
XV.  3. 

11  (10).  And  I  wept  (away)  my  soul,  or  wept  myself  away,  in  fasting, 
and  (even  that)  was  for  revilingsto  me,  even  that  became  a  subject  of  maHg- 
nant  mockery  against  me.  That  weeping  and  fasting,  as  natm-al  concomi- 
tants, were  not  unknown  to  David's  experience  in  real  life,  appears  from 
2  Sam.  xii.  16,  21,  22.  The  first  clause  likewise  admits  of  this  constr-uc- 
tion  :  and  I  wept,  my  soul  (was)  in  fasting,  i.e.  fasted.  But  this,  though 
it  agrees  well  with  the  Hebrew  usage  which  represents  fasting  as  a  morti- 
fication of  the  soul  (see  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  13),  is  neither  so  natural  nor 
so  striking  as  the  'first  construction  above  given,  which  is  found  in  an 
anonymous  translation  of  the  Psalms,  published  by  Bagster,  London,  1830. 

12  (11).  And  I  gave,  put  on  (as)  my  clothing,  saclccloth,  and  was  to  them, 
in  consequence,  for  a  comparison,  a  proverb,  by-word,  or  became  a  by-word 
to  them.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  13,  and  xliv.  15  (14).  The  context 
makes  it  probable  that  the  mourning  described  in  this  and  the  preceding 
verse  was  not  in  reference  to  his  own  sufferings  merely,  but  to  the  sins  of 
the  whole  people. 

13  (12).  They  think  of  m.e,  imagine  things  against  me,  they  who  sit  in 
the  gate ;  (they  imagine)  sorup,  lampoons  or  satires,  they  who  drink  strong 
drink.  The  gate  meant  is  that  of  the  city,  where  the  oriental  courts  and 
markets  were  held.  Hence  some  suppose  the  sense  to  be,  that  even  in  the 
place  of  serious  business,  they  indulged  their  spiteful  mirth  at  my  expense. 
But  it  seems  more  natural  to  make  the  sitters  in  the  gate  mean  simply 
those  frequenting  public  places.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Iv.  12  (11,  and  com- 
pare Josh.  XX.  4,  Ruth  iv.  1,  2,  Lam.  v.  14. 

14  (13).  And  1,  but  as  for  me,  in  contradistinction  from  these  mockers, 
my  prayer  (is)  to  thee,  I  pray  to  thee  in  spite  of  their  derision,  0  Jehovah ; 
(let  there  come  or  let  there  be)  a  time  of  acceptance,  in  the  abundance  of  thy 
mercy ;  answer  me,  grant  my  petition,  in  the  truth  of  thy  salvation,  or  thy 
truth  of  salvation,  in  the  exercise  of  that  fideUty  which  secures  the  salva- 
tion of  all  who  trust  it.     Compare  Isa.  xlix.  8,  Ixi.  2. 

15  (14).  Deliver  me  from  the  mire,  and  let  me  not  sink  ;  let  me  be  de- 
livered from  my  haters,  from  the  depths  of  water.  He  here  returns  to  the 
figures  in  ver.  2  (1),  where  profound  suffering  is  described  as  submersion 
under  water  and  in  mire.  The  meaning  of  the  figure  is  explained  in  the 
last  clause  of  the  verse  before  us  by  the  addition  of  a  Uteral  expression. 

16  (15).  Let  not  the  flood  overwhelm  me,  and  let  not  the  deep  8waUQV> 


302  Psalm  69:16 -22 

me,  and  let  not  the  well  (or  pit)  shttt  its  mouth  upon  me.  In  the  earnest- 
ness of  his  entreaty,  he  passes  from  the  figure  of  a  sea  or  stream  to  that  of 
a  well  or  cistern,  the  idea  common  to  hoth  being  that  of  deep  water. 

17  (16)  Answer  me,  gi'ant  my  prayer,  Jehovah ;  for  good  (or  as  we 
should  say,  great)  is  thy  mercy  ;  according  to  the  multitude  of  thy  compas- 
sions, turn  to  me,  or  towards  me,  implying  that  his  looks  were  before 
averted.     See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  7  (6),  xiii.  2  (1). 

18  (17.)  And  hide  not  thy  face  from  thy  servant,  for  (there  is)  distress  to 
ms,  I  am  distressed,  make  haste,  answer  me,  i.e.  gi'ant  me  what  I  ask  with- 
out delay, 

19  (18).  Draw  nigh  unto  my  soul,  to  me  whose  soul  or  life  is  threatened, 
ransom  it,  rescue  it  from  ruin ;  because  (or  for  the  sake)  of  my  enemies, 
redeem  me,  so  that  they  may  not  triumph  in  my  fall.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xiii.  5  (4),  and  with  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xxii.  2  (1). 

20  (19).  Thou  knoivest,  literally  hast  known,  as  a  thing  of  long  standing, 
my  reproach,  the  contempt  of  which  I  am  the  object,  and  my  shame  and 
my  disgrace ;  before  thee,  in  thy  sight  and  known  to  thee,  (are)  all  my 
adversaries,  persecutors  or  oppressors,  not  their  persons  merely,  or  their 
conduct  in  general,  but  their  treatment  of  me.  The  conviction  that  God 
knows  all  involves  a  persuasion  that  he  will  do  justice  to  both  parties.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  i.  6. 

21  (20).  Reproach,  including  calumny  and  insult,  hath  broken  my  heart, 
a  common  figure  for  extreme  distress,  and  I  am  sick,  sick  at  heart  or  sick 
in  spirit,  but  without  excluding  the  idea  of  corporeal  suffering,  as  the  efiect, 
or  as  a  part,  of  his  distress  ;  and  I  have  waited  for  pity ,  literally  mourning. 
i.  e.  sympathy,  condolence,  on  the  part  of  my  cruel  enemies,  and  it  is  not, 
or  there  is  none,  and  for  comforters,  (those)  comforting,  and  have  not  found 
(them).     With  the  phrase,  7  am  sick,  compare  Ps.  vi.  3  (2). 

22  (21)'.  And,  so  far  from  pitying  me  they  have  aggravated  my  distress, 
for  they  have  given  in  my  food,  or  as  my  food,  gall,  here  put  for  the  extreme 
of  bitterness,  and  for  my  thirst,  i.e.  to  slake  it,  or  at  (the  time  of)  my 
thirst,  in  my  thirst,  when  I  thirst,  they  give  me  vinegar  to  drink.  Gall 
and  vinegar  are  here  put  together  to  denote  the  most  unpalatable  forms  of 
food  and  drink.  The  passion  of  our  Lord  was  providentially  so  ordered 
as  to  furnish  a  remarkable  coincidence  with  this  verse.  The  Eomans  were 
accustomed  to  give  sour  wine  with  an  infusion  of  myrrh  to  convicts  on  the 
cross,  for  the  purpose  of  deadening  the  pain.  This  practice  was  adhered 
to  in  our  Saviour's  case  (Mark  xv.  23).  Though  in  itself  not  cruel,  but  the 
contrary,  it  formed  part  of  the  great  process  of  murderous  persecution. 
On  the  part  of  the  Roman  soldiery  it  may  have  been  an  act  of  kindness  ; 
but  considered  as  an  act  of  the  unbelieving  Jews,  it  was  giving  gall  and 
vinegar  to  one  already  overwhelmed  with  anguish.  And  so  Matthew,  in 
accordance  with  his  general  method,  represents  it  as  a  verification  of  this 
passage  (Mat.  xxvii.  34).  He  does  not  contradict  Mark's  account  before 
referred  to,  but  merely  intimates,  that  the  wine  and  myrrh  thus  offered  were 
to  be  regarded  as  identical  with  the  gall  and  vinegar  of  this  prediction. 
And  in  order  to  prevent  the  coincidence  from  being  overlooked,  our  Lord, 
before  he  died,  complained  of  thirst  and  vinegar  was  administered.  (Mat. 
xxvii.  48,  John  xix.  28).  The  word  translated  food  in  the  first  clause 
occurs  only  here,  and  its  verbal  root  only  in  the  history  of  David  (2  Sam. 
xii.  17,  xiii.  6,  10). 

23  (22).  Let  their  table  before  them,  at  which  they  eat  and  where  they 
are  accustomed  to  enjoy  themselves,  be  for  (or  become)  a  snare,  an  occasion 


Psalm  69:23  -  26  303 

of  unexpected  danger,  and  to  those  secure,  thinking  themselves  safe,  (let  it 
be  for,  or  become)  a  trap.  The  first  word  in  the  last  clause  is  the  plural 
of  one  meaning  peace,  but  seems  to  be  here  used,  as  in  Ps.  Iv.  21  (20),  for 
those  who  are  at  peace,  at  ease,  tranquil  and  secure.  Compare  1  Thess. 
V.  3.  The  ancient  versions  give  it  the  equally  appropriate  sense  of /or  re- 
quitals, i.  e.  in  recompence  of  their  transgressions.  But  although  this 
sense  may  be  deduced  from  the  verbal  root  (D?l£^),  and  belongs  to  several 
collateral  derivatives  (D7li^,  u>^,  D^li^,  it  has  no  existence  in  the  usage  of 

\  •  V  V  ••  • 

the  one  before  us  i^yuh'^)-      The  circuitous  construction  in  the  EngUsh 

version  is  not  only  forced,  but  wholly  unnecessary.  The  imprecations  in 
this  verse  and  those  following  it  are  revolting  only  when  considered  as  the 
expression  of  malignant  selfishness.  If  uttered  by  God,  they  shock  no 
reader's  sensibilities,  nor  should  they,  when  considered  as  the  language  of 
an  ideal  person,  representing  the  whole  class  of  righteous  sufferers,  and 
particularly  Him  who,  though  he  prayed  for  his  murderers  while  dying 
(Luke  xxiii.  34),  had  before  applied  the  words  of  this  very  passage  to  the 
unbeHeving  Jews  (Mat.  xxiii.  38),  as  Paul  did  afterwards  (Rom^  xi.  9,  10). 
The  general  doctrine  of  providential  retribution,  far  from  being  confined  to 
tke  Old  Testament,  is  distinctly  taught  in  many  of  our  Saviour's  parables. 
See  Mat.  xxi.  41,  xxii.  7,  xxiv.  51. 

24  (23).  Let  their  eyes  darken,  i.e.  be  or  grow  dark,  from  seeing,  so  as 
not  to  see,  and  their  loins  do  thou  cause  to  bend,  give  way,  or  swerve,  i.  e. 
paralyse  their  strength.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixvi.  10  (9).  The  first  clause 
probably  does  not  refer  to  blindness,  but  either  to  the  dimness  of  the  eyes 
in  death,  or  to  darkness  as  a  figure  for  calamity  in  general. 

25  (24).  Pour  upon  them  thine  anger,  and  let  the  heat  of  thy  mrath,  thy 
hot  wrath,  overtake  them,  reach  them  after  they  have  long  seemed  to  escape 
it  and  expected  to  escape  it  still. 

26  (25).  Let  their  home  be  desolated,  in  their  tents  may  there  be  no  one 
dwelling,  or  let  no  one  dwell.  The  word  translated  home  seems  properly  to 
mean  an  enclosure,  with  special  reference,  perhaps,  to  an  encampment  or 
collection  of  tents  (Gen.  xxv.  16,  Num.  xxi.  10).  The  translation  castle  in 
the  English  version  of  the  places  just  referred  to,  and  that  of  palace  in  the 
margin  of  the  one  before  us,  seem  entirely  conjectural.  The  Septuagint 
here  has  a  Greek  word  (eVauX/g),  meaning  a  place  to  pass  the  night  in, 
especially  for  flocks  and  herds,  and  thence  transferred  to  farm  or  country 
houses.  This  expression  is  retained  in  Acts  i.  20,  where  the  vei-se  before 
us  is  quoted,  in  connection  with  Ps.  cix.  8,  and  apphed  to  Judas  Iscariot,  not 
as  an  individual  merely,  but  as  a  type  and  representative  of  the  Jewish 
people,  in  their  malignant  and  perfidious  enmity  to  Christ.  This  does  not 
prove  our  Lord  to  be  the  exclusive  subject  of  the  whole  psalm,  a  conclusion 
forbidden  by  the  confession  of  sin  in  ver.  6  (5)  above ;  but  it  does  shew 
that  He  is  not  only  one,  but  the  chief  member,  nay  the  great  type  and  re- 
presentative, of  the  whole  class  of  innocent  sufferers  at  the  hands  of  wicked 
enemies.    See  also  Mat.  xxiii.  38. 

27  (26).  For  (those)  tvhom  thou  hast  smitten  they  persecute,  have  perse- 
cuted heretofore  and  do  so  still ;  and  as  to  the  grief  of  thy  wounded,  they 
tell  or  talk.  The  pronoun  in  the  first  clause  is  emphatic,  "  thou  and  not 
man,  or  man  only  as  thy  bUnd  unconscious  instrument."  Compare  2  Sam. 
xvi.  11,  12,  Job  xix.  21,  22.  The  same  persons  are  described  as  thy 
wounded,  the  original  expression  having  commonly  the  sense  of  mortally 
wounded,  and  being  therefore  often  rendered  slain.     See  Isa.  Ixvi.  16,  Jer. 


304  Psalm  69:27 -32 

XXV.  33.  The  preposition  before  grief  denotes  the  theme  or  subject,  as  it 
does  with  the  same  verb  in  Ps.  ii.  7.  To  tell  about  it  or  talk  of  it  is  to 
make  it  the  subject  of  unfeeling  or  derisive  comment.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xh.  9  (8). 

28  (27).  Give  {or  place)  iniquity  upon  iniquity,  and  let  them  not  come 
into  thy  righteousness.  Luther  and  others  understand  the  first  clause  as  a 
prayer  that  sin  may  be  made  the  punishment  of  sin  (Rom.  i.  28).  But 
there  seems  to  be  rather  an  allusion  to  the  double  sense  of  the  equivocal  term 
(l^y)>  which  properly  denotes  sin  as  such  or  in  itself  considered,  but  some- 
times seems  to  mean  sin  considered  in  its  consequences  or  effects.  Thus 
understood,  it  is  a  prayer  that  sin  may  be  followed  by  the  natural  effects  of 
sin.  The  righteousness  of  God  is  that  which  he  bestows  by  the  judicial  act 
of  justification,  including  pardon.  To  come  into  it  is  to  come  into  posses- 
sion or  enjoyment  of  it,  to  become  a  sharer  in  it. 

29  (28).  Let  them  he  blotted  from  the  hook  of  life  (or  of  the  living)^  and 
with  the  righteous  let  them  not  he  written,  registered,  enrolled.  The  hook 
is  not  here  a  figure  for  the  memory,  as  in  Ps.  Ivi.  9  (8),  but  for  the  divine 
decree.  The  primary  idea  is  that  of  a  register  containing  the  names  of 
those  who  are  to  live  or  be  preserved  alive.  The  figure  is  Mosaic,  being 
evidently  boiTowed  from  Exod.  xxxii.  32.  The  translation  living,  which 
is  given  in  the  ancient  versions,  is  favoured  by  the  parallel  expression 
righteous  {men),  if  not  by  the  analogy  of  Ps.  xxvii.  13,  lii.  7  (5).  But  the 
abstract  version  life  is  equally  appropriate,  and  is  recommended  by  the 
use  of  the  phrase  hook  of  life  in  the  New  Testament  with  reference  to  the 
future  state.     See  Philip,  iv.  3,  Rev.  xx.  15. 

30  (29).  And  I  {am)  afflicted  and  suffering  ;  let  thy  salvation,  0  God, 
set  me  on  high,  beyond  the  reach  of  danger,  which  is  tantamount  to  saying, 
in  a  place  of  safety.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xx.  2  (1),  lix.  2  (1).  The  verb 
might  also  be  translated  as  a  future  proper,  expressive  of  a  confident  anti- 
cipation, thy  salvation  will  secure  me.  But  it  seems  more  natural  to  under- 
stand it  as  a  prayer  for  himself,  subjoined  to  the  foregoing  series  of  prayers 
for  the  destruction  of  his  enemies.  As  if  he  had  said,  "  Remember,  Lord, 
that  I  am  sufi'ering,  and  interpose  for  my  deliverance,  as  well  as  for  their 
punishment." 

31  (30).  I  vjill  praise  the  name  of  God  with  song,  or  in  a  song,  and  will 
magnify  him  with  thanksgiving.  Here,  as  in  many  other  cases,  the  certaiuty 
of  the  event  is  indicated  by  an  expressed  determination  to  thank  God  for  it. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  8  (7). 

32  (31).  And  it  shall  he  letter  to  Jehovah,  this  shall  please  him  more, 
than  ox  (or)  hullock  horned  (and)  hoofed.  The  contrast  is  not  between 
material  and  spiritual  ofierings,  but  between  a  legitimate  offering  of  both 
kinds  and  the  mere  oblation  of  a  beast,  as  an  opus  operatum  of  intrinsic 
vii-tue,  or  as  if  God  could  take  delight  in  hoofs  and  horns,  which  are  there- 
fore contemptuously  specified.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xl.  7  (6),  1.  8,  li.  18  (16). 
The  last  words  are  highly  idiomatic,  and  scarcely  susceptible  of  close  trans- 
lation, the  original  forms  being  those  of  active  participles,  horning,  hoofing, 
i.  6.  having  or  producing  horns  and  hoofs. 

33  (32).  The  humble  see  and  rejoice,  literally  have  seen  and  will  rejoice, 
in  my  deliverance  (even  ye)  that  seek  God,  seekers  of  God,  and  may  your 
heart  live  !  May  you  be  revived  and  cheered  by  witnessing  this  exhibition 
of  God's  power  and  goodness  !  The  wish  that  it  may  be  so  includes  a 
promise  that  it  shall  be,  as  in  Ps.  xxii.  27  (26),  where  the  form  of  expres- 
sion is  the  same. 


Psalm  70:1  305 

34  (33).  For  hearJcening,  habitually  listening,  (is)  Jehovah  to  the  poor, 
i.  e.  the  poor  among  his  people,  the  righteous,  pious,  or  believing  poor ; 
and  his  jmsoners,  those  imprisoned  in  affliction  by  himself,  or  by  human 
oppressors  for  his  sake,  he  hath  not  despised,  and  therefore  never  will.  The 
general  inference  here  drawn  from  the  speaker's  own  experience  is  the  same 
as  in  Ps.  xxii.  25  (24)  above. 

35  (34).  Let  heaven  and  earth  praise  him,  seas  and  everything  creeping 
in  them,  i.  e.  moving  with  an  animal  or  vital  motion.  In  the  particular 
mercy  experienced  by  himself  he  sees  a  pledge  of  gifts  deserving  and  de- 
manding universal  praise. 

36  (35).  For  God  will  save  Zion,  and  will  build  the  cities  of  Judah,  and 
they  shall  dwell  in  them  and  possess  them.  He  who  is  thus  faithful  to  the 
the  individual  believer  must  be  faithful  to  the  whole  church.  It  is  charac- 
teristic of  the  ancient  saints  to  regard  every  personal  mercy  as  a  pledge  of 
greater  favours  to  the  body  of  God's  people.  .This  is  peculiarly  appropriate 
in  such  a  case  as  this,  where  the  words  are  those  of  an  ideal  person  repre- 
senting a  whole  class,  and  that  a  class  including,  as  its  most  conspicuous 
member,  the  Messiah  himself.  There  is  no  need  of  supposing  an  allusion, 
either  prophetical  or  historical,  to  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  from  Babylon, 
the  rather  as  the  temple  is  referred  to  in  ver.  10  (9),  as  still  standing.  They 
in  the  last  clause  are  the  poor  of  ver.  34  (33),  i.  e.  the  righteous  or  God's 
people. 

87  (36).  And  the  seed  of  his  servants  shall  inherit  it,  i.e.  Judah  or  the 
land  of  promise,  and  the  lovers  of  his  name,  of  his  revealed  perfections,  shall 
dwell  (quietly  and  safely)  in  it.  The  foregoing  promises  are  not  restricted 
to  a  single  generation,  but  extend  to  the  remotest  posterity.  Inherit  it, 
possess  it  by  hereditary  right  from  generation  to  generation.  As  temporal 
and  spiritual  blessings  were  inseparably  blended  in  the  old  dispensation, 
the  promise  of  perpetual  possession  and  abode  in  Palestine  is  merely  the 
costume  in  which  that  of  everlasting  favour  to  the  church  is  clothed  in  the 
Old  Testament. 


Psalm  70 

The  Fortieth  Psalm,  as  we  have  seen  (p.  177),  consists  of  a  thanksgiving 
for  dehverances  experienced  already,  ver.  2-14  (1-13),  and  of  a  prayer  for 
fresh  occasion  of  thanksgiving,  ver.  15-18  (14-17).  The  latter  portion  is 
here  repeated  by  itself,  as  a  kind  of  appendix  to  the  sixty-ninth  and  preface 
to  the  seventy-first,  with  both  which  it  has  several  points  of  contrast  and 
resemblance.  The  mutual  relation  of  the  two  editions  is  the  same  as  that 
between  the  fourteenth  and  the  fifty-third.  The  supposition  of  an  erroneous 
copy  or  an  accidental  repetition  is  forbidden  by  the  fact  that  both  are  left  on 
record,  and  by  the  appearance  of  an  uniform  design  in  the  variations.  In 
this  case,  as  in  that  of  the  fifty-third  Psalm,  no  comments  will  be  made 
upon  those  expressions  which  are  common  to  both  forms  and  have  therefore 
been  explained  already. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  By  David.  To  remind,  i.e.  ioremmdi  Godi 
of  the  Psalmist's  necessities.  The  same  inscription  is  prefixed  to  Ps.  xxxviii. 
The  phrase  by  David  represents  him  as  the  author,  not  of  the  fortieth 
Psalm  merely,  but  of  this  abridgment.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Uii.  1,  and  com- 
pare p.  87. 

2  (1).  0  God,  to  deliver  me,  0  Lord,  to  help  me,  hasten!     The  first  word 


306  Psalm?  1:1, 2 

of  Ps.  xl.  14  (13),  he  pleased,  is  here  omitted,  for  the  purpose,  as  some  sup- 
pose, of  making  the  commencement  more  abrupt,  and  thereby  marking  the 
whole  composition  as  a  fragment.  Another  variation,  which  interpreters 
have  laboured  to  account  for  as  significant,  is  the  sustitution  of  Elohim  in 
the  first  clause  for  Jehovah,  the  only  Divine  name  which  appears  in  the 
fortieth  'psalm  at  all.  It  is  quite  as  probable,  to  say  the  least,  that  the 
names  were  interchanged  as  God  and  Lord  are  often  by  ourselves,  without 
special  reason  or  design. 

3  (2).  Ashamed  and  confounded  shall  he  (those)  seeking  my  soul ;  turned 
hack  and  disgraced  shall  he  (those)  desiring  (or  delighting  in)  my  hurt.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xl.  15  (14).  The  only  variation  consists  in  the  omission  of 
the  words  together  and  to  destroy  it,  in  accordance  with  the  obvious  design 
of  condensation  and  abridgment. 

4  (3).  They  shall  turn  back  on  account  of  their  shame,  i.  e.  retreat  from 
their  assault  on  me  confounded  and  ashamed — those  saying,  Aha,  aha ! 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xl.  16  (15).  For  the  strong  expression,  they  shall  be 
desolate,  we  have  a  milder  one  borrowed  from  Ps.  vi.  11  (10).  The  only 
other  variation  consists  in  the  omission  of  the  tmimportant  phrase  to  me. 

6  (4).  They  shall  rejoice  and  be  glad  in  thee — all  (those)  seeking  thee  ;  and 
they  shall  say  always,  great  be  Jehovah — (those)  loving  thy  salvation.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xl.  17  (16).  The  only  variation  here  is  the  insertion  of  the 
copulative  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  clause. 

6  (5).  And  I  am  afflicted  and  poor — 0  God,  hasten  unto  me  I  My  help 
and  my  deliverer  (art)  thou — 0  Jehovah,  linger  not,  do  not  delay  !  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xl.  18  (17).  Instead  of  God,  the  parallel  passage  has  Jehovah, 
and  instead  of  Jehovah,  in  the  second  clause,  my  God.  Another  variation 
is  that  the  significant  expression,  he  will  think  of  me  (or  for  me),  is 
exchanged  for  the  petition  hasten  to  me,  thus  bringing  back  the  prayer  to 
the  point  from  which  it  started. 

Psalm  71 

A  SUFFERER  from  the  spite  of  wicked  enemies  prays  for  deliverance,  ver. 
1-3.  He  acknowledges  God's  goodness  to  him  in  early  life,  ver.  4-8,  and 
prays  that  it  may  be  continued  in  old  age,  ver.  9-18.  He  confidently 
anticipates  an  answer  to  his  prayers,  ver.  14-21,  and  promisee  a  suitable 
return  of  praise,  ver.  22-24. 

This  psalm  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  others  in  which  the  sufier- 
ings  of  the  righteous  are  the'great  theme,  such  as  the  twenty- second,  thirty- 
fifth,  thirty-eighth,  and  fortieth,  a  portion  of  which  last  seems  to  have  been 
prefixed  to  it,  as  a  kind  of  text  or  theme,  or  for  the  purpose  of  connecting 
it  with  the  whole  class  of  compositions  just  referred  to.  This  explains  the 
absence  of  a  title  or  inscription  in  the  psalm  before  us,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
second,  tenth,  forty-third,  and  others. 

1.  In  thee,  0  Jehovah,  have  I  trusted,  taken  refuge  ;  let  me  not  he 
shamed,  disappointed  and  confounded,  to  eternity,  for  ever.  This  verse  and 
the  next  two  are  borrowed,  with  slight  variations,  from  the  beginning  of 
Ps.  xxxi. 

2.  In  thy  righteousness  thou  wilt  deliver  me  and  cause  me  to  escape  ;  incline 
to  me  thine  ear  and  save  me.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxi.  2,  3  (1,  2),  where 
the  imperative  form  of  the  preceding  clause  is  still  retained,  instead  of  being 
changed,  as  here,  into  the  future.     The  verb  deliver  me  there  occurs  in  what 


Psalm71:3-ll  307 

is  here  the  second  clause ;  and  the  qualifying  term,  haste  or  quickly,  is 
omitted  in  the  case  before  us.  The  division  of  the  sentences  is  also  differ- 
ent, so  that  the  verses  do  not  exactly  correspond. 

3.  Be  thou  to  me  for  a  rock  of  habitation,  a  rock  where  I  may  safely  dwell 
and  make  my  home,  (whither  I  may  be  able)  to  come  always,  i.  e.  whenever 
it  is  necessary  ;  thou  hast  commanded  to  save  me,  my  dehverance  is  decreed 
already ;  for  my  rock,  my  hiding  place,  and  my  fortress  art  thou.  The 
images  presented  and  the  terms  used  are  similar  to  those  in  Ps.  xviii.  3  (2). 
Commanded  to  save  me ;  see  above,  on  Ps.  xliv.  5  (4),  Ixviii.  29  (28).  The 
imitation  of  Ps.  xxx.  here  insensibly  merges  into  a  new  and  independent 
composition. 

4.  My  God,  free  me,  cause  me  to  escape,  from  ike  hand  of\he  wicked, 
from  the  palm,  a  poetical  equivalent  to  hand,  of  the  perverse  and  corrupt 
doer.  The  last  word  in  Hebrew  occurs  only  here,  b*ut  from  its  form 
appears  to  be  the  particle  of  a  verb  that  means  to  be  (or  become)  sour,  to 
ferment,  to  putrefy.  The  infinitive  of  the  same  verb  is  applied  to  moral 
evil  in  Isa.  i.  17. 

5.  For  thou  [art)  my  hope,  0  Lord,  Jehovah,  my  confidence,  the  object 
of  my  trust,  from  my  youth.  Compare  the  combination  Lord  Jeliovah  with 
those  in  Ps.  Ixviii.  21  (20),  Ixix.  7  (6),  and  the  phrase  my  confidence  with 
Ps.  xl.  5  (4). 

6.  Upon  thee  I  leaned,  or  by  thee  was  held  up,  sustained,  from  the  womb ; 
from  the  bowels  of  my  mother,  a  synonymous  expression,  thou  {art)  my  hing- 
ing out,  the  one  that  brought  me  out,  a  different  expression  of  the  same 
idea  as  in  Ps.  xxii.  11  (10).  The  meaning  of  the  verb  here  used,  both  in 
its  transitive  and  in  transitive  forms,  may  be  gathered  from  Ps.  xc.  10, 
Num.  xi.  31.  In  thee  is  my  praise  always ;  it  originates,  revolves,  and  ends 
in  thee.     Compare  the  analogous  expression  in  Ps.  xxii.  26  (25). 

7.  ^s  a  prodigy,  or  wonder,  an  object  of  contemptuous  astonishment, 
u'as  I,  or  have  I  been  to  many,  on  account  of  my  extraordinary  sufferings  ; 
but  thou  art  my  refuge  of  strength,  my  strong  refuge,  at  once  my  protector  and 
my  hiding  place.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Deut.  xxviii.  46,  Isa. 
Uii.  14,  1  Cor.  iv.  9. 

8.  Filhd  shall  my  mouth  be  (with)  thy  praise,  and  all  the  day  {with)  thy 
beauty,  or  glory,  as  the  subject  of  that  praise.  The  sight  of  thine  excel- 
lency now  excites,  and  will  excite  for  ever,  my  admiration  and  my  praise. 

9.  Cast  me  not  off,  at  the  time  of  old  age  ;  as  my  strength  fails,  literally 
according  to  the  failure  of  my  strength,  leave  me  not,  do  thou  not  abandon 
or  forsake  me.  He  here  prays  that  the  grace  which  he  experienced  in 
youth,  and  which  he  has  already  acknowledged  in  the  foregoing  context, 
may  be  continued  and  extended  to  his  old  age.     Compare  Isa.  xlvi.  3,  4. 

10.  For  my  enemies  have  said  (so)  to  me,  i.  e.  have  told  me  that  God 
would  forsake  or  had  forsaken  me,  and  as  a  proof  that  they  believe  it,  the 
watchers  of  my  soul,  those  who  watch  and  lie  in  wait  for  its  destruction, 
have  consulted  together,  i.  e.  against  me,  which  they  would  not  have  done 
if  they  had  really  believed  me  to  be  under  the  Divine  protection.  Instead 
of  to  me  in  the  first  clause,  we  may  read  of  {i.  e.  concerning)  me,  without 
any  violation  of  usage  or  material  change  of  meaning.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
iii.  3  (2). 

11.  Saying,  God  hath  forsaken  him,  pursue  and  seize  him,  for  there  is  no 
deliverer,  literally  none  delivering.  This  verse  is  an  amplification  of  the 
phrase  they  say  [so)  in  the  verse  preceding.  It  gives  the  very  words  in 
which  they  say  so.     With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  iii.  3  (2),  xli.  6  (5), 


308  Psalm  71:12 -19 

and  the  words  of  Ahithophel  in  2  Sam.  xvii.  1,  2,  to  which  there  may  be 
a  direct  allusion,  as  an  actual  instance  of  the  thing  ideally  described  in 
David's  own  experience.     With  the  last  clause  compare  Ps.  vii.  3  (2). 

12.  0  God,  be  not  far  from  me  ;  0  my  God,  to  (or  for)  my  help  hasten. 
Compare  the  similar  expressions  of  Ps.  xxii.  20  (19),  xxxv.  22,  xxxviii.  22, 
23,  (21,  22),  xl.  14  (13),  Ixx.  2  (1).  The  stronger  expression  my  God,  in 
the  second  clause,  urges  his  covenant  relation  to  God,  as  a  reason  for  ex- 
pecting to  be  heard. 

13.  They  shall  he  shamed,  they  shall  cease  (or  he  consumed) — the  adver- 
saries of  my  soul  ;  they  shall  put  on  (or  he  clothed  with)  reproach  or  disgrace 
— the  seekers  of  my  hurt.  The  verbs  may  also  be  translated  as  optatives, 
let  them  he  shamed,  &c.  But  this  is  really  included  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  future.  Compare  the  parallel  passages,  Ps.  xxxv.  4,  26,  xl.  15  (14), 
Ixx.  3  (2). 

14.  And  I  ivill  always  hope,  and  add  to  (Uterally  add  upon,  accumulate, 
increase)  all  thy  praise.  To  all  thy  praise  which  I  have  uttered  hitherto,  I 
will  continue  still  to  add. 

15.  My  mouth  shall  recount  thy  righteousness,  all  the  day  {long)  thy  salva- 
tion, for  I  know  not  numbers  (to  express  them),  I  cannot  number  them,  they 
are  innumerable.  The  righteousnesss  or  rectitude  of  God,  including  his 
veracity  or  faithfulness,  is  here  referred  to  as  the  cause  of  his  salvatioyi,  the 
salvation  of  which  he  is  the  source  and  author. 

16.  /  will  come  with  the  mighty  deeds  of  the  Lord  Jehovah  ;  I  will  men- 
tion (or  commemorate)  thy  righteousness,  thine  only.  The  first  phrase  may 
also  be  translated,  /  toill  enter  into  the  mighty  deeds,  &c.,  as  we  speak  of 
entering  into  the  particulars  of  a  subject.  But  this  is  rather  an  English 
than  a  Hebrew  idiom.  The  common  version,  /  will  go  in  the  strength  of 
the  Lord  God,  is  at  variance  with  the  usage  both  of  the  verb  and  noun,  as 
the  former  does  not  mean  to  go  absolutely,  but  either  to  enter  or  to  come  to 
a  particular  place,  expressed  or  understood.  The  ellipsis  here  may  be  sup- 
plied from  Ps.  V.  8  (7)  and  1x\t.  13,  in  both  which  places  the  same  verb 
denotes  the  act  of  coming  to  God's  house  for  the  purpose  of  solemn  praise, 
and  in  the  second  passage  cited  is  followed  by  the  same  preposition,  /  wiU 
come  into  thy  house  with  burnt-offerings,  i.  e.  I  will  bring  them  thither.  This 
sense  agrees  well  with  the  vow  to  pi'aise  God  in  the  two  preceding  verses, 
and  with  the  promise  of  commemoration  in  the  other  clause  of  this  verse. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xx.  8  (7).  It  also  enables  us  to  give  the  noun  (JlT)1iJ) 
its  usual  sense  of  God's  exploits  or  mighty  deeds.  See  below,  Ps.  cvi.  2, 
and  compare  Deut.  iii.  24.  Thine  only,  not  my  own  or  that  of  any  crea- 
ture.    See  above,  on  Ps.  xliv.  4,  7  (3,  6). 

17.  0  God,  thou  hast  taught  me  (to  praise  thee)  from  my  youth,  by  thy 
providential  dealings  with  me,  i.e.  given  me  occasion  to  celebrate  thy  praise, 
and  until  now  I  will  declare,  i.  e.  I  am  still  declaring,  still  have  reason  to 
declare,  tJcy  wondrous  works.     See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  2  (1),  xxvi.  7,  xl.  6  (5). 

18.  And  also  (or  even)  unto  old  age  and  hoary  hairs,  0  God,  forsake  me 
not,  till  I  declare  thine  arm,  i.  e.  the  exertion  of  thy  power,  to  the  (next) 
generation,  (and)  to  every  one  that  is  to  come  thy  power.  The  last  clause 
determines  the  sense  of  the  indefinite  expression,  a  generation.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xxii.  31  (30).     With  the  phrase  thy  arm,  compare  Ps.  xliv.  4  (3). 

19.  And  thy  righteousness,  0  God,  (reaches)  even  to  the  height  (or  high 
place),  i.  e.  heaven,  (thou)  who  hast  done  great  things,  0  God,  who  is  like 
thee  ?  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xxxvi.  6  (5),  Ivii.  11  (10) ;  with 
the  last,  Exod.  xv.  11,  Deut.  iii.  24,  2  Sam.  vii.  22. 


Psalm  7 1:20 -24  309 

20.  (Thou)  who  hast  shewed  us,  made  us  see,  i.  e.  caused  us  to  experience, 
distresses  many  and  severe  (or  many  distresses  and  evils)  wilt  return  (and) 
make  us  live,  revive  or  quicken  us,  and  from  the  depths  of  t/ie  earth  wilt 
return  (and)  bring  us  up,  make  or  cause  us  to  ascend.  The  sudden  change 
from  the  singular  to  the  plural  form,  in  reference  to  the  same  subject,  led 
the  authors  of  the  masoretic  punctuation  to  restore  the  singular  in  this 
verse  also  ;  but  the  reading  in  the  text  is  no  doubt  the  original  and  true 
one.  As  the  word  translated  depths  is  elsewhere  invariably  appHed  to  water, 
some  suppose  an  allusion  to  the  deluge,  as  in  Ps.  xxix.  10,  xxxii.  6,  xxxvi. 
7  (6).  Compare  Isa,  viii.  7,  8.  The  verb  return,  twice  used  here,  may, 
agreeably  to  Hebrew  usage,  merely  qualify  the  verbs  to  which  it  is  prefixed, 
thou  wilt  quicken  us  again,  thou  wilt  bring  us  again.  But  the  similar  expres- 
sion in  the  next  verse  makes  it  probable  that  the  verb  was  meant  to  have  an 
independent  meaning,  and  to  point  out  the  dependence  of  the  quickening 
and  the  restoration  here  expected  on  Jehovah's  return  to  his  forsaken 
people.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  7. 

21.  Thou  wilt  increase  my  greatness,  and  wilt  turn  (and)  comfort  me. 
As  the  word  translated  greatness  is  elsewhere  applied  to  the  great  things 
done  by  God  for  the  protection  and  deliverance  of  his  people  (Ps.  cxlv.  3, 
2  Sam.  vii.  23)  my  greatness  may  have  here  the  objective  sense  of  great  things 
done  to  or  for  me.     See  above,  on  ver.  19,  and  compare  Ps.  xl.  6  (5). 

22.  Also  I  will  thank  thee  with  a  harp-instrument,  i.e.  with  a  harp  or 
lyre  as  the  instrument  of  praise,  (for)  thy  truth,  or  as  to  thy  truth,  veracity 
and  faithfukiess  ;  /  unll  play  to  thee,  make  music  to  thee,  praise  or  celebrate 
thee,  with  a  lyre,  (thou)  Holy  (One)  of  Israel,  i.e.  his  peculiar  God,  pos- 
sessed of  all  divine  perfections.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  4  (8).  From  this 
place  the  title  has  been  borrowed  by  the  prophets,  and  by  none  so  frequently 
as  by  Isaiah. 

23.  31y  lips  shall  sing  when  I  play  to  thee,  and  my  soul  which  thou  hast 
redeemed.  The  first  clause,  as  above  translated,  seems  to  promise  the 
combination  of  vocal  and  instrumental  praise.  But  as  the  first  verb  usually 
means  to  shout  or  sing  for  joy,  and  sometimes  simply  to  rejoice,  and  the 
second  commonly  conveys  the  idea,  not  of  music  merely,  but  of  praise,  the 
clause  may  be  explained,  my  lips  shall  rejoice,  for  I  will  sing  to  thee  (or 
praise  thee),  and  my  soul  (shall  also  rejoice).  With  the  last  clause  compare 
Ps.  xxxiv.  23  (22). 

24.  Also  my  tongue  all  the  day  shall  muse  of  thy  righteousness,  because 
they  are  ashamed,  they  blush — the  seekers  of  my  hurt.  The  verb  in  the 
first  clause  means  to  think  aloud,  to  talk  to  one's  self,  and  therefore  suggests 
the  idea  both  of  thought  and  sound.  It  is  here  applied  to  the  tongue,  as 
the  instrument  by  which  one's  thoughts  are  thus  expressed,  not  to  others 
but  himself.  See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  2,  ii.  1,  xxxv.  28,  xxx\di.  30,  xxxviii,  13 
(12),  Ixiii.  7  (6),  and  below,  on  Ps.  xc.  9.  The  position  of  the  subject  at 
the  end  of  the  last  clause  is  emphatic,  as  in  ver.  13  above.  The  preterite 
form  of  the  verbs  represents  the  efiect  as  one  already  past,  though  really 
still  future. 


Psalm  72 

A  GLOWING  description  of  the  reign  of  the  Messiah,  as  righteous,  ver. 
1-7,  universal,  ver.  8-11,  beneficent,  ver.  12-14,  perpetual,  ver.  15-17,  to 
which  are  added  a  doxology,  ver,  18,  19,  and  a  postscript,  ver.  20. 


310  Psalm72:l-5 

1.  By  Solomon.  0  God,  thy  judgments  to  the  king  give,  and  thy  right- 
eousness to  the  king's  son.  The  form  of  expression  in  the  first  clause  or  title 
is  precisely  the  same'  as  in  the  phrase  so  often  rendered,  by  David.  That 
it  designates  the  author,  may  be  argued,  not  only  from  this  usage,  but  from 
the  fact,  that  the  imagery  of  the  psalm  is  as  evidently  borrowed  from  the 
peaceful  and  brilliant  reign  of  Solomon,  as  that  of.  the  second  from  the 
martial  and  triumphant  reign  of  David.  The  prayer  in  this  verse  is  virtu- 
ally a  prediction,  as  the  Psalmist  only  asks  what  he  knows  that  God  will 
give.  The  judicial  power,  under  the  theocracy,  was  exercised  in  God's 
name  and  by  his  representatives.  See  Deut.  i.  17,  Exod.  xxi.  6,  xxii.  7,  8, 
Prov.  viii.  15,  2  Chron.  xix.  6.  The  Messiah  was  therefore  expected  to  ex- 
hibit this  peculiar  character  in  its  perfection.  See  Isa.  xi.  2,  3.  By  the 
king  and  the  king's  son  we  are  not  to  understand  the  descendants  and  suc- 
cessors of  David  indefinitely,  but  the  last  and  greatest  of  them  in  particular. 

2.  He  shall  judge  thy  people  with  righteousness,  and  thy  afflicted  [ones) 
tvith  judgment.  This  is  stated  as  the  necessary  consequence  of  the  granting 
of  the  prayer  in  the  preceding  verse.  "  Give  him  thy  righteousness,  and 
then  he  shall  judge,"  &c.  There  is  no  need,  therefore,  of  putting  an 
optative  sense  upon  the  future,  "  Let  them  judge,"  &c.,  especially  as  it 
would  then  be  necessary  to  extend  the  same  construction  to  the  verses  fol- 
lowing, and  so  long  a  series  of  optative  expressions  is  without  example. 

3.  (Then)  shall  the  mountains  bear  peace  for  the  people,  and  the  hills,  by 
righteousness.  The  effect  of  the  divine  gift  asked  at  the  beginning  of  the 
psalm  is  still  described  in  this  verse,  under  the  figure  of  a  general  growth 
or  harvest  of  peace,  to  spring  up  in  the  whole  land.  Bear,  in  the  sense  of 
bringing  forth,  producing.  Mountains  and  hills  are  mentioned  as  the  salient 
points  or  prominent  features  of  the  country.  This  was  the  more  natural,  as 
the  hills  of  Palestine  were  carefully  tilled  in  ancient  times,  as  appears  from 
the  ten-aces  still  visible.  See  above,  Ps.  Ixv.  13  (12),  and  below,  Ps. 
cxlvii.  8,  and  compare  Deut.  xxxiii.  15.  Peace,  as  opposed  to  war  and  its 
accompanying  evils.  This  is  often  mentioned  as  a  characteristic  trait  of  the 
Messiah's  reign.  See  Isa.  ii.  4,  ix.  6,  7  (5,  6),  xi.  9,  Ixv.  25,  Micah  iv.  3, 
Zech.  ix.  10.  It  was  typified  by  the  peaceful  reign  of  Solomon  (1  Kings 
V.  4),  whose  very  name  suggests  it.  The  hills,  i.  e.  the  hills  shall  bear 
peace  or  produce  it.  The  words  by  righteousness  belong  to  both  clauses, 
and  denote  that  the  peace  here  promised  was  to  be  the  fruit  of  righteous 
government. 

4.  He  shall  judge  the  afflicted  of  the  people  ;  he  shall  save  (or  bring  salva- 
tion) to  the  sons  of  the  needy,  and  shall  crush  (or  break  in  pieces)  the  ojypressor. 
To  judge  them  is  to  do  them  justice,  to  redress  their  wrongs  and  vindicate 
their  rights.  The  afflicted  of  the  people,  those  who  suffer  among  the  chosen 
people.  The  needy  or  the  poor  man  is  an  ideal  person,  representing  the 
whole  class,  whose  individual  members  are  described  as  his  sons  or  childi-en. 

5.  They  shall  fear  thee  with  the  sun,  and  before  the  moon,  generation  of 
generations.  The  first  verb  may  be  construed  with  the  sons  of  the  needy,  or 
taken  indefinitely,  men  shall  fear  thee,  which  is  nearly  equivalent  to  saying, 
thou  shalt  be  feared.  The  verb  itself  denotes  religious  reverence  or  awe, 
and  is  here  put  for  worship.  The  object  of  address,  here  and  throughout 
the  psalm,  is  God,  whose  worship  is  described  as  one  fruit  of  the  righteous 
reign  predicted.  With  the  sun,  as  long  as  they  have  the  sun  with  them,  i.  e. 
possess  or  enjoy  him.  Before  the  moon,  in  her  presence,  as  long  as  she 
continues  to  be  visible,  or  to  afford  them  light.  This  is  one  of  the  scrip- 
tural expressions  for  perpetual  duration,  an  idea  which  is  also  expressed  by 


Psalm  72:6 -10  311 

the  idiomatic  phrase,  generation  of  generations,  i.  e.  through  all  generations, 
or  from  one  generation  to  another. 

6.  He  shall  come  down  like  rain  upon  moicn  (grass),  like  showers,  the  water- 
ing of  the  earth  (or  land).  This  beautiful  comparison  suggests  the  idea  of  a 
gentle  yet  refreshing  and  fertilising  influence,  to  be  exerted  by  the  king, 
whose  reign  is  here  foretold.  The  word  translated  showers,  by  its  etymolo- 
gical afiinities,  suggests  the  idea  of  abundance  or  copiousness.  The  noun 
which  follows  occurs  only  here,  but  may  be  traced  to  verbal  roots  which 
mean  to  drop  or  to  flow. 

7.  In  his  days  shall  the  righteous  sprout,  spring  up,  or  shoot  forth,  and 
abundance  of  peace,  till  the  failure  (or  cessation)  of  the  moon.  The  idea  is 
the  same  as  in  ver.  3,  5,  with  a  slight  change  in  the  form  of  the  expression. 
By  a  lively  figure,  the  righteous  man  is  substituted  for  righteousness  in  the 
abstract,  as  the  fruit  of  the  earth  and  the  productive  cause  of  peace.  The 
idea  of  perpetuity  is  again  conveyed  by  repeating  one  of  the  comparisons 
in  ver.  5. 

8.  And  he  shall  rule  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  There  is  here  an  obvious  allusion  to  the  limits  of  the  land  of  pro- 
mise, as  defined  in  Exod.  xxiii.  31 ;  but  that  these  are  not  directly  intended 
in  the  case  before  us,  is  clear  from  the  mention  of  foreign  kings  and  nations 
in  the  following  verses.  The  meaning  rather  is,  that  as  the  realm  of  the 
theocratic  kings  was  bounded  by  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Euphiates,  that 
of  the  Messiah,  whom  they  represented,  should  extend  from  sea  to  sea,  i.  e. 
from  any  sea  to  any  other,  even  the  most  distant,  or  from  any  sea  around 
to  the  same  point  again,  and  from  the  river  (Euphrates),  or  from  any  other 
river,  as  a  terminus  a  quo,  to  the  ends  of  the  "earth.  In  other  words,  it 
should  be  universal.  The  same  mode  of  describing  the  extent  of  Christ's 
dominion  is  adopted  by  the  prophets.  See  Zech.  ix.  10,  and  compare 
Amos  viii.  12,  Micah  vii.  12. 

9.  Before  him  shall  crouch  uild  [men), ^and  his  enemies  the  dust  shall 
lick.  The  first  noun  denotes  dwellers  in  the  wilderness,  and  is  applied  both 
to  brutes  (Isa.  xiii.  21,  xxxiv.  14,  Jer.  1.  39)  and  men  (Ps.  Ixxiv.  14).  The 
common  version  of  the  first  verb  (how)  is  too  weak  in  itself  and  in  com- 
parison with  the  parallel  expression,  lick  the  dust,  implying  the  most  uncon- 
ditional and  abject  submission. 

10.  The  kings  of  Tarshish  and  the  Islands  an  ohlation  shall  send  back  ; 
the  kings  of  Sheha  and  Seba  a  rnvard  shall  bring  near.  The  last  noun  in 
the  first  clause,  and  the  verb  in  the  second,  are  technical  terms  of  the 
Mosaic  law,  the  first  denoting  specially  a  vegetable  off'ering,  and  the  other 
the  solemn  act  of  presentation  in  God's  presence.  The  use  of  these  expres- 
sions implies  that  what  is  here  described  is  not  the  mere  paj-ment  of  tribute 
or  the  presentation  of  friendly  gifts,  but  a  religious  oflering.  It  is  also 
worthy  of  remark,  that  the  verb  in  the  first  clause,  and  the  last  noun  in  the 
second,  both  suggest  the  idea,  not  of  a  simple  gift,  but  of  a  recompence  or 
requital,  perhaps  in  allusion  to  the  benefits  which  Christ  was  to  bestow  upon 
the  nations,  and  of  which  these  gifts  would  be  a  thankful  acknowledgment. 
The  verb  return,  however,  is  used  elsewhere  to  denote  the  simple  act  of 
paying  tribute.  See  2  Kings  iii.  4,  xvii.  3.  The  proper  names  in  this 
verse  are  mere  specimens  or  samples  of  the  nations  generally.  Tarshish  is 
mentioned,  both  as  a  well-known  mart  or  source  of  wealth,  and  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  extreme  west.  The  Islands,  agreeably  to  Hebrew  usage, 
include  all  distant  sea-coasts,  but  particularly  those  of  the  Mediterranean. 
The  distant  south  is  represented,  in  like  manner,  by  Sheba,  a  province  of 


312  Psalm72:ll-16 

Arabia  Felix,  and  Seba,  now  commonly  supposed  to  be  Meroe,  a  part  of 
ancient  Ethiopia,  both  famous  for  their  wealth  and  commerce.  The  obvi- 
ous allusion  to  the  Queen  of  Sheba's  visit  to  Jerusalem  (1  ffings  x.  1-10) 
is  another  stroke  in  this  prophetic  picture  evidently  boiTowed  from  the  times 
of  Solomon. 

11.  And  to  him  shall  all  Idufjs  how  (ov  ])rostrate  themselves),  all  nations 
shall  serve  him.  That  the  preceding  verse  contains  only  a  sample  of  the 
nations  over  whom  the  IMessiah  was  to  reign,  is  distinctly  intimated  by  the 
universal  and  unqualified  expressions  of  the  verse  before  us.  The  act  de- 
scribed in  the  first  clause  is  one  expressive  both  of  civil  homage  and  religious 
worship.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  verb  in  the  last  clause,  which  may 
be  applied  either  to  the  ciAal  service  of  a  sovereign  by  his  subjects,  or  to 
the  religious  service  of  a  deity  by  his  worshippers.  In  this  case,  as  in  ver. 
10,  both  were  meant  to  be  included. 

12.  For  he  tvill  deliver  the  needy  crying  (to  him  for  help),  and  the 
sufferer,  and  him  that  hath  no  helper.  The  literal  translation  of  the  last  clause 
is,  and  there  is  no  one  helping  him,  or,  and  there  is  no  helper  to  him.  By 
referring  the  pronoun  to  the  sufferer  mentioned  just  before,  we  may  take 
this,  not  as  the  description  of  a  third  class,  but  as  a  further  description  of 
the  second,  the  suferer  to  whom  there  is  no  helper.  The  whole  verse  repre- 
sents Jie  king  in  question  as  the  protector,  not  the  oppressor,  of  his  sub- 
jects, and  assigns  a  reason  for  their  tribute  being  represented  as  a  requital 
of  benefits  received.     See  above,  on  ver.  10. 

13.  He  will  have  pity  on  (or  spare)  the  poor  and  needy,  ami  the  souls  (or 
live'i)  of  the  needy  he  will  save.  In  the  first  clause  the  adjectives  are  of  the 
singular  number,  and  properly  denote  the  poor  (man)  and  the  needy  (man). 
The  change  to  the  plural  in  the  second  clause,  needy  (ones)  or  needy  (people), 
shews  that  the  singular  was  not  meant  to  denote  a  real  individual,  but 
rather  an  ideal  person,  representing  a  whole  class,  which  is  then  directly 
designated  b}-  the  plural. 

14.  From  oppression  and  from  violence  he  will  redeem  their  soid,  and 
precious  shall  their  blood  be  in  his  eyes  (or  sight).  This  last  is  an  idiomatic 
expression  of  the  idea,  that  a  person  sets  such  a  value  on  the  life  of 
another  that  he  will  not  sutler  it  to  be  destroyed.  See  below,  on  Ps. 
cxvi.  15,  and  compare  1  Sam.  xxvi.  21,  2  Kings  i.  14. 

15.  And  he,  the  poor  man  thus  delivered,  shall  live,  shall  be  preserved 
alive,  and,  in  token  of  his  gi-atitude  and  willing  subjection  to  such  a  sove- 
reign, he  shall  give  to  him,  as  tribute,  of  the  gold  of  Sheba,  one  of  the 
regions  mentioned  in  ver.  10,  and  famous  for  its  gold ;  and  he,  meaning 
still  the  grateful  tributary,  shall  pray  for  him  continually,  i.  e.  for  the  pro- 
gress and  extension  of  Messiah's  kingdom  ;  all  the  day  (long)  shall  he  bless 
him.  i.  e.  praise  him,  as  well  for  what  he  is  in  himself,  as  for  the  gifts 
which  he  bestows.  By  some  interpreters  the  meaning  is  reversed,  and  the 
sentence  made  to  signify  that  the  Messiah  shall  live  again,  or  live  for  ever, 
and  give  precious  gifts  to  the  believer,  and  by  his  constant  intercession 
secure  to  him  the  blessing  of  Jehovah.  This  is  a  good  sense  in  itself,  and 
appropriate  to  the  context ;  but  the  dubious  question  of  construction  seems 
to  be  determined  by  the  mention  of  the  gold  of  Sheba,  which,  in  this  con- 
nection, far  more  probably  denotes  the  tribute  of  the  subject  than  the 
favour  of  the  sovereign.     See  above,  on  ver.  10. 

16.  Let  there  be  (but)  a  handful  of  corn  in  the  land,  in  the  top  of  the 
mountains  ;  its  fruit  shall  wave  (or  shake)  like  Lebanon,  and  they  shall 
flourish  from  the  city  like  grass  of  the  earth.     The  first  noun  in  Hebrew 


Psalm72:17-19  313 

occurs  only  here,  and  has  been  taken  in  senses  directly  opposite.  The 
rabbinical  tradition  makes  it  mean  a  handful,  the  modern  lexicographers  a 
plenty,  each  relying  on  a  doubtful  etymology.  According  to  the  second 
explanation,  the  clause  is  a  direct  prediction  of  abundance,  and  should  be 
translated,  there  shall  heplentij  of  corn  in  the  land.  According  to  the  other 
and  more  ancient  view,  the  verse  contains  a  beautiful  antithesis  between  the 
small  beginnings  and  the  vast  results  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom,  not  unlike 
that  suggested  by  our  Saviour's  parable  of  the  grain  of  mustard  seed. 
This  exegetical  analogy,  together  with  the  striking  character  imparted  to 
the  verse  by  this  interpretation,  are  sufficient  to  entitle  it  to  the  preference, 
even  without  regard  to  its  antiquity  and  traditional  authority.  The  apoco- 
pated future  (>n^)  may  then  be  taken  in  its  proper  sense,  as  a  concession 

or  a  ■wish,  equivalent  to  saying,  though  there  he  hut  a  handful  of  corn  in  the 
land,  and  that  in  the  least  favourable  situation,  on  the  top  of  a  mountain, 
which  though  cultivated  (see  above,  on  ver.  3),  must  of  course  be  colder  and 
less  fertile  than  the  plains  below.  Neither  wave  nor  shake  conveys  the 
full  force  of  the  Hebrew  verb,  which  suggests  the  additional  idea  of  a 
rushing  noise,  like  that  of  the  wind  among  the  cedars  of  Lebanon.  This 
comparison  is  certainly  more  natural  and  obvious  than  that  which  some 
interpreters  assume  with  the  gi'ain-crops  or  harvest-fields  of  Lebanon  itself. 
This  would  be  merely  likening  one  harvest  to  another,  nor  is  any  such 
allusion  ever  made  elsewhere  to  the  mountain,  though  its  circumjacent 
plains  and  valleys  were  productive.  See  Hos.  xiv.  5-7.  The  word  trans- 
lated y?0M?•^s^  means  originally  to  shine  or  glitter  (Ps.  cxxxii.  18),  but  is 
specially  applied  to  the  brilliancy  of  vegetation,  and  might  therefore  be 
translated  hloom  or  hlossom.  See  Num.  xvii.  23  (8),  and  compare  Ps.  xc.  6, 
xcii.  8  (7),  ciii.  15.  From  the  city  seems  to  mean  from  Jerusalem  or 
Zion,  as  the  centre  of  Messiah's  kingdom  and  his  royal  residence,  out  of 
which  this  productive  influence  was  to  go  forth.  Compare  the  form  of  ex- 
pression in  this  clause  with  Num.  xxiv.  19,  Job  v.  25. 

17.  His  name  shall  he  for  ever  ;  in  the  presence  of  the  sun,  i.e.  as  long 
as  the  sun  shines,  his  name  shall  propagate  (itself) ;  and  hy  him  shall  they 
[i.  e.  men  in  general)  hless  themselves  ;  all  nations  shall  felicitate  him  (or 
pronounce  him  happy).  The  form  of  expression  in  the  second  clause  is 
borrowed  from  the  patriarchal  promises  (Gen.  xii.  3,  xviii.  18,  xxviii.  14), 
and  is  intended  to  suggest  the  idea  there  expressed,  that  the  Messiah 
should  be  not  only  blessed  himself,  but  a  source  of  blessing  to  all  nations. 
As  the  happiness  of  the  parent  is  bound  up  in  that  of  the  children,  and  the 
prosperity  of  the  sovereign  inseparable  from  that  of  the  subjects,  the  one 
part  of  this  prediction  necessarily  implies  the  other.  If  the  head  is  blessed, 
so  must  be  the  members,  the  whole  body.  If  all  nations  are  to  call  Mes- 
siah blessed,  it  must  be  because  he  is  the  author  and  the  giver  of  their 
own  prosperity,  nay  more,  of  their  salvation. 

18,  19.  Blessed  (be)  Jehovah,  God,  the  God  of  Israel,  doing  wonders 
alone,  and  blessed  (be)  his  glorious  name  to  eternity,  aud  filled  with  his  glory 
be  the  whole  earth.  Amen  and  Amen.  This  is  commonly  explained  as  a 
doxology  belonging,  not  to  this  psalm,  but  to  the  second  book,  of  which  it 
marks  the  close.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xli.  14  (13).  But  as  the  psalm  would 
end  somewhat  abruptly  with  the  foregoing  verse,  and  as  this  addition  car- 
ries out  the  idea  there  expressed,  by  giving,  as  it  were,  the  very  words  in 
which  the  nations  shall  pronounce  him  blessed,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
that  the  doxology  was  added  by  the  author,  and  that  this  conclusion  of  the 


314  Psalm73:l 

psalm  was  not  the  effect  but  the  occasion  of  its  being  placed  at  the  close  of 
one  of  the  traditional  divisions  of  the  psalter.  The  wish  in  the  second 
clause  ef  ver.  19  is  borrowed  from  the  promise  in  Num.  xiv.  21,  of  which 
this  whole  psalm  is  in  fact  a  prolonged  echo. 

20.  Ended  are  the  prayers  of  David,  son  of  Jesse.  The  position  of  this 
sentence  after  the  doxology,  and  its  prosaic  form,  shew  that  it  forms  no 
part  of  the  psalm,  but  relates  to  the  whole  series  preceding.  It  does  not 
therefore  prove,  as  some  suppose,  that  Solomon  was  not  the  author  of  the 
seventy-second  psalm,  since  this  exception  and  a  very  few  others  could  not 
prevent  the  collection  being  called  the  prayers  of  David.  A  potiori  fit 
(ienominatio.  In  like  manner,  the  whole  Psalter  is  still  called  the  Psalm  of 
David  by  many  who  believe  it  to  contain  some  psalms  by  other  waiters. 
That  this  is  the  conclusion  of  an  original  and  separate  collection  is  by  no 
means  probable,  as  there  is  no  historical  proof  that  such  collections  ever 
existed,  and  it  would  not  be  easy  to  account  for  the  omission  of  so  manj' 
psalms  undoubtedly  composed  by  David.  On  the  whole,  it  is  most  pro- 
bable that  these  words  were  added  to  the  first  great  subdivision  of  the 
whole  collection,  as  entirely  composed  of  Psalms  by  David  and  his  contem- 
poraries, with  a  few  added  to  them  on  account  of  some  marked  similarity 
in  form  or  substance.  The  only  remaining  supposition  is  that  these  words 
are  part  of  the  original  composition,  and  were  added  by  Solomon  to  shew 
that  what  he  here  predicts  would  be  the  fulfilment  of  his  father's  wishes 
and  the  answer  to  his  prayers.  The  objection  to  this,  besides  the  form  and 
position  of  the  verse  itself,  is,  that  the  verb  is  never  used  to  denote  fulfil- 
ment or  accomplishment,  except  in  the  Hebrew  of  the  later  books.  See 
Ezra  i.  1,  Dan.  xii.  7. 


Psalm  73 

1.  A  Psalm.  By  Asaph.  Only  good  to  Israel  (is)  God,  to  the  pure  of 
heart.  This  last  expression  is  added  to  hmit  or  explain  the  application  of 
the  national  name  Israel,  as  here  denoting  not  the  race  or  nation,  simply  as 
such  considered,  but  the  true  Israel,  the  sincere  and  spiritual  members  of 
the  ancient  church.  To  these  God  is  good,  and  only  good,  i.  e.  never  other- 
wise, never  unmerciful,  or  even  indifferent.  This  is  the  theme  of  the  whole 
psalm,  and  the  peculiar  form  in  which  it  is  propounded  has  reference  to  the 
previous  conflicts  and  misgivings  of  the  Psalmist,  through  which  he  had 
passed  in  reaching  the  conviction  here  expressed.  As  if  he  had  said,  "  I 
once  thought  otherwise,  but  now  I  know  that  God  is  only  good,  and  always 
good,  to  the  true  Israel,  his  real  people."  He  then  goes  on  to  describe  the 
conflicts  thus  tacitly  referred  to,  first,  by  a  statement  of  the  facts  out  of 
which  they  sprang,  ver.  2-11,  then  of  the  effect  which  these  produced  upon 
his  mind,  ver.  12-16,  and  then  of  the  means  by  which  he  had  been  dis- 
abused, ver.  17-20,  and  under  the  influence  of  which  he  now  condemns 
his  own  irrationahty,  ver.  21,  22,  adores  the  grace  by  which  he  had  been 
rescued  from  the  consequences  of  his  error,  ver.  23,  24,  and  concludes  with 
an  expression  of  his  hearty  reliance  upon  that  grace  for  his  safety  and  hap- 
piness hereafter,  ver.  25-28.  There  is  not  the  slightest  ground  for  doubting 
the  correctness  of  the  title,  which  ascribes  the  psalm  to  Asaph,  the  con- 
temporary of  David  and  his  chief  musician,  and  himself  moreover  an  inspired 
psalmist.  This  last  fact,  which  is  matter  of  recorded  history  (see  above, 
on  Ps.  1.  1),  together  vnih  the  fact  that  where  only  one  name  is  mentioned 


Psalm  73:2 -8  315 

in  the  title  of  a  psalm  it  is  uniformly  that  of  the  writer,  may  suffice  to  set 
aside  the  supposition  that  Asaph  is  only  named  as  the  performer. 

2.  And  I  (or  as  for  me),  my  feet  were  almost  gone,  my  steps  had  well 
nigh  slipped.  The  pronoun  in  the  first  clause  is  emphatic.  I,  who  so 
confidently  make  this  profession  of  my  faith  in  God's  unchanging  goodness, 
am  one  whose  feet  were  almost  gone,  literally  inclined  or  hent,  either  from 
the  straight  course  or  from  an  erect  position.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixii.  3 
(2),  where  the  same  verb  is  applied  to  a  wall  inclined  or  bent  by  violence. 
The  phrases  rendered  almost  and  well  nigh  strictly  mean  like  little  and  like 
nothing,  and  imply  that  it  wanted  little  or  nothing  of  a  fearful  fall  on  his 
part,  in  other  words,  that  he  had  nan'owly  escaped  it.  Slipped,  Uterally 
poured  out,  which  seems  to  be  a  figure  both  for  weakness  and  divergence. 
Instead  of  pursuing  a  direct  course,  or  remaining  in  a  firm  position,  his 
steps  were  scattered  and  without  effect,  like  water  poured  upon  the  ground. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  15  (14). 

3.  For  I  was  envious  at  the  proud  ;  the  peace  of  wicked  (men)  /  see  (and 
must  see).  He  now  proceeds  to  state  more  distinctly  the  nature  of  the  fall 
from  which  he  had  so  narrowly  escaped.  It  was  the  sin  and  folly  of  deny- 
ing the  justice  and  fidelity  of  God  because  of  providential  inequalities  and 
mysteries.  The  proud  or  insolent,  a  general  description  of  the  wicked,  as 
in  Ps.  v.  5  (4).  The  common  version  in  both  places  [foolish)  is  less  pro- 
bable, but  does  not  materially  change  the  sense.  In  the  last  clause,  he 
reverts  to  his  experience  at  an  earlier  date,  and  expresses  himself  as  he 
might  have  done  at  that  time.  This  relation  of  the  clauses  may  be  ren- 
dered clearer  by  supplying  a  word  or  phrase  between  them.  "  I  was  envious 
at  the  proud  (and  said),  the  peace,"  &c.  Peace,  as  the  negation  and  the 
opposite  of  all  disturbing  causes,  really  suggests  the  idea  of  prosperity  in 
general.  The  future  form  of  the  verb  has  respect,  not  to  the  date  of  com- 
position, but  to  that  of  the  events  recorded,  when  the  Psalmist  not  only 
saw,  but  expected  long  to  see,  the  undisturbed  prosperity  of  sinners. 

4.  For  there  are  no  hands  at  their  death  ;  and  fat,  i.  e.  healthy  or  robust, 
(is)  their  strength.  Some  understand  the  first  clause  to  mean  that  they  are 
not  bound  or  forced  to  die  like  other  men.  The  more  obvious  sense  is, 
that  when  they  do  die,  they  are  not  in  bonds  or  chains  like  other  men,  but 
free,  common  figures  for  distress  or  suffering  and  its  opposite. 

5.  In  the  labour  of  man  they  are  not,  they  are  not  partakers  in  the  com- 
mon troubles  of  humanity,  and  with  mankind  they  are  not  smitlen  (or 
afflicted).  The  use  of  the  future  is  precisely  the  same  as  in  ver.  3.  They 
are  not,  and  to  all  appearance  never  will  be,  sharers  in  the  common  cala- 
mities of  life. 

6.  Therefore  pride  has  enchained  them,  the  garb  of  violence  (injustice  or 
cruelty)  covers  them.  The  first  verb  strictly  means  to  encircle  or  adorn  the 
neck,  perhaps  with  allusion  to  the  carriage  of  that  member  as  indicative  of 
pride.     See  Isa.  iii.  16,  Job  xv.  26. 

7.  Their  eyes  stand  out  with  fatness  ;  the  imaginations  of  the  heart  pass 
(out,  come  forth,  or  are  disclosed).  The  common  version  of  the  last  clause, 
they  have  more  than  heart  could  wish,  assumes  as  the  literal  meaning  of  the 
words,  they  sur2)ass  the  desires  of  their  heart.  According  to  the  other  con- 
struction above  given,  the  meaning  is  that  as  their  eyes  stand  out  with  fat- 
ness, so  their  hearts  overflow  with  evil  thoughts.  Compare  Mat.  xii.  35, 
XV.  19,  Mark  vii.  21,  Luke  ii.  35,  vi.  45. 

8.  They  mock  and  speak  in  wickedness  (or  malice)  ;  oppression  from  on 
high  they  speak.     To  speak  oppression  is  to  speak  words  tending  to  the 


316  Psalm  73:9 -14 

injury  of  others.     From  on  liiyh,  proudly,  with  arrogant  contempt  of  others. 
They  speak  as  if  from  a  superior  position. 

9.  T'liey  set  their  mouth  in  heaven,  and  their  tongue  goes  on  earth.  The 
idea  in  the  first  clause  is  the  same  as  in  the  last  clause  of  the  foregoing 
verse.  Thej'^  speak  as  if  they  thought  themselves  superior  beings,  their 
mouth  in  heaven  and  their  tongue  on  earth.  Goes,  runs,  is  actively  em- 
ployed. 

10.  Tlierefore  he  hrings  hack  his  people  hither,  and  xuaters  of  fulness  are 
wrung  out  to  them  (or  drained  by  them).  This  obscure  verse  admits  of 
several  interpretations,  the  most  natural  of  which  understands  the  sense  to 
be,  that  God  still  sufiers  or  requires  his  people  to  survey  the  painful  spec- 
tacle and  drain  the  bitter  draught  presented  by  the  undisturbed  prosperity 
of  wicked  men.  According  to  the  masoretic  reading  in  the  margin  of  the 
Hebrew  Bible,  the  first  verb  is  intransitive,  his  people  shall  {or  must)  return 
hither.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  7,  liii.  7  (6). 

11.  And  they  say,  how  should  God  know,  and  (how)  can  there  he  know- 
ledge in  the  Highest?  Some  interpreters  regard  these  as  the  words  of  the 
prosperous  sinners  whom  he  has  been  describing.  But  according  to  the 
sense  just  put  upon  the  tenth  verse,  the  eleventh  must  express  the  misgiv- 
ings of  God's  people,  with  respect  to  the  providential  inequalities  in  ques- 
tion. When  still  brought  back  to  the  sight  of  these,  they  are  constrained 
to  ask  how  they  can  possibly  be  reconciled  with  the  hypothesis  of  God's 
omniscience.  This  is  much  more  natural  than  to  suppose  that  the  sinners 
themselves  admit  the  being  of  a  God,  and  yet  gratuitously  question  his 
omniscience.  In  the  latter  case  the  how  would  be  unmeaning  ;  in  the 
former,  it  is  the  most  natural  expression  of  the  doubt  supposed.  An  atheist, 
whether  theoretical  or  practical,  would  hardly  ask,  how  can  God  know  ? 
Even  a  wicked  theist  would  be  rather  apt  to  say,  he  does  not  know.  But 
nothing  can  be  more  appropriate  in  the  mouth  of  a  perplexed  and  tempted 
believer  than  the  question,  how  can  God  know  this  and  yet  sufi'er  it  ? 

12.  Lo,  these  are  luicked  [men),  and  (yet  they  are)  secure  for  ever,  they 
increase  strength  (or  substance).  These  are  still  the  words  of  the  perplexed 
believer,  expressing  his  surprise  at  the  prosperity  of  sinners.  See,  these 
are  wicked  men,  and  yet  instead  of  being  wretched,  or  prospering  only  for 
a  little  while,  they  are  prosperers  of  eterj^ity,  perpetually  prospered  and  at 
ease,  secure  from  change.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  7.  Instead  of  losing 
what  they  have,  they  still  gain  more,  and  go  on  adding  to  their  wealth,  and 
to  the  power  which  it  gives  them.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ix.  14  (12). 

13.  Only  (in)  vain  have  I  cleansed  my  heart,  and  in  innocence  have 
washed  my  hands.  These  may  be  taken  either  indefinitely  as  the  words  of 
any  person  in  the  painful  situation  just  described,  or  more  specifically  as 
the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  by  whom  the  whole  class  was,  in  fact,  repre- 
sented. They  contain  the  inference  which  would  be  naturally  drawn  in  such 
a  situation,  even  by  a  true  believer,  but  one  tempted  to  repine  and  doubt 
by  the  sight  of  providential  enigmas.  "  Since,  then,  it  is  the  wicked  who 
enjoy  God's  favour,  all  my  efi'orts  to  avoid  sin  and  to  do  his  will  have  been 
gratuitous  and  fruitless."  With  the  first  words  of  the  verse  compare  Ps. 
xxxix.  6,  12  (5, 11). 

14.  And  I  have  been  smitten  all  the  day,  and  my  chastisement  (has  been 
inflicted)  every  morning,  literally  at  (or  in)  the  mornings.  A  similar  form 
of  expression  occurs  twice  in  Job  vii.  18.  Smitten,  hterally  touched,  i.  e.  by 
the  hand  of  God,  a  common  expression  for  affliction,  and  especially  for  bodily 
disease  considered  as  a  divine  judgment.     The  same  idea  was  meant  to  be 


Psalm  73:1 5 -20  317 

conveyed  by  the  common  version  {plagued.)  The  psalmist  here  contrasts 
his  own  afflictions  with  the  undisturbed  enjoyments  of  his  wicked  neigh- 
bours. "  While  they,  though  wicked,  still  increase  in  wealth  and  seem 
secure  for  ever,  I,  who  have  faithfully  endeavoured  to  avoid  sin  and  to  do 
the  will  of  God,  am  subjected  every  day,  and  all  day,  to  privation  and 
distress." 

15.  If  I  have  said,  I  will  declare  thus,  behold,  the  generation  of  thy  sons 
I  have  perfidiously  treated.  This  is  equivalent  to  saying,  if  I  did  say  so,  I 
should  be  acting  falsely  towards  thy  children.  It  is  indeed  the  only  He- 
brew form  in  which  such  a  hypothetical  proposition  could  weU  be  clothed. 
Said^  i.e.  to  myself,  proposed  it,  formed  the  purpose.  Thus  declare,  i.  e. 
publicly  express  my  doubts  and  sceptical  misgivings.  This,  as  it  has  been 
well  observed,  the  true  believer  never  does,  until  he  is  able  to  announce  his 
conflict  and  his  victory  together.  Behold,  or  lo,  is  here  equivalent  to  our 
idiomatic  why  then,  meaning  in  that  case,  or  on  that  supposition,  and  express- 
ing at  the  same  time  some  surprise  at  his  own  suggestion  as  a  strange  one. 
The  generation  of  thy  sons,  the  contemporary  race  of  true  believers,  called 
the  sons  of  God,  not  only  as  the  objects  of  his  love,  but  as  partakers 
of  his  nature  (2  Pet.  i.  4).  Treated  perfidiously,  proved  false  to  them,  by 
weakening  the  foundation  of  their  hope,  instead  of  strengthening  their  faith 
and  allaying  their  misgivings.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  3. 

16.  And  I  meditated  to  know  this  ;  a  trouble  {was)  it  in  my  eyes.  Al- 
though he  abstained  from  openly  expressing  what  he  thought,  he  still  did 
think,  he  pondered  the  whole  matter,  with  a  view  to  understand  it,  to  dis- 
cover some  solution  of  the  mystery,  which  not  only  puzzled  but  distressed 
him.  The  apparent  inequahty  of  God's  providential  dealings  was  a  toil,  a 
trouble,  an  unhappiness  in  his  esteem. 

17.  Until  I  come  to  tJte  sanctuaries  of  God,  I  will  consider  (or  observe) 
their  end.  The  futures  have  reference,  as  in  ver.  3,  5,  to  the  date  of  the 
anterior  experience  here  recorded.  "  But  I  said  to  myself,  I  will  wait  till 
I  come  into  God's  presence  and  inquire  of  him,  and  then,  or  in  the  mean 
time,  I  will  look  at  or  attend  to  the  end  as  well  as  the  beginning  and  the 
progress  of  their  lives."  The  plural  form  holy  places,  is  the  same  as  in  Ps. 
Ixviii.  36(35).  It  denotes  the  sanctuary  in  its  whole  extent,  as  the  earthly 
residence  of  God,  and  the  place  where  he  communed  with  his  people.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxviii.  2. 

18.  Only  in  slippery  places  thou  loilt  set  them,  or  art  setting  them,  (and 
now)  thou  hast  let  {or  mside)  them  fall  into  destruction.  However  honour- 
able and  happy  their  position  may  appear  to  themselves,  the  Psalmist  can 
see  nothing  but  its  danger,  as  implied  in  his  use  of  the  word  only.  Smooth- 
nesses, smooth  or  slippery  places,  where  their  foothold  is  precarious  and 
fall  inevitable.  He  sees  God,  by  his  providential  favours,  placing  them  in 
this  desired  but  fearful  situation,  and  then  allowing  them  to  drop  into  de- 
struction. The  last  word  in  Hebrew  occurs  only  here  and  in  the  next 
psalm,  where  it  means  ruins.  If  this  sense  be  adopted  here,  we  must  sup- 
pose a  change  of  figure  and  an  allusion  to  the  fall,  not  of  a  man  from  a 
slippery  precipice,  but  of  a  building  crumbled  by  decay  or  violence. 

19.  How  are  they  (brought)  to  desolation  as  (in)  a  moment !  They  have 
ceased,  they  are  consumed  iiith  terrors!  He  here  expresses  his  surprise  at 
the  abruptness  and  completeness  of  their  ruin.  The  meaning  of  the  last 
clause  seams  to  be,  that  their  very  apprehensions  were  sufficient  to  destroy 
them,  much  more  the  actual  experience  of  what  they  apprehended. 

29.  As  a  dream  on  waking,  Lord,  in  wa,king,  their  image  thou  wilt 


318  Psalm  73:21 -24 

scorn.  The  word  translated  image  means  an  appearance,  as  opposed  to 
the  substance  or  reality.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxix.  7  (6).  The  present 
prosperity  of  wicked  men  will  seem  hereafter,  and  to  God's  eye  now  seems,  like 
an  empty  dream,  worthy  only  of  contemptuous  obUvion.  The  only  dubious 
expression  in  the  verse  is  that  translated  waking  in  the  second  clause,  which 
is  entirely  different  from  the  one  so  rendered  in  the  first  clause.  The  He- 
brew phrase  ("1^X?2)  is  used  in  more  than  fifty  other  places,  and  in  all 

of  them  means  in  the  city.  See,  for  example,  Ps.  Iv.  10  (9).  This  mean- 
ing is  retained  by  some  interpreters  in  the  case  before  us.  The  reference 
will  then  be  either  to  the  holy  city,  as  in  Ps.  Ixxii.  16,  or  to  the  city  where 
the  previous  scene  is  supposed  to  have  been  laid,  as  in  Ps.  xxxi.  22  (21). 
The  old  interpretation  takes  the  word  as  an  infinitive,  from  a  verb  which, 
however,  is  always  transitive,  and  means  to  aivaJcen,  except,  perhaps,  in 
Job  viii.  6f  and  in  Ps.  xxxv.  23  above.  To  this  interpretation  it  is  fur- 
thermore  objected,   that  it   supposes    an  unusual   contraction  (T^S  for 

1*ITT3),  and  that  the  sense  which  it  conveys  is  an  incongruous  one.     But 

that  God  should  despise  them  in  the  act  of  ivaking  is,  to  say  the  least,  as 
intelligible  as  that  he  should  despise  them  m  the  city.  In  either  case,  the 
general  meaning  of  the  sentence  is  too  clear  to  be  mistaken. 

21.  For  my  heart  is  soured,  and  [i)i  or  as  to)  my  reins  I  am  pierced.  The 
Hebrew  verbs  are  of  the  future  form,  although  really  relating  to  past  time, 
which  the  psalmist's  memory  recalls  as  a  state  of  things  then  hkely  to  con- 
tinue. See  above  on  ver  3,  5.  The  verbs  are  also  properly  reflexives,  my 
heart  exacerbates  itself,  I  pierce  myself,  and  are  perhaps  intended  to  describe 
his  sufferings  as  the  fruit  of  his  ovm  sin  and  folly. 

22.  And  I  (am)  hrutish  and  know  not  (the  true  state  of  the  case) ;  a 
least  have  I  been  with  thee.  The  last  noun  is  in  the  plural  number  (beasts), 
as  if  to  signify  a  beast  by  way  of  eminence,  in  which  sense  it  is  literally 
appUed  to  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  animal  kingdom  (Job  xl.  15).  With 
the  first  clause  compare  Prov.  xxx.  2,  and  see  above,  on  Ps.  xlix.  11  (10). 
These  strong  expressions  contain  an  acknowledgment  of  his  own  irration- 
ality in  questioning  God's  faithfulness  and  kindness.  In  this  verse  there 
is  an  insensible  transition  from  the  present  to  the  past,  from  the  ideal  to 
the  real  time  of  the  events  in  question.  With  thee  suggests  an  aggravat- 
ing circumstance,  to  wit,  that  this  folly  was  committed  in  the  presence  of 
God,  and  as  it  were  in  his  society.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  26,  27  (25,  26). 

23.  And  (yet)  2  {am)  still  with  thee  ;  thou  hast  held  (me)  by  my  right 
hand.  Notwithstanding  his  ungrateful'  and  irrational  conduct  in  God's 
presence,  he  had  not  been  driven  from  it,  as  he  justly  might  have  been. 
The  word  translated  still  propei'ly  means  ahoays,  and  denotes  that  there 
had  been  no  change  or  interruption  in  the  previous  relation  of  the  parties. 
There  is  a  perfectly  analogous  usage  of  the  French  toujnurs.  In  the  last 
clause  he  seems  to  return  to  the  metaphor  with  which  he  set  out.  As  the 
fatal  error  which  he  had  escaped  is  in  ver.  2  represented  as  a  fall,  so  here 
his  preservation  from  it  is  ascribed  to  God's  having  held  him  up  by  his 
right  hand.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  5,  xli.  13  (12),  Ixiii.  9  (8). 

24.  In  (or  by)  thy  counsel  thou  wilt  guide  me,  and  after  glory  thou  toilt 
take  me.  The  form  of  the  original  is  such  that  it  may  either  express  con- 
sent or  confident  expectation  ;  but  the  latter  in  this  case  really  includes  the 
former.  By  thy  counsel,  thy  instruction  and  advice,  considered  as  a  means 
of  safety  ;  or  in  thy  counsel,  i.  e.  in  the  execution  of  thy  plan  or  purpose, 
as  the  end  to  be  accomplished.     The  last  clause  is  obscure.     To  the  com- 


Psalm  73 .25  -  28  319 

mon  version  {and  afterward  receive  me  to  glory)  it  has  been  objected,  that 
it  takes  the  preposition  after  as  an  adverb,  and  assumes  an  unusual  sense 
and  construction  of  the  verb,  and  also  that  it  makes  the  guidance  and  the 
glory  too  distinct  and  successive.  The  construction  which  it  is  proposed 
to  substitute  is,  thou  wilt  take  me  after  glory,  i.  e.  make  me  overtake  it, 
cause  me  to  attain  it,  bi'ing  me  to  it.  The  same  construction  may  be  made 
to  yield  another  sense,  to  wit,  after  honouring  me  here  thou  wilt  receive  me 
to  thyself,  after  honour  thou  wilt  take  vie.  This,  it  is  true,  is  liable  to  some 
of  the  objections  brought  against  the  usual  construction.  But  the  choice 
at  best  is  one  of  difficulties,  and  some  of  the  objections  spring  entirely  from 
the  wish  to  exclude  a  reference  to  a  future  state,  which,  however,  is  as 
evident  in  this  verse  as  it  is  in  ver.  16, 19,  if  interpreted  in  any  natural  and 
reasonable  manner. 

25.  Whom  have  1  in  heaven  ?  And  with  thee  I  have  not  desired  (any) 
upon  earth.  The  literal  translation  of  the  first  clause  is,  who  [is)  to  me  in 
heaven,  i.  e.  what  protector  or  provider  ?  The  idea  of  another  besides  God 
may  be  supplied  in  this  clause  from  the  next,  where  ivith  thee  can  denote 
either  combination  or  comparison.  I  have  desired  none  in  addition  or  in 
preference  to  thee ;  thou  art  alone  and  all-sufficient. 

26.  Spent  is  my  flesh  and  my  heart ;  the  rock  of  my  heart  and  my  por- 
tion (is)  God  to  eternity.  The  first  clause  is  by  some  understood  as  mean- 
ing even  if  ox  even  when  my  flesh,  &c.  But  the  Psalmist  rather  assumes 
the  actual  occurrence  of  the  extreme  case  here  described,  or  places  himself 
in  it  as  an  ideal  situation.  Flesh  and  heart,  body  and  soul,  the  whole  man, 
or  the  whole  life,  outward  and  inward,  bodily  and  mental.  The  rock  of  my 
heart,  the  support  of  my  life,  that  on  which  it  rests  as  on  a  solid  basis. 
The  idea  is  not  simply  that  of  strength  but  of  a  strong  foundation.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  3  (2).  My  portion,  the  source  of  my  subsistence  and 
my  happiness.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  5,  and  with  the  whole  verse  com- 
pare Job  xix.  25-27. 

27.  For  lo,  those  far  from  thee  shall  perish  ;  thou  hast  destroyed  all  (or 
every  one)  whoring  from  thee.  This  verse  assigns  his  reason  for  relying 
upon  God  and  making  him  his  portion.     Those  far  from  thee,  literally,  thy 

far  (ones).  They  certainly  will  perish,  for  all  such  have  perished  heretofore. 
The  union  between  God  and  his  people  being  often  represented  by  the 
figure  of  a  conjugal  relation,  their  violation  of  the  covenant  is  spoken  of  as 
spiritual  whoredom  or  adultery.  See  above  on  Ps.  xlv.  1,  and  compare 
Lev.  XX.  6,  Num.  xiv.  33.  In  the  same  sense  our  Saviour  calls  the  unfaithful 
Israel  of  his  day  a  wicked  and  adulterous  generation.  See  Mat.  xii.  39, 
xvi.  4,  Mark  viii.  38.  The  persons  threatened  with  destruction  here  are 
not  merely  sinners  in  general,  but  the  wicked  members  of  the  ancient  church 
or  chosen  people  in  particular. 

28.  And  I,  or  as  for  me — the  approach  of  God  to  me  (is)  good ;  I  have 
placed  in  the  Lord  Jehovah  my  trust,  to  declare  all  thy  doings.  The  absolute 
nominative  at  the  beginning  puts  himself  in  strong  contrast  with  the  apos- 
tates of  the  foregoing  verse.  Compare  the  beginning  of  ver.  2,  23,  above. 
The  nearness  or  approach  of  God  is  an  ambiguous  expression,  as  in  Isa. 
Iviii.  2,  where  it  may  either  mean  God's  drawing  near  to  the  people  or  their 
drawing  near  to  him.  In  the  case  before  us  both  may  be  imphed,  as  in 
James  iv.  8,  both  are  expressed.  Draw  nigh  to  God  and  he  will  draw  nigh 
to  you.  To  me  may  be  connected  either  with  approach,  as  in  Ps.  xxvii.  2, 
or  with  good,  as  in  ver.  1  above.  Good  is  here  to  be  taken  in  the  absolute 
sense  of  the  sum  num  bonam  or  chief  good.     The  meaning  is  not  merely 


320  Psalm  74:1 

that  nearness  to  God  is  a  good  thing  in  itself,  or  a  useful  thing  to  man,  but 
that  it  comprehends  whatever  he  can  wish  or  hope  for.  "  Let  apostates 
wander  far  from  God  and  perish  ;  I  am  resolved  to  seek  my  highest  happi- 
ness in  being  near  him."  The  Lord  Jehovah  is  a  combination  expressive 
of  God's  sovereignt}',  self- existence,  and  covenant  relation  to  his  people. 
My  trust,  my  hiding-place  or  refuge.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xi.  1.  The  last 
clause  shews  that  he  wishes  to  be  something  more  than  a  mere  passive 
beneficiary.  He  desires  not  only  to  enjoy  but  to  celebrate  God's  goodness. 
The  word  translated  doings  is  applied  both  to  acts  and  to  afiairs  or  business. 

Psalm  74 

The  church  praj's  for  deliverance  from  extreme  distress,  enforcing  the 
petition,  first  by  a  description  of  the  actual  state  of  things,  ver.  1-12,  and 
then  by  an  appeal  to  former  mercies,  ver.  13-23.  The  historical  occasion 
is  not  given,  but  the  terms  of  the  description  seem  peculiarly  appropriate 
to  the  state  of  Judah  after  the  destruction  of  the  temple  and  the  holy  city 
by  the  Babylonians,  as  described  in  Jer.  lii.  12-34. 

1.  Moschil.  By  AsopJi.  Why,  0  God,  ha^t  thou  cast  off  for  ever,  smokes 
thy  v.rath  at  the  flock  of  thy  pasture  ?  The  description  of  the  psalm  as  a 
didactic  one  shews  that  it  was  not  meant  to  be  used  in  reference  to  its 
original  occasion  merely,  but  in  every  emergency  resembling  it.  For  this 
reason  the  question,  what  that  occasion  was,  is  of  little  exegetical  import- 
ance, although  not  without  interest  in  connection  with  the  critical  inquiry 
as  to  the  date  of  composition.  The  state  of  things  assumed,  and  indeed 
described,  is  so  unlike  that  which  existed  in  the  time  of  David,  that  we  must 
either  make  the  psalm  prophetical,  which  is  arbitrary  and  without  analogy, 
or  no  less  arbitrarily  reject  the  title  as  a  spurious  addition  to  the  text,  or 
understand  by  Asaph  the  descendants  of  David's  Chief  Musician,  among 
whom  the  gift  and  ofiice  of  their  ancestors  were  hereditary.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  1.  1,  and  compare  2  Chron.  xxxv.  15,  Ezra  ii.  41,  iii.  10,  Neh.  vii.  44, 
xi.  22.  That  this  title  indicates  the  author,  and  not  merely  the  pei^former, 
can  only  be  inferred  from  the  general  fact,  that  where  a  single  name  is 
given  it  is  usually  that  of  the  -wTiter.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  1,  Ixxii.  1. 
The  interrogation  in  this  verse  does  not  involve  a  disavowal  of  guilt  or  ill- 
desert,  but  is  rather  a  passionate  expostulation  and  indirect  petition  for 
deliverance.  Cast  of,  a  verb  implving  abhorrence  and  disgust.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xliii.  2,  xliv!  10,  24  (9,  23),  Ix.  3,  12  (1,  10).  As  the  object  is 
easily  supplied,  namely,  us  or  thy  ^^eopJe,  its  omission  adds  to  the  strength 
of  the  expression.  Cast  off  for  ever,  as  it  seems  to  us  and  others.  "Why 
hast  thou  cast  us  off  with  what  appears  to  be  a  final  and  perpetual  rejection  ? 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xiii.  2  (1).  The  interrogation  is  continued  throughout 
the  sentence.  (  Why)  s7nokes  or  tvill  smoke  ?  The  future  form  suggests  the 
same  idea  as  the /or  ever  in  the  other  clause.  "  AVhy  is  thy  wTath  to  con- 
tinue smoking  ?  "  The  presence  of  smoke  presupposes  that  of  fire  ;  but 
the  former  is  particularly  mentioned,  perhaps  for  the  purpose  of  adding  to 
the  primarj'  idea  of  distress  or  destruction  the  secondary  one  of  gloom  and 
terror.  At  or  ayainst  thy  people,  literally  in,  amony  them.  See  below,  on 
Ps.  Ixxx.  5  (4),  and  compare  Deut.  xxix.  19  (20).  The  sheep  (or  Jiock)  of 
thy  pasture,  those  who  feed  upon  th}'  pasture,  or  are  fed  by  thee,  a  favourite 
designation  of  the  chosen  people,  as  the  occupants  of  the  Land  of  Promise. 
The  figm-ative  form  of  the  description  was  originally  furnished  by  the  pas- 


Psalm  74 .2-4  321 

toral  experience  of  David,  but  from  him  was  borrowed  by  other  sacred 
writers.     See  below,  Ps.  Ixxix.  13,  c.  3, 

2.  Remember  thy  congregation  thou  hast  purchased  of  old,  (and)  redeem  the 
rod  of  thine  inheritance,  this  mount  Zion  thou  hast  dwelt  in.  The  elhpsis  of 
the  relative  in  both  the  clauses  of  this  verse  is  common  to  the  Hebrew  and 
the  English  idiom.  The  word  translated  congregation  is  one  of  those  applied 
in  the  Old  Testament  to  Israel  as  an  organised  body  and  the  people  of 
Jehovah.  See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  5.  Purchased,  acquired,  made  thine  own. 
The  word  translated  of  old  is  an  noun  meaning  antiquity,  but  here  used  as 
an  adverb  of  time.  The  full  phrase  occurs  below  in  ver.  12.  The  next 
verb  contains  a  specification  of  the  first,  to  wit,  that  he  purchased  by  re- 
deeming them  from  bondage,  with  particular  reference  to  the  exodus  from 
Egypt.  The  rod  of  thine  inheritance  is  a  phrase  which,  to  any  Hebrew 
reader,  would  suggest  the  twofold  idea  of  a  chieftain's  staff",  the  badge  of 
authority  in  the  several  ti'ibes,  and  that  of  a  measuring  rod,  here  put  for 
the  portion  of  land  measured.  The  whole  senSe  conveyed  by  these  associa- 
tions is  that  of  a  definite  province,  with  its  population,  of  which  God  is  the 
possessor  and  the  sovereign.  The  last  clause  applies  what  had  been  said 
of  the  people  and  the  land  still  more  specifically  to  the  central  point  of  the 
theocracy.  3Iount  Zion  may  be  understood  as  a  description  of  the  whole 
of  Jerusalem,  including  the  temple  upon  mount  Moriah.  This  mount  Zion, 
with  which  the  speakers  were  familiar,  and  at  or  near  which  they  are  sup- 
posed to  be  speaking.  The  explanation  of  tliis  as  a  relative  is  gratuitous, 
nor  could  the  idea  [this  mount  Zion)  have  been  well  expressed  in  any  other 
form  of  Hebrew  words.  The  grand  distinction  of  mount  Zion,  in  the  wide 
sense  just  explained,  was  the  inhabitation  of  Jehoval;,  which  is  therefore 
here  expressly  mentioned  in  the  closing  words. 

3.  Lift  thy  steps  to  the  perpel^cal  ruins,  all  the  enemy  has  ill  done  in  the 
holy  place.  The  first  phrase  is  a  poetical  expression  meaning  simply  ad- 
vance, draw  near,  for  the  purpose  of  inspection.  The  word  translated  ruins 
occurs  only  here  and  in  Ps.  Ixxiii.  18.  The  whole  phrase  strictly  means 
ruins  of  perpetuity,  i.  e.  such  as  appears  likely  to  continue  for  ever,  and  will 
certainly  do  so,  unless  God  comply  with  this  request  to  draw  near.  The 
construction  of  the  second  clause  adopted  by  some  ^vriters,  the  enemy  has 
destroyed  all  (or  every  thing)  in  the  holy  place,  is  scarcely  grammatical.  To 
express  that  idea,  the  word  all  would  have  the  article,  as  in  Ps.  xiv.  3,  or  a 
suffix,  as  in  Ps.  xxix.  9,  whereas  its  intimate  connection  here  with  the  fol- 
lowing verb  in  Hebrew  is  equivalent  to  a  relative  construction.  Ill  done, 
injured  or  destroyed,  done  mischief. 

4.  IViine  adversaries  have  roared  in  the  midst  of  thine  assembly ;  they 
have  set  their  signs  (as)  signs.  The  tumultuous  violence  of  the  destroyers 
is  described  in  the  fixst  clause  by  a  figure  borrowed  from  the  habits  of  wild 
beasts,  and  elsewhere  used  as  an  expression  of  extreme  distress.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xxii.  2  (1),  xxxii.  3,  xxxviii.  9  (8).  The  word  translated  assembly 
is  not  the  same  that  is  rendered  congregation  in  ver.  2,  but  one  that 
strictly  means  a  meeting  by  mutual  agreement  or  appointment,  and  is 
specially  applied  to  the  meeting  between  God  and  his  people  at  the  sanc- 
tuary, which  was  therefore  designated  in  the  law  as  the  tent  of  meeting  OTV^ 
lyto);  not  merely  the  tent  where  the  people  assembled,  but  the  place  where 

they  met  with  God  by  previous  appointment.  See  Exod.  xxv.  8,  xxix.  42, 
43,  45,  46,  Num.  xvii.  19  (4).  The  ideas  suggested  by  the  etymology  and 
usage  of  the  Hebrew  noun  are  those  of  previous  appointment,  the  act  of 


322  Psalm  74:5 -8 

meeting  consequent  upon  it,  the  persons  met,  and  the  place  where  they 
assemble.  The  full  sense,  therefore,  of  the  phrase  here  used  is,  "  In  the 
midst  of  thy  people  assembled  at  the  appointed  time  and  place  to  meet 
thee."  The  exclusive  local  meaning  put  by  some  upon  the  words  is  quite 
gratuitous.  The  plural  form  which  some  assume  {^thine  assemblies)  varies 
the  meaning  only  by  suggesting  the  idea  of  repeated  convocations,  "  In  the 
midst  of  thy  people,  whenever  (or  as  often  as)  they  meet  thee  thus,"  but 
without  at  all  conveying  the  idea  of  numerous  or  even  different  places.  Set, 
fixed,  estabUshed ;  or  set  up,  exhibited,  exposed  to  view.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xviii.  44  (43),  xxxix.  9  (8),  xhv.  14,  15  (13,  14).  '  The  common  ver- 
sion of  the  last  words,  ensigns  for  signs,  conveys  a  false  impression  of  the 
form  of  the  original,  in  which  the  two  nouns  are  identical.  The  word  signs 
does  not  necessarily  denote  either  military  or  religious  ensigns,  but  rather 
signifies  in  general  the  insignia  of  sovereignty.  For  all  that  once  marked 
the  presence  and  authority  of  God  the  impious  enemy  had  substituted  the 
signs  or  tokens  of  their  own  ascendancy.  In  other  words,  they  had  usurped 
God's  place  in  his  very  sanctuary,  the  spot  which  he  had  chosen  for  his 
earthly  residence. 

5.  He  is  knoicn  (or  shall  he  known)  as  (one)  raising  on  high,  in  the  thicket 
of  the  ivood,  axes.  The  most  probable  sense  of  this  obscure  verse  is  as 
follows :  the  ruthless  enemy  is  known  or  recognised  as  dealing  with  the 
sanctuary  no  more  tenderly  than  a  woodman  with  the  forest  which  he  fells. 
On  high  seems  to  be  added  to  suggest  the  force  of  the  blow,  and  the  sweep 
of  the  arm  which  deals  it.  The  thicket  may  be  mentioned  for  the  purpose 
of  contrasting  the  delicate  and  complicated  wood-work  of  the  temple  with 
the  worthless  undergrowth  which  the  woodman  cuts  away  without  scruple 
or  discrimination.  The  word  translated  wood  is  often  used  as  a  collective, 
meaning  trees. 

6.  And  now  the  carvings  thereof  together  (or  at  once)  with  sledge  and  ham- 
mers they  beat  (down).  This  completes  the  comparison  begun  in  the  preced- 
ing verse,  with  which  the  one  before  us  is  connected  by  the  phrase  and  now, 
i.e.  in  this  case.  As  in  the  case  supposed  the  woodman  deals  with  trees 
and  thickets,  so  in  the  real  case  the  spoiler  deals  with  the  costly  fruits  of 
art  and  skill.  The  word  translated  carvings  is  expressly  used  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  temple.  See  1  lungs  vi.  29,  and  compare  Exod.  xxviii.  11, 
xxxix.  6.  The  suffix  Qhereof)  has  no  grammatical  antecedent  in  the  sen- 
tence ;  the  form  was  probably  determined  by  a  word  not  expressed,  though 
present  to  the  ■^vriter's  mind.  At  once  does  not  mean  quickly,  suddenly, 
without  delay,  but  all  together,  indiscriminately,  in  confusion. 

7.  They  have  set  on  fire  thy  holy  place ;  to  the  earth  they  have  profaned 
the  dwelling  of  thy  name.  The  Uteral  translation  of  the  first  clause  is,  they 
have  sent  (or  cast)  into  the  fire  thy  holy  place.  The  construction  in  the  last 
clause  is  a  pregnant  one,  profaned  to  the  earth,  i.  e.  profaned  by  casting  to 
the  ground  a  sacred  edifice.  This  form  of  expression  would  be  inappro- 
priate to  mere  profanation  by  defilement,  without  actual  prostration  of  the 
edifice  itself. 

8.  They  have  said  in  their  heart,  let  us  destroy  them  togetJier  (or  at  once) ; 
they  have  bunied  all  the  assemblies  of  God  in  the  land,  by  burning  the  only 
place  where  such  assemblies  could  be  held  (Deut.  xii.  5,  11).  Others, 
vvdth  less  probability,  suppose  that  the  Hebrew  word  itself  denotes  the  place 
of  assembly,  and  that  all  such  places  means  the  only  such  place.  The 
translation  synagogues  has  no  authority  from  Hebrew  usage,  or  the  ancient 
versions  (LXX.  «ograg  Vulg.  di^s  festos.  Jer.  sohnnitates),  and  has  been 


Psalm74:9-13  323 

abused  to  prove  that  the  psalm  was  written  after  the  Babylonish  exile, 
before  which  sjTiagogues  are  commonly  supposed  to  have  had  no  existence. 

9.  Our  signs  loe  see  not ;  there  is  no  more  (any)  'prophet,  and  (there  is) 
not  with  us  (any  one)  knowing  until  what  time,  or  how  long,  these  things 
are  to  last.  By  signs  we  are  here  to  understand  the  tokens  of  God's  pre- 
sence, and  of  Israel's  pecuUar  gelation  to  him.  One  of  these  is  then  speci- 
fied, to  wit,  the  gift  of  prophecy,  Avhich  seemed  to  cease  at  the  time  of  the 
Babylonian  conquest,  although  afterwards  renewed.  Even  Jeremiah's 
ministry  may  be  considered  as  then  closing.  The  complaint  of  this,  as  of 
a  recent  loss,  shews  that  the  period  meant  is  not  that  of  the  persecutions 
under  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  when  the  gift  of  prophecy  had.,  been  withdrawn 
for  many  generations. 

10.  Till  when,  0  God,  shall  the  foe  revile,  the  enemy  contemn  thy  name 
/or  ever  f     By  making  the  last  clause  a  distinct  interrogation  {shall  the 

enemy  despise  thy  name  for  ever  f)  we  avoid  the  solecism  of  combining  how 
long  and  for  ever ;  but  this  can  occasion  no  more  difficulty  here  than  in 
ver.  1,  and  in  Ps.  xiii.  2  (1).  The  verb  in  the  last  clause  means  to  treat 
contemptuously,  to  shew  contempt  by  word  or  deed.  Blaspheme  expresses 
only  one  mode  of  doing  this,  and  that  too  strongly. 

11.  Why  wilt  thou  withdraio  thy  hand  and  thy  right  hand  ?  From  the 
midd  of  thy  bosom  (draw  it  and)  consume  (them).  The  future  here  includes 
the  present  {why  dod  thou  xoithdraw  thy  hand?)  with  the  additional  idea  of 
continuance  or  perseverance  in  so  doing.  The  hand,  and  especially  the 
right  hand,  is  the  seat  and  symbol  of  strength.  The  and  between  thom  is 
equivalent  to  the  English  even.  To  make  the  hand  return,  or  draw  it  back, 
is  to  cease  from  action,  the  continuance  of  which  cessation  is  described  as 
hiding  it  in  the  bosom. 

12.  And  God  {is)  my  king  of  old,  loorhing  salvations  in  the  midst  of  the 
land.  Having  pleaded  the  greatness  of  the  danger  and  distress  as  a  reason 
for  imploi'ing  the  divine  interposition,  the  church  now  pleads  her  covenant 
relation  to  him  as  her  Sovereign  and  her  Saviour  in  former  emergencies, 
with  particular  reference  to  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  which  makes  it  probable 
that  land,  and  not  earth,  is  the  true  translation  of  the  last  word.  The  very 
form  of  expression  is  borrowed  from  the  narrative  of  Moses.  See  Exod. 
viii.  18  (22).  Doing,  working,  as  opposed  to  a  mere  promise  or  prediction. 
The  participle  signihes  continued  action,  and  extends  the  description  be- 
yond the  particular  occasion  specially  referred  to.  God  is  described  as  He 
who,  then  and  ever,  works  salvations  or  deliverances,  the  plural  form  imply- 
ing fulness  and  varietv.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii,  51  (50),  xxviii.  8,  xlii. 
6,  12  (5,  11),  xliii.  5,"liii.  7. 

13.  Thou  hast  burst,  with  thy  strength,  the  sea  ;  thou  hast  broken  the  heads 
of  dragons  on  the  water.  The  word  translated  dragons  is  applied  to  the 
largest  class  of  aquatic  animals.  Some  suppose  these  to  be  here  emble- 
matic of  Egypt  and  other  hostile  powers,  as  in  Ezek.  xxix.  3,  4,  Isa.  li.  9, 
10.  Others,  with  more  probability,  explain  the  verse  as  a  description  of 
God's  power  over  nature,  and  particularly  over  the  sea,  as  specially  maru- 
fested  in  the  passage  of  the  Pied  Sea.  The  dragons  or  sea-monsters  are 
then  added  merely  to  complete  the  picture.  As  if  he  had  said,  "  Thou 
hast  subdued  and  crushed  the  sea,  and  its  most  terrible  inhabitants." 
This  is  described  as  talcing  place,  not  in  or  under  the  ivaters,  the  abode  of 
the  sea-monsters,  but  on  the  sm-face,  v/here  the  contest  becomes  visible. 
The  pronoun  at  the  beginning  is  emphatic  :  "  it  is  thou  that  hast  done  all 
this,  and  not  another." 


324  Psalm74:14-19 

14.  (It  is)  tliou  (that)  hast  crushed  the  heads  of  Leviathan,  (that)  wilt 
give  him  (as)  food  to  the  -people,  to  the  wild  men,  or  the  dwellers  in  the 
desert.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxii.  9.  Leviathan,  according  to  its  etymology, 
denotes  a  coiled  or  crooked  serpent,  but  like  dragon  in  ver.  13,  is  used  as 
a  generic  term  for  huge  aquatic  animals.  Having  no  plural  form,  it  is  here 
used  in  a  collective  sense,  as  appears  from  the  expression  heads,  unless  we 
understand  this  as  denoting  a  many-headed  monster,  to  which,  however, 
there  is  no  analogy  in  Scripture.  In  the  last  clause,  people  seems  to  mean 
men  in  general,  and  is  then  rendered  definite  by  the  use  of  the  specific 
term  which  follows.  By  the  people  of  the  desert  some  understand  the 
savage  beasts,  by  whom  the  Egyptians  were  devoured  after  the  overthrow 
of  Pharaoh ;  others,  with  more  probability,  the  wild  men  living  on  the 
shores  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  subsisting  on  its  fish,  and  hence  called  by  the 
Greeks  the  Ichthyophagi.  The  transition  from  the  past  tense  to  the  future 
seems  to  represent  the  scene  as  actually  passing,  or  the  act  as  one  that 
may  be  frequently  repeated.  "  It  is  thou  that  hast  done  all  this,  and  wilt 
do  it  again." 

15.  (It  is)  thou  (that)  didst  cleave  fount  and  food,  (that)  didst  dry  up 
rivers  ever  flowing.  Fountain  and  flood  is  a  kind  of  proverbial  expression 
for  smaller  and  greater  bodies  of  water.  The  primaiy  historical  allusion 
here  is  to  the  passage  of  the  Jordan.  The  original  construction  of  the  last 
phrase  is  streams  of  perpetuity,  perennial  or  unfailing  streams,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  winter  torrents  of  the  Holy  Land,  which  disappear  in 
summer.  The  common  version,  rivers  of  strength  or  mighty  rivers,  is  not 
sustained  by  etymology  or  usage. 

16.  To  thee  (belongs)  day,  yea,  to  thee  night ;  thou  hast  prepared  light 
and  sun.  From  the  mention  of  God's  actual  control  over  the  elements,  as 
exercised  in  certain  memorable  cases,  the  Psalmist  here  proceeds  to  assert 
his  sovereignty  by  right  of  creation.  Not  only  day  but  night,  which  seems 
to  sense  beyond  the  reach  of  government  or  regulation,  is  subject  to  God's 
power.  2'hou,  and  no  other,  as  in  the  three  preceding  verses.  Prepared  for 
the  place  which  they  now  fill  and  the  work  which  they  perform.  Light 
and  sun  are  related  as  the  genus  and  the  species,  like  hand  and  right  hand 
in  ver.  11,  signs  and  prophet  in  ver.  9.  Light,  in  the  local  sense  of  lumi- 
nary, which  the  same  Hebrew  word  has  in  Gen.  i.  14-16. 

17.  Thou  hast  set  (or  established)  all  the  hounds  of  earth ;  summer 
and  winter — Ulou  hast  formed  them.  This  is  the  seventh  emphatic  repeti- 
tion of  the  pronoun  thou.  The  bounds  of  earth  are  supposed  by  some  to 
be  the  limits  of  the  land,  by  which  it  is  separated  from  the  sea.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  2.  The  description  of  God's  power  over  nature  is  com- 
pleted by  referring  to  it  the  revolution  of  the  seasons  as  not  only  appointed 
but  created  by  him.  He  is  not  only  the  ordainer  of  the  change  itself,  but 
the  author  of  the  causes  which  produce  it. 

18.  Bemcmher  this  ;  an  enemy  has  reviled  Jehovah,  and  a  foolish  people 
have  contemned  thy  name.  For  the  meaning  of  the  verbs  see  above  on  ver. 
10,  where  the  same  facts  are  alleged,  but  are  here  recalled  to  God's  remem- 
brance as  a  reason  for  his  interposition.  Jehovah  may  also  be  construed 
as  a  vocative,  which  makes  the  parallelism  more  exact.  Foolish,  in  the 
strong  sense  of  that  word,  as  used  in  Scripture,  to  denote  the  irrationality 
of  sin.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  1,  and  compare  Deut.  xxxii,  6,  firom  which 
place  the  whole  phrase  is  borrowed. 

19.  Give  not  to  the  greedy  herd  thy  turtle-dove  :  the  herd  of  thy  afflicted 
(ones)  forget  not  for  ever  !     The  general  import  of  this  prayer  is  obvious, 


Psalm  74:20 -23  325 

and  the  only  doubtful  point  is  the  precise  sense  of  the  word  (n|^n),  twite 

translated  herd  above.  It  usually  means  an  animal  or  living  thing,  and 
more  especially  a  wild  beast,  as  distinguished  from  domesticated  cattle. 
This  would  yield  a  good  sense  in  the  iirst  clause  (greedy  beast),  but  is 
inadmissible  in  the  other.  The  same  objection  lies  against  the  explanation 
of  the  first  as  meaning  life,  and  the  last  as  meamng  flock.  The  only  mean- 
ing equally  admissible  in  both  parts  of  the  sentence  is  the  one  just  men- 
tioned, that  of  animal  collectively,  and  then  a  flock  or  herd  of  animals, 
from  which  it  is  sometimes  transferred  to  human  subjects.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  Ixviii.  11  (10).  Greedy  herd,  hterally  AercZ  of  appetite.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxvii.  12,  xli.  3  (2).  The  turtle-dove  is  here  used  as  an  emblem  of 
innocence  and  helplessness,  as  well  as  an  expression  of  affectionate  en- 
dearment. 

20.  Look  to  the  covenant ;  for  filled  are  the  darknesses  of  earth  with  homes 
of  violence  (or  cruelty).  The  prayer  in  the  first  clause  is  equivalent  to 
saying,  Remember  thy  promise,  fulfil  thy  covenant  engagements.  The 
reason  assigned  is,  that  the  existing  state  of  things  is  such  as  to  require 
this  fulfilment.  The  word  translated  darknesses  has  the  form  of  a  local 
noun,  and  may  therefore  mean  dark  places,  not  in  the  sense  of  hiding 
places,  but  in  that  of  gloomy,  dismal  places.  The  same  idea,  of  distress 
and  gloom,  which  is  always  included  ia  the  sense  of  the  word  elsewhere, 
may  be  obtained  by  making  it  an  obstract,  darkness,  or  supposing  the 
plural  form  to  be  emphatic,  profound  darkness,  not  as  an  attribute  of  cer- 
tain places,  but  of  the  whole  earth.  As  if  he  had  said,  the  darkness  of  the 
earth,  or  this  dark  world,  is  filled  with  homes  of  cruelty.     This  word  (DQn), 

here  as  elsewhere,  comprehends  the  two  ideas  of  injustice  and  violence. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  17  (16),  xviii.  49  (48).  The  use  of  the  word  homes  (or 
habitations)  indicates  that  violence  or  cruelty  is  there  domesticated,  per- 
manently resident.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  13.  The  meaning  of  the 
whole  verse  thus  explained  is,  that  the  permanent  establishment  and  pre- 
valence of  "  wrong  and  outrage  "  in  the  darkness  of  the  world  may  be 
urged  as  a  reason  for  the  fulfilment  of  God's  promise,  nay,  his  solemn  oath, 
that  the  whole  earth  shall  be  filled  with  his  glory  (Num.  xiv.  21). 

21.  Let  not  the  oppressed  turn  back  confounded  ;  let  the  sufferer  and  the 
poor  (man)  praise  thy  name.  The  word  translated  oppressed  vaeaxis  strictly 
broken,  bruised,  or  crushed.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  10  (9),  x.  18.  Turn 
back,  abandon  his  pursuit,  retire  in  despair.  Confounded,  disappointed, 
put  to  shame,  by  the  frustration  of  his  hopes  and  wishes.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  XXXV.  4,  xl.  15  (14),  Ixix.  7  (6),  Ixx.  3  (2). 

22.  Arise,  0  God  !  Plead  thine  own  cause  !  Remember  thy  reviling  by 
the  fool  all  day  !  The  first  prayer  is  the  common  one,  that  God  would  put 
an  end  to  his  apparent  inaction  and  indifference  to  the  sufferings  of  his 
servants.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  8  (7),  vii.  7  (6),  ix.  20  (19),  x.  12, 
xvii.  13,  XXXV.  2,  xliv.  27  (26).  Plead  thine  own  cause,  literally  strive  thy 
strife.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xHii.  1.  "  Remember  how  thou  art  reviled  by 
the  irrational  transgressor,  and  arouse  thyself  to  silence  his  reproaches." 

23.  Forget  not  the  voice  of  thy  joes,  the  noise  of  thy  assailants,  ascending 
always.  The  voice  and  noise  here  meant  are  the  clamorous  revilings  and 
blasphemies  of  wicked  men,  continually  going  up  into  the  ears  of  God,  and 
calling  down  his  wrath  upon  them.  This  striking  figure,  representing 
gross  sin  as  a  vocal  and  audible  witness  against  him  who  commits  it,  is  a 
common  one  in  Scripture,  from  the  earUest  books  downwards.     See  Gen. 


326  Psalm  75:] -3 

iv.  10,  xviii.  21,  six.  13,  and  compare  Jonah  i.  2.  Thy  assailants,  or 
more  literally  thy  insurgents,  those  who  rise  up  against  thee,  in  the  way 
not  only  of  attack  but  of  rebellion.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  2  (1),  xviii.  40. 
49  (39,  48),  xhv.  6  (5),  and  compare  Exod.  xv.  7,  Deut.  xxxiii.  11,2  Sam. 
xxii.  49.  All  this  the  Psalmist,  or  rather  the  Chui'ch,  in  whose  behalf  he 
speaks,  recalls  to  the  divine  remembrance,  as  a  ground  or  reason  for  imme- 
diate interference. 


Psalm  75 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  Al-tashheth.  A  Psalm  by  Asaph.  A  song 
(of  praise).  See  above,  onPs.  Ixviii,  1.  In  this  psalm  the  ancient  church 
expresses  a  confident  anticipation  of  divine  assistance  and  deliverance  from 
the  domination  of  some  great  hostile  power,  the  catastrophe  of  which  is  here 
foretold.  The  immediate  historical  occasion  we  have  no  direct  means  of 
determining  ;  but  the  one  to  v/hich  the  psalm  itself  seems  most  appropriate 
is  the  destruction  of  the  Assyrian  host  in  the  reign  of  Hezekiah.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xlvi.  1,  and  below,  on  Ps.  Ixxvi.  1,  and  compare  Isa.  xxxvi. 
and  xxxvii.  That  the  psalm  has  reference  to  a  period  of  imminent  and 
extraordinary  danger,  is  moreover  indicated  by  the  phrase  al-tashheth,  or 
destroy  not.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ivii.  1. 

2  (1).  We  give  thanks  to  thee,  0  God,  we  give  thanks  ;  and  [near)  is  thy 
name  ;  they  recount  thy  wonders.  The  thanksgiving  is  in  anticipation  of 
some  great  event,  and  implies  a  strong  faith  in  the  certainty  of  its  occur- 
rence. Tiiy  name  is  near,  a  signal  manifestation  of  thine  attributes  is  just 
at  hand,  so  that  men  begin  already  to  recoimt  thy  wondrous  works,  as  if 
actually  past.  Or  this  may  mean  that  they  recount  God's  former  dealings 
with  them,  as  a  reason  for  expecting  like  or  greater  things  to  come.  Another 
construction  of  the  last  clause,  perhaps  still  more  natural,  is  that  adopted 
in  the  English  Bible  :  thy  name  is  near,  thy  wondrous  works  declare.  For 
the  sense  and  usage  of  the  last  word  in  Hebrew,  see  above,  on  Pb.  ix.  2  (1), 
xxvi.  7,  xl.  6  (5),  Ixxi.  17. 

3  (2).  For  I  will  take  a  set  time  ;  I  will  equitably  judge.  The  best  in- 
terpreters are  now  in  favour  of  explaining  these  as  the  words  of  God  him- 
self, containing  the  promise  upon  which  was  built  the  hope  expressed  in  the 
preceding  verse.  Take  then  includes  the  two  ideas  of  choosing  and  using 
for  the  end  proposed.  The  word  translated  set  time  is  the  same  that  means 
assembly  in  Ps.  Ixxiv.  4,  8.  The  idea  of  constituted  time,  which  is  included 
even  there,  is  here  predominant.  The  same  use  of  the  word  occurs  in  Ps. 
cii.  14  (13),  Hab.  ii.  3,  Dan.  viii.  19,  xi.  27,  35.  There  is  here  an  obvious 
allusion  to  the  stated  times  at  which  justice  is  pubUcly  administered.  Com- 
pare Acts  xix.  38.  As  if  he  had  said,  I  will  appoint  a  time,  and  when  it 
comes,  I  will  ascend  the  judgment-seat.  The  parties  to  be  tried  are  the 
foes  and  oppressors  of  God's  people.  The  pronoun  is  emphatic ;  I,  and  no 
other,  will  be  judge.  See  above,  on  Ps.  1.  6.  Equitably,  literally  equities 
or  rectitudes.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  2,  Iviii.  2  (1).  The  use  of  the  plural, 
as  an  abstract,  and  that  of  the  noun  in  an  adverbial  sense,  are  both  familiar 
Hebrew  idioms.  The  judging  of  the  wicked  at  God's  bar  implies  their  con- 
demnation, and,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  the  deliverance  of  those  whom 
they  oppress  or  injure. 

4  (3).  Melted  {are)  the  earth  and  all  dwelling  on  it ;  I  have  weighed  the 
pillars  of  it.    Selah.    Dissolved  with  fear,  enfeebled,  or  reduced  to  nothing. 


Psalm  75:4 -6  327 

See  above,  on  Ps.  xlvi.  7  (6).  The  figui*e  in  the  last  clause  is  obscure. 
The  act  of  weighing  may  be  intended  to  suggest  that  of  raising,  bearing  up. 
Compare  Isa.  xl.  12,  18,  16.  Some  suppose,  however,  that  it  means  to 
measure,  estimate,  or  value,  and  implies  not  only  perfect  knowledge  but 
creative  power.  As  a  part  of  the  promise  or  encouraging  assurance  begun 
in  the  preceding  verse,  the  one  before  us  must  mean  that  God  himself  will 
prevent  or  rectify  the  evils  caused  or  threatened  by  his  enemies. 

5  (4).  1  said  to  the  boasters,  Boast  not,  and  to  the  wicked,  Lift  not  up  the 
horn  I  Some  regard  these  as  the  words  of  the  psalmist,  speaking  again  in 
the  person  of  the  church.  The  sense  will  then  be  that,  encouraged  by  God's 
promise  of  protection  and  deliverance,  his  people  warn  their  adversaries  not 
to  triumph.  It  seems  more  natural,  however,  to  explain  them  as  a  continua- 
tion of  the  words  of  God  himself,  whoso  very  assurance  of  protection  to  his 
people  was  in  fact  a  warning  of  destruction  to  his  enemies.  The  objection, 
that  what  follows  must  then  be  referred  to  the  same  speaker,  is  of  Httle 
weight,  as  the  transition  from  one  person  to  another,  in  the  psalms  of  a 
dramatic  structure,  is  not  commonly  a  marked  one,  and  is  often  quite  insen- 
sible. The  concluding  metaphor  is  borrowed  from  the  habits  of  homed 
animals,  and  nearly  equivalent  to  the  act  of  holding  the  head  high,  as  a  sign 
of  human  pride.  For  a  different  application  of  the  figure,  see  above,  on 
Ps.  xviii.  3  (2). 

6  (5).  Do  not  raise  on  high  your  horn  (and)  speak  with  a  proud  neck,  or 
speak  with  (outstretched)  neck  proudly.  The  last  word  is  an  adjective 
meaning  insolent  or  arrogant.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxi.  19  (18).  It  may 
either  agree  with  neck,  and  signify  a  position  and  carriage  of  the  neck  indi- 
cative of  pride  (Ps.  Ixxiii.  6),  or  constitute  the  object  of  the  verb,  in  which 
case  vjith  the  neck  may  mean  vnth  outstretched  or  prolonged  neck,  not  pro- 
jecting forwards  but  inclining  backwards.  See  Isa.  iii.  16,  and  compare  Job 
XV.  26  in  Hebrew.     For  a  similar  ellipsis,  see  below,  Ps.  Ixxvii.  16  (15). 

7  (6).  For  not  from  east,  and  [not)  from  west,  and  not  from  the  wilderness 
of  mountains,  is  the  judgment  on  these  sinners  to  proceed,  but  from  a  very 
different  quarter.  The  word  translated  east  means  properly  the  sunrise,  or 
rather  the  place  of  his  coming  forth  ;  the  parallel  term  the  sunset,  or  the 
place  of  evening.  A  third  point  of  the  compass  is  denoted  by  the  wilder- 
ness, the  great  Ai'abian  desert  lying  to  the  south  of  Palestine.  The  last 
word  in  Hebrew  (DHn)  admits  of  two  entirely  different  explanations.     One 

of  these,  given  in  the  English  Bible,  makes  it  the  infinitive  of  the  verb 
translated  raise  in  ver.  5,  6  (4,  5),  and  supposes  it  to  mean  the  act  of 
raising,  or  a  state  of  exaltation.  The  sense  will  then  be  that  promotion 
Cometh  not  from  any  quarter  upon  earth,  but  from  God  and  God  alone. 
Others  object  that  the  question  here  is  not  one  of  promotion  but  of  judg- 
ment, as  appears  from  the  foregoing  and  the  following  context.  They 
accordingly  adhere  to  the  ancient  versions  in  making  (Q*""!)!)  the  plural  of 

the  common  Hebrew  word  for  hill  or  mountain,  and  explain  the  whole 
phrase  to  mean  a  hilly  desert  or  a  wilderness  of  mountains,  a  description 
eminently  appUcable  to  Idumsea  and  Arabia  Petraea.  The  essential  idea  is 
still  that  of  the  south,  here  added  to  the  east  and  west,  as  a  general  descrip- 
tion of  the  countries  contiguous  to  Palestine.  The  south  is  mentioned  last, 
perhaps  for  the  sake  of  an  emphatic  reference  to  Egypt,  as  the  foreign 
power,  on  which  the  Jews  were  supposed  by  the  Assyrians  to  rely  with 
special  confidence.  Compare  Isa.  xxxvi.  4-6.  The  omission  of  the  north 
may  either  be  fortuitous  or  (as  some  suppose)  intended  to  suggest  that  this 


328  Psalm75:7-J0 

was  the  quarter  from  which  the  hostile  incursion  had  proceeded,  as  it  was 
in  fact,  invaders  even  from  the  furthest  east  commonly  entering  the  country 
from  that  side.  The  meaning  of  the  whole  verse  then  is,  that  the  danger 
which  impended  from  one  quarter  could  not  be  averted  by  mere  human  aid 
from  any  other,  but  only  by  the  means  referred  to  in  the  next  verse. 

8  (7).  For  God  (is)  judge  [or  acinaW-y  judging)  ;  this  {one)  he  will  humble, 
and  this  {one)  will  exalt.  The  for  at  the  beginning  introduces  the  reason 
of  the  negative  statement  in  the  verse  preceding.  It  is  not  man,  for  it  is 
God,  who  can  perform  this.  The  same  relation  of  the  sentences  is  com- 
monly expressed  in  our  idiom  by  but.  The  act  of  judging,  or  the  office  of 
a  judge,  here  implies  absolute  sovereignty.  This  and  this  is  the  idiomatic 
Hebrew  phrase  answering  to  one  and  another  in  English.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  XX.  8  (7). 

9  (8).  For  a  cup  (is)  in  the  hand  of  Jehovah,  and  the  wine  ferments,  and  it 
is  full  of  mixture,  and  he  pours  out  from  this  {cup) ;  only  its  dregs  shall  they 
wring  (or  suck)  out,  shall  they  drink — all  the  wicked  oj  the  earth  (or  land). 
This  is  a  common  figure  in  the  Scriptures  for  the  wrath  of  God,  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xi.  6.  The  cup  contains  the  prescribed  or  allotted  portion  of 
the  sinner  to  whom  it  is  administered.  Ferments  or  has  fermented,  implying 
that  it  is  real  wine  and  strong  wine.  The  translation  it  is  red  is  now  sup- 
posed to  rest  upon  a  doubtful  etymology.  Some  intei-preters  explain  the 
phrase,  it  foams  idth  nine ;  but  this  construction  is  not  only  in  itself  less 
simple,  but  puts  a  sense  upon  the  verb  not  entirely  authorised  by  usage, 
and  requires  the  noun  (DIS)  cup,  which  is  elsewhere  feminine,  to  be  con- 
strued as  a  masculine.  It  (the  wine)  is  fidl  of  mixture,  i.  e.  mixed  with 
spices  to  increase  its  strength  and  stimulating  power.  Only  its  dregs  is  an 
idiomatic  Hebrew  phrase,  which  does  not  mean,  as  it  may  seem  to  do  in 
English,  that  they  shall  drink  nothing  but  the  dregs.  The  meaning  rather  is, 
that  they  shall  have  nothing  left  for  it,  no  resource,  or  no  alternative,  except 
to  drain  the  cup  to  the  very  dregs,  i.  e.  to  suffer  God's  wrath  to  the  utter- 
most (1  Thess.  ii.  16).  The  position  given  to  the  subject  of  the  sentence 
at  its  close  makes  it  more  emphatic.     See  above  on  Ps.  xl.  15  (14 j. 

10  (9.)  And  I  ivill  declare  for  ever,  I  will  sing  praise  to  the  God  of  Jacob. 
The  emphatic  pronoun  puts  him  in  opposition  to  the  wicked  of  the  earth  or 
land.  "  While  they  are  thus  destroyed,  I  will  declare,"  &c.  The  object 
of  the  verb  in  the  first  clause  is  determined  by  the  second.  Sing  praise, 
make  music,  as  a  means  of  celebrating  the  divine  praise.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  ix.  12  (11),  XXX.  5  (4),  xlvii.  7  (6),  Ix^d.  4.  To  the  God  of  Jacob,  to 
him  who  has  proved  himself  to  be  such,  by  fulfilling  the  promise  made  of 
old  to  Israel.  The  personal  name  of  the  patriarch  is  poetically  substituted 
for  the  one  which  properly  belonged  to  him  as  founder  of  the  nation. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  6. 

11  (10).  And  all  horns  of  wicked  ones  will  I  cut  off ;  lifted  up  shall  be 
the  horns  of  the  righteous.  The  same  noim  and  verb,  that  were  used  in  ver. 
5,  6  (4,  5),  to  denote  the  self- exaltation  of  the  wicked,  are  here  used  in  a 
good  sense  to  denote  God's  gracious  exaltation  of  the  righteous.  Compare 
Mat.  xxiii.  12,  Luke  xiv.  11,  xviii.  14.  In  the  first  clause,  to  the  simple  cor- 
relative idea  of  humiliation  is  superadded  that  of  violent  destruction.  While 
the  horns  of  the  righteous  are  to  be  exalted,  those  of  the  wicked  are  not 
only  to  be  lowered  but  cut  off.  The  change  from  the  plural  (wicked  men) 
to  the  singular  (a  righteous  man),  if  meant  to  be  significant  at  all,  may  have 
reference  to  the  speaker  as  an  ideal  individual.  The  construction  of  these 
words  as  those  of  God  himself  is  a  gratuitous  and  harsh  one.     They  are 


Psalm  76:1 -4  329 

rather  uttered  by  the  Church,  as  representing  him,  or  acting  in  his  strength 
and  under  his  authority. 


Psalm  76 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  With  (or  on)  stringed  instruments.  A  Psalm 
by  Asaph.  A  so7ig  (of  praise).  The  resemblance  of  this  title  to  that  of  the 
preceding  psalm,  their  juxtaposition  in  the  Psalter,  and  their  internal 
similarity,  all  favour  the  opinion  that  they  had  respect  originally  to  the 
same  historical  occasion,  with  this  difference,  that  the  first  is  rather  an 
anticipation  of  the  great  deliverance  as  certain  but  still  future,  and  the  other 
a  commemoration  of  the  same  as  actually  past  or  really  experienced.  In 
this,  as  in  the  other  case,  the  event  is  ascribed  to  a  wonderful  divine  inter- 
position, and  described  as  one  affecting  the  whole  world  or  the  nations 
generally,  which  was  emphatically  true  of  the  great  stroke,  by  which  the 
power  of  Assyria  was  broken. 

2  (1).  Known  in  Judah  (ts)  God ;  in  Israel  great  [is)  his  name.  Known 
as  God,  and  as  the  God  of  Israel,  his  chosen  people,  which,  after  the  great 
schism  in  the  time  of  Rehoboam,  continued  to  exist  in  the  kingdom  of 
Judah.  •  It  was  only  in  the  ancient  church  that  his  name  was  fully  known, 
his  perfection  clearly  manifested. 

3  (2).  And  in  Salem  was  his  tabernacle,  and  his  home  in  Zion.  This  is 
explanatory  of  the  first  verse.  He  was  best  known  there  because  it  was  his 
chosen  earthly  residence.  Salem  is  evidently  used  poetically  for  Jerusalem. 
The  former  name  means  peaceful  and  secure,  and  some  suppose  it  to  be 
one  of  the  elements  of  which  the  other  name  is  composed,  so  as  to  signify 
a  peaceful  or  secure  possession.  The  same  interpreters  identify  the  Salein 
of  Gen.  xiv.  18  with  Jerusalem.  The  word  translated  tabernacle  properly 
means  a  bootfi,  or  shed  composed  of  leaves  and  branches,  in  allusion  to  the 
moveable  and  temporary  form  of  the  first  sanctuary. 

4  (3).  Thither  he  shattered  the  bolts  of  the  boto — buckler  and  sword  and 
hOittle.  Selah.  Some  translate  the  first  word  there,  but  there  is  no  clear 
instance  of  the  Hebrew  adverb  being  so  used,  and  the  best  interpreters 
suppose  the  sense  to  be  that  he  destroyed  them  on  their  way  there,  while 
in  motion  towards  the  Holy  City.     The  word  (mii;)  translated  shattered  is 

an  intensive  species  of  the  common  verb  (l^li^)  to  break.     Both  forms 

occur  together  in  Ps.  xxix.  5.  See  also  Ps.  iii.  8  (7).  The  ambiguous 
word  bolts  is  used  to  represent  a  Hebrew  one,  which  properly  means 
thunderbolts  or  flashes  of  lightning,  but  is  here  applied  to  the  flight  of 
arrows,  with  or  without  allusion  to  the  practice  of  igniting  them  (Eph. 
vi.  16).  To  the  shield  and  sword,  as  the  most  important  pieces  of  offensive 
and  defensive  armour,  he  adds,  by  a  bold  and  striking  figure,  war  itself, 
perhaps  as  a  residuary  aggregate  of  all  other  arms  and  weapons. 

5  (4).  Bright  [art)  thou,  glorious,  m.ore  than  the  mountains  of  prey. 
The  object  of  address  is  God,  who  had  been  previously  spoken  of,  in  the 
third  person.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew  is  a  participle,  meanmg  illumi- 
nated, made  to  shine,  and  therefore  bearing  some  afiinity  to  our  word 
illustrious.  The  other  epithet  means  grand,  glorious,  sublime.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  viii.  1.  The  common  version  (excellent)  seems  to  restrict  the 
praise  to  moral  qualities.  As  mountains  are  standing  sj-mbols  of  states 
and  kingdoms,  mountains  of  prey,  i,  e.  mountains  occupied  by  robbers,  may 


330  Psalm  76:5  -  9 

denote  oppressive  powers,  such  as  that  of  Assyria,  to  which  the  prophets 
apply  similar  descriptions.  See  Nah.  ii.  11,  12,  iii.  1.  To  all  such 
hostile  powers  God  is  here  represented  as  superior. 

6  (5).  Spoiled  are  the  stout  of  heart  ;  they  have  slept  their  sleep  ;  and  all 
the  men  of  might  have  not  found  their  hands.  The  meaning  of  the  first  clause 
seems  to  be,  that  the  spoilers  are  themselves  spoiled,  by  a  signal  providen- 
tial retribution.  Some,  however,  explain  the  first  word  to  mean  snatched 
away,  caused  to  disappear,  or  vanish.  They  have  slept  their  own  sleep, 
i.  e.  they,  like  others,  in  their  turn,  sleep  the  sleep  of  death.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xiii.  4  (3),  and  compare  Nah.  iii.  18,  2  Kings  xix.  85.  Stout  of 
heart  suggests  the  two  distinct  ideas,  courageous  and  hard-hearted.  The 
same  expression  is  used,  in  an  unfavourable  sense,  by  Isaiah  (xlvi.  12).  All 
have  not  found  does  not  imply  that  some  have  found,  but  on  the  contrary, 
that  none  have  found,  or  in  other  words  that  the  negative  proposition  is 
true  of  all  without  exception.  Found  their  hands  is  understood  by  some  to 
mean  regained  their  strength.  But  the  direct  sense  of  the  word  is,  that 
they  have  not  found  the  use  of  their  hands,  or  been  able  to  employ  them 
with  advantage. 

7  (6).  At  thy  rebuke,  0  God  of  Jacob,  put  to  sleep  (is)  both  chariot  and 
horse.  The  pajiicle  at  the  beginning  is  both  temporal  and  causal,  post  hoc 
et  propter  hoc.  After  and  because  of  thy  rebuke.  This  noun  denotes  not 
merely  a  verbal  but  a  real  or  practical  expression  of  the  divine  displeasure. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  6  (5),  Ixviii.  31  (80).  God  of  Jacob,  see  above,  on 
ver.  10  (9).  Put  to  sleep  is  here  used  to  translate  a  passive  participle, 
denoting  not  a  mere  state  or  condition,  but  the  violence  by  which  it  is  pro- 
duced. The  sleep  meant  is  of  course  the  sleep  of  death.  The  application 
of  this  figure  to  the  chariot  as  well  as  to  the  horse,  is  less  paradoxical  in 
Hebrew,  where  the  noun  used  is  sometimes  a  collective  meaning  cavalry. 
See  my  note  on  Isaiah  xxi.  7.  At  the  same  time  there  is  beauty  in  the 
figure,  as  suggesting  that  the  noisy  rattle  of  the  wheels  is  hushed  in  death- 
like silence. 

8  (7).  Thou  (art)  to  be  feared,  (even)  thou,  and  who  shall  stand  before 
thee,  when  once  thou  art  angry  f  The  Hebrew  passive  participle  often  has 
the  force  of  the  future  passive  or  gerundive  in  Latin.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xviii.  4  (3).  The  repetition  of  the  pronoun  mades  it  highly  emphatic  and 
even  exclusive,  thou  and  no  other,  thou  and  only  thou.  Who  shall  stand  ? 
includes  the  kindred  question,  who  may  or  can  stand?  To  stand  before 
God  means,  in  this  connection,  to  stand  one's  ground  in  opposition  to  him, 
or  in  independence  of  him.  See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  5.  The  common  version 
of  the  last  words,  which  is  retained  above,  conveys  correctly  the  idea,  but 
without  the  peculiar  form  of  the  original,  which  is  highly  idiomatic,  and 
not  susceptible  of  literal  translation.  The  last  word  strictly  means  thy 
anger  and  the  one  before  it  from  then  or  from  that  time.  The  nearest 
approach  to  it  in  English  would  be  since  thy  anger,  a  construction  which  is 
actually  given  in  the  latest  German  versions. 

9  (8).  From  heaven  thou  hast  caused  judgment  to  be  heard;  the  earth 
feared  and  rested,  or,  the  earth  was  afraid  and  was  still.  From  his  throne 
in  heaven  God  had  pronounced  judgment  on  his  wicked  enemies,  the  sound 
of  which  had  struck  the  dwellers  upon  earth  with  awe  and  calmed  their 
tumult.  The  last  Hebrew  verb  is  especially  applied  to  repose  after  the 
noise  and  agitation  of  war.     See  Josh.  xiv.  15,  Judges  v.  81,  Isa.  xiv.  7. 

10  (9).  In  God's  arising  for  the  judgment,  to  save  all  the  humble  of  the 
earth.     This  completes  the  sentence  begun  in  the  preceding  verse,  by  assign- 


Psalm  76:10 -12  331 

ing  the  date,  and  at  the  same  time  the  cause,  of  the  eflfect  there  recorded. 
The  earth  was  awe- struck  and  reduced  to  silence  when  God  arose  to  judg- 
ment, i.  e.  to  act  as  judge  or  sovereign  arbiter.  In  the  last  clause,  as  in 
many  other  places,  the  judgments  of  God  upon  his  enemies  are  represented 
as  occasions  of  deliverance  to  his  people,  here  described  by  one  of  their 
characteristic  qualities,  not  merely  as  the  meek  in  temper,  but  as  the  lowly 
in  spirit,  the  humble  in  the  strong  religious  sense.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix. 
13  (12),  X.  12,  17,  xxii.  27  (26),  xxv.  9,  xxxiv.  3  (2),  xxxvii.  11,  Ixix. 
83  (32).  The  last  word  in  the  verse  has  here  a  kind  of  double  sense,  since 
the  promise  made  directly  to  the  humble  of  the  land,  i.  e.  the  spiritual  Israel, 
was  really  intended  to  include  all  the  humble  of  the  earth,  i.  e.  all  the  truly 
pious,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles. 

11  (10).  For  the  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  thee  (or  acknowledge  thee);  the 
remainder  of  wraths  thou  shalt  gird  (about  thee).  The  very  passions  which 
excite  men  to  rebel  against  God  shall  be  used  as  instruments  and  means  of 
coercion.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxii.  9.  And  so  complete  shall  be  this  pro- 
cess, that  even  the  remnant  of  such  passionate  excitement,  which  might  be 
expected  to  escape  attention,  will  be  nevertheless  an  instrument  or  weapon 
in  the  hands  of  God.  This  last  idea  is  expressed  by  the  figure  of  a  girdle, 
here  considered  as  a  sword-belt.  So  too  in  other  cases  the  verb  to  gird  is 
absolutely  used  in  the  sense  of  girding  on  a  sword,  or  the  still  more  general 
one  of  arming  one's  self.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlv.  4  (3),  and  compare 
Judges  xviii.  11,  1  Kings  xx.  11,  2  Kings  iii.  21.  Others,  with  less  proba- 
bility, suppose  the  figure  to  denote  the  act  of  attaching  to  one's  self,  as  in 
Ps.  cix.  19,  Isa.  xi.  5,  Jer.  xiii.  11,  and  apply  it  to  the  future  conversion 
of  all  remaining  enemies.  The  plural  in  the  last  clause  [wraths  or  angers) 
seems  to  be  an  emphatic  designation  of  abundance  or  success.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xviii.  51  (50). 

12  (11).  Vow  and  pay  unto  Jehovah  your  God,  all  {ye  that  are)  round 
about  him ;  let  them  bring  tribute  to  the  Dread  {One).  The  first  clause  may  be 
understood  to  mean,  pay  now  what  you  have  vowed  before,  i.  e.  before  the 
great  deUverance  and  during  the  impending  danger.  The  addition  of  your 
God  shews  that  the  object  of  address  is  Israel.  Compare  Deut.  xxiii. 
22  (21).  According  to  the  masoretic  interpunction,  all  that  are  round 
about  him  belongs  to  the  first  clause,  and  denotes  the  host  of  Israel,  in  the 
midst  of  whom  Jehovah's  tent  was  pitched  (Num.  ii.  2).  The  English 
Bible,  following  the  ancient  versions,  throws  these  words  into  the  last 
clause,  as  the  subject  of  the  verb  that  follows,  let  all  that  are  round  about 
him  bring  presents,  or  they  shall  bring  presents.  This  last  word  in  Hebrew 
denotes  tribute  from  the  conquered  or  dependent  to  the  conqueror  or 
sovereign.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixviii.  30  (29),  and  compare  Isa.  xviii.  7. 
This  was  literally  verified  in  the  case  of  Hezekiah's  rescue  from  the  power 
of  Sennacherib.  See  2  Chron.  xxxii.  23.  God  is  here  called  Fear  or 
Terror,  as  an  object  to  be  reverenced  or  dreaded.  Compare  the  similar 
expressions  in  Isaiah  viii.  12,  13. 

13  (12).  He  cuts  of  the  spirit  of  princes  ;  he  is  feared  (or  to  be  feared)  by 
the  kings  of  earth.  The  fii'st  verb  is  specially  applied  to  the  pruning  or 
cutting  of  vines.  See  Jer.  vi.  9,  xxv.  30,  xlix.  9,  and  compare  Rev.  xiv. 
18,  19.  Its  future  form  includes  a  potential  sense.  He  can  do  it  when 
he  will,  and  he  will  do  it  when  he  sees  occasion.  Spirit  or  breath  is  here 
put  for  the  life  or  vital  principle,  to  cut  which  is  to  kill.  He  who  pos- 
sesses this  alarming  power  is  or  ought  to  be  an  object  of  religious  fear,  not 
only  to  ordinary  men,  or  to  certain  great  men  in  particular,  but  to  all  the  kings 


332  Psalm  77:1 -5 

of  the  earth.  Compare  Mat.  x.  28,  Luke  xii.  5.  These  expressions  shew 
that  the  historical  occasion  of  the  psalm  was  not  an  event  of  merely  local 
interest,  but  a  great  historical  and  national  catastrophe,  such  as  the  blow 
inflicted  on  the  power  of  Assyria  by  the  sudden  destruction  of  Sennacherib's 
host. 

Psalm  77 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician  over  (the  choir  or  family  of)  Jeduihun.  By 
Asaph.  A  Psalm.  For  the  meaning  of  this  title,  see  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixii.  1.  The  psalm  before  us  contains  a  complaint  and  prayer  of  the  ancient 
church  in  times  of  deep  distress.  It  consists  of  two  parts.  In  the  first, 
the  church  describes  her  sad  condition,  and  complains  of  God's  desertion, 
ver.  2-10  (1-9).  In  the  second,  she  encourages  herself  by  the  remem- 
brance of  former  deliverances,  and  especially  of  that  from  Egypt,  ver.  11-21 
(10-20).  The  particular  historical  occasion  is  not  specified ;  but  if,  as 
some  suppose,  it  be  the  crisis  of  aftairs  in  the  reign  of  Josiah,  the  name 
Asaph  must  be  understood  as  a  description  of  the  family,  and  not  of  its  pro- 
genitor. See  above,  on  Ps.  1.  1.  There  are  several  obvious  imitations  of 
this  psalm  in  the  third  chapter  of  Habakkuk. 

2  (1).  My  voice  itnto  God  (I  will  raise)  and  will  cry  ;  my  voice  unto  God 
(I  will  raise),  and  he  will  give  ear  to  me.  Some  make  the  last  verb  an  im- 
perative, and  (when  I  raise  my  voice)  do  thou  give  ear.  But  besides  the 
sudden  change  of  person,  which,  though  common,  is  not  to  be  assumed 
without  necessity,  the  form  of  the  Hebrew  verb  is  that  of  an  infinitive,  to 
be  determined  by  assimilation  to  the  one  before  it.  The  last  clause  then 
really  assigns  a  reason  for  the  purpose  expressed  in  the  first.  He  would 
not  pray  if  he  despaired  of  being  heard. 

3  (2).  In  the  day  of  my  distress  the  Lord  I  sought  ;  my  hand  by  night 
was  spread,  and  grew  not  numb  ;  my  soul  refused  to  be  comforted.  Day  is 
here  put  for  time,  but  not  without  allusion  to  the  mention  of  the  night  in 
the  clause  following,  so  as  to  express  the  idea  that  he  prayed  day  and  night. 
The  verb  translated  spread  means  strictly  spilt,  poured  out,  scattered,  but 
seems  to  be  here  poetically  applied  to  the  spreading  of  the  hands  as  a  customary 
gesture  of  entreaty.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xliv.  21  (20).  The  common  ver- 
sion, my  sore  ran,  has  no  foundation  in  etymology  or  usage.  For  the 
meaning  of  the  next  verb,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxxviii.  9  (8).  Its  form  is 
future,  but  the  copulative  particle,  though  separated  from  it  by  the  nega- 
tive, may  be  considered  as  exerting  a  conversive  force. 

4  (3).  I  remember  God  and  murmur ;  I  muse ^  and  overwhelmed  is  my 
spirit.  Selah.  The  recollection  of  God's  former  kindness,  as  contrasted  with 
what  seems  to  be  his  present  desertion,  extorts  from  the  sufierer  an  expression 
of  disquietude.  The  second  verb  in  Hebrew  is  the  same  with  that  in  Ps. 
xxxix.  7  (6),  xhi.  6,  12  (5,  11),  Iv.  18  (17).  31y  spirit  is  not  simply 
equivalent  to  myself,  but  suggests  the  additional  idea  of  profound  internal 
agitation. 

5  (4).  Thou  hast  held  fast  my  eyes  ;  I  am  smitten  and  cannot  speak. 
The  word  here  rendered  fast  is  properly  a  passive  participle,  meaning 
watched,  kept,  and  here,  from  the  connection,  kept  awake  or  open.  This 
circumstance  is  added  to  enhance  the  description  of  his  miserable  state. 

6  (5).  /  thought  on  days  of  old,  years  of  antiquities  (or  perpetuities.') 
The  contrast  of  the  present  with  the  past  is  again  urged  as  an  aggravating 
circumstance  in  his  condition. 


Psalm  77:6 -13  333 

7  (6).  /  will  remember  my  song  in  the  night,  with  my  heart  will  I  muse, 
and  my  spirit  inquires.  The  futures  of  the  first  clause  have  reference  to 
the  time  of  actual  suffering.  The  word  translated  song  means  strictly  a 
stringed  instrument,  or  that  kind  of  music,  but  is  here  used  more  generally 
to  denote  the  musical  expression  of  thanksgiving.  In  the  night  qualifies 
the  words  immediately  preceding  {my  song),  not  the  remoter  antecedent  (/ 
remember).  With  my  heart,  i.e.  in  communion  with  it,  with  myself.  My 
spirit  inquires,  i.e.  I,  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  ask  the  questions 
recorded  in  the  following  verses. 

8  (7).  For  ever  will  the  Lord  reject,  and  will  he  no  more  favour  ?  It 
was  thus  that  the  spirit  of  the  sufferer  made  inquiry.  For  ever,  literally 
to  eternities  or  ages.  Reject,  with  abhorrence  and  contempt.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xliii.  2,  xliv.  10,  24  (9,  23),  k.  3,  12  (2,  11),  Ixxiv.  1.  The  idio- 
matic form  of  the  last  clause  is,  will  he  not  add  to  favour  again  (or  any 
longer)  f 

9  (8).  Ceased  for  ever  has  his  mercy,  failed  (his)  word  to  generation  and 
generation  f  The  general  term  word  here  denotes  specifically  a  word  of 
promise.  See  above  on  Ps.  xviii.  81  (30).  Generation  and  generation,  i.e. 
all  generations  in  succession,  are  not  mentioned  as  the  objects  of  the  pro- 
mise, to  whom  God's  word  was  pledged,  but  as  the  period  of  its  failure. 

10  (9).  Has  the  Mighty  {One)  forgotten  to  be  gracious,  or  closed  in  wrath 
his  mercies  ?  Selah.  The  use  of  the  divine  name  El  is  here  significant, 
as  if  it  had  been  asked,  does  the  goodness  of  God  no  longer  bear  proportion 
to  his  greatness  ?  The  verb  translated  closed  is  one  found  only  in  poetical 
style.  The  original  expression  for  his  mercies  suggests  the  idea  of  his  bowels, 
according  to  the  idiom  which  represents  the  viscera  as  the  seat  of  the  ten- 
derest  affections. 

11  (10).  And  T  said,  TJiis  is  my  affliction,  the  years  of  the  right  hand  of 
the  Highest.  This  may  be  regarded  as  the  turning  point  of  the  entire  compo- 
sition. After  all  the  repinings  and  misgivings  just  described,  I  said,  at  length, 
what  I  might  and  should  have  said  before.  My  affliction,  literally  my  sick- 
ness, that  specific  form  of  suffering  being  put  for  suffering  in  general,  as 
inflicted  by  the  hand  of  God.  The  use  of  the  word  years  seems  to  imply 
that  the  trial  was  one  of  long  continuance.  The  divine  name  or  descrip- 
tion {Most  High)  suggests  the  duty  and  necessity  of  yielding  to  his  sove- 
reign pleasure. 

12  (11).  I  will  commemorate  the  deeds  of  Jah  ;  for  I  will  remember  thy 
wonders  of  old.  The  forms  of  the  verb  in  the  two  clauses  are  different, 
though  needlessly  assimilated  by  the  masoretic  critics  and  the  versions. 
The  second  is  the  primitive  verb  remember ;  the  first  its  derivative,  cause 
to  be  remembered,  commemorate,  celebrate.  The  literal  meaning  of  the 
last  words  is  from  antiquity  thy  iconder,  a  collective  and  abstract  expression 
for  thy  wondrou^'i  works.  For  the  origin  and  use  of  the  divine  name  Jah, 
see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixviii.  5  (4), 

13  (12).  And  I  will  meditate  of  all  thy  work,  and  of  thy  doings  will  I 
muse.  The  original  expression  is  not  of  but  in  them,  as  if  implying  a  com- 
plete absorption  of  the  thoughts  and  feeling  in  the  object. 

14  (13).  0  God,  in  holiness  is  thy  way.  What  Mighty  (One)  is  great 
like  God  ?  The  common  version,  in  the  sanctuary,  yields  a  good  sense  ; 
but  the  other  is  entitled  to  the  preference  on  account  of  Exod,  xv.  11,  to 
which  place  there  is  evident  allusion.  Holiness  here  means  the  divine  per- 
fection, all  that  distinguishes  the  Maker  from  his  creatures.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xxii.  4  (3).     Thy  way,  i.e.  thy  mode  of  dealing  with  thy  creatures, 


334  Psalm  77:14  - 19 

and  particularly  with  thy  people.  The  use  of  the  name  El  is  again  significant. 
Who  is  there  like  God,  even  among  the  mightiest  and  most  exalted  beings  ? 

15  (14).  Thou  {art)  the  Almighty  doing  wonders  ;  thou  hast  made  hnovon 
in  the  nations  thy  strength.  Thou  art  the  true  Almighty  as  distinguished 
from  all  counterfeits.  Doing,  i.  e.  habitually,  characteristically,  doing  won- 
ders. The  next  word  has  the  singular  form  but  a  collective  meaning,  as  in 
ver.  12  (11)  above.  In  the  nations,  not  only  to  them,  but  among  them,  in 
the  midst  of  them,  and  in  their  own  experience.  The  display  of  God's 
omnipotence  had  not  been  confined  to  his  own  people,  but  extended  to  sur- 
rounding nations.  This  is  particularly  mentioned  in  the  history  of  the 
exodus  from  Egypt.     See  Exod.  ix.  16,  xv.  14. 

16  (15).  Thou  hast  redeemed  tvifh  the  arm  thy  people,  the  sons  of  Jacob 
and  Joseph.  Selah.  The  particular  display  of  the  divine  strength  just 
referred  to  is  now  specified.  Redeemed,  recovered  from  captivity  or  bond- 
age. With  the  arm,  i.e.  by  the  exercise  of  power.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xliv.  4  (3).  Joseph  is  named  as  well  as  Jacob,  in  order  to  include  the  ten 
tribes  in  the  statement,  which  might  otherwise  have  been  applied  to  Judah 
only,  as  the  legitimate  successor  of  the  ancient  Israel.  In  this  clause  some 
interpreters  see  a  distinct  allusion  to  the  downfall  of  the  kingdom  of  the 
ten  tribes,  as  an  event  which  had  already  taken  place  when  the  psalm  was 
written. 

17  (16).  The  uaters  saw  thee,  God,  the  waters  saw  thee ;  they  shake,  yea, 
the  depths  quake.  The  historical  reference  is  of  course  to  the  passage  of 
the  Red  Sea,  but  at  the  same  time  with  allusion  to  the  symbolical  use  of 
seas  in  Scripture.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlvi.  3  (2).  The  transition  from  the 
past  tense  to  the  future  or  present  shews  that  the  writer  suddenly  transports 
himself  into  the  midst  of  the  events  which  he  commemorates.  The  yea  or 
nay  (C|^^)  in  the  last  clause  is  emphatic.    Not  merely  the  surface  of  the  water 

moves ;  its  very  depths  are  agitated  and  convulsed. 

18  (17).  27ie  clouds  poured  water  ;  the  skies  gave  a  sound:  yea,  thine 
arrows  fly.  These  are  natural  phenomena  of  storms,  here  noted  as  betoken- 
ing God's  presence.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  12-15  (11-14).  The  skies, 
the  vapours  constituting  the  visible  heavens.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixviii. 
85  (34).  Gave  a  sound,  uttered  their  voice,  a  beautifiul  description  of  the 
thunder.  The  yea  indicates  a  climax.  There  was  not  only  rain  and  thunder 
but  lightning,  the  flashes  of  which  are  poetically  spoken  of  as  arrows.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  15  (14).  The  word  translated  y?^/  is  an  intensive  form 
of  the  verb  to  go,  implying  swiftness  and  perhaps  diversity  of  direction, 
hither  and  thither,  to  and  fro.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvi.  3,  xxxv.  14.  With 
this  verse  compare  Hab.  iii.  11. 

19  (18).  The  voice  of  thy  thunder  (was)  in  the  vihirlwind  ;  lightnings 
made  the  world  shine  ;  (then)  shook  and  quaked  the  earth.  The  word  trans- 
lated whirlwind  usually  means  a  wheel,  but  is  sometimes  applied  to  anything 
whirled  or  driven  round  before  the  wind.  See  below,  on  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  14  (13), 
and  compare  Isa.  xvii.  13.  Hence  it  may  naturally  be  employed  to  desig- 
nate the  whirlwind  itself  as  the  cause  of  this  rotary  motion.  This  is  surely 
more  agreeable  to  usage  than  to  make  it  descriptive  of  mere  swiftness  or 
velocity.  The  common  version,  in  the  heaven,  if  not  entirely  arbitrary,  must 
rest  upon  a  supposed  allusion  to  the  convex  appearance  of  the  heavens. 
Made  to  shine,  illuminated,  lighted  up.  There  is,  however,  no  affinity  be- 
tween the  Hebrew  word  and  that  for  lightnings.  The  whole  description  is 
remarkably  like  that  of  the  theophany  in  Ps.  xviii.     See  also  Hab.  iii.  14. 

20  (19).  In  the  sea  {was)  thy  way  and  thy  paths  in  great  (or  many)  waters. 


Psalm  78: 1,2  335 

and  thy  footsteps  were  not  known.  This  may  be  understood  as  a  general 
description  of  the  divine  operations  as  inscrutable,  in  which  case  the  verbs 
supplied  should  have  the  present  form,  is  thy  way,  are  not  known.  It  is 
more  agreeable,  however,  to  the  context,  and  in  far  better  keeping  with  the 
vivid  graphic  character  of  this  part  of  the  psalm,  to  imderstand  the  verse, 
at  least  in  the  first  instance,  as  referring  to  the  exodus  from  Egypt,  when 
it  might  indeed  be  said  that  the  way  of  Jehovah,  as  the  deliverer  and  con- 
ductor of  his  people,  was  in  the  sea,  and  that  his  footsteps  and  theirs  could 
not  be  traced,  because  the  waters  instantly  rolled  over  them.  With  this 
verse  compare  Hab.  iii.  15. 

21  (20).  Thou  didst  yuide  like  a  flock  thy  people,  by  the  hand  of  Moses  and 
Aaron.  Like  a  flock  in  perfect  safety  and  with  perfect  ease.  The  com- 
parison of  Moses,  at  this  juncture,  to  a  shepherd,  reappears  in  Isa.  Ixiii. 
11-14.  The  conclusion  of  the  psalm  appears  abrupt,  but  any  devout 
Israelite  could  draw  the  inference  for  himself",  that  he  who  had  so  gloriously 
saved  his  people  could  deliver  them  again. 

Psalm  78 

This  psalm  appears  to  have  been  written  after  David's  elevation  to  the 
throne,  and  perhaps  before  he  was  acknowledged  by  the  whole  race  of  Israel 
(2  Sam.  V.  5),  Its  design  is  to  impress  upon  the  public  mind  the  true 
grounds  of  the  transfer  which  had  taken  place,  of  the  pre-eminence  in  Israel, 
from  the  tribe  of  Ephraim  to  that  of  Judah,  as  the  execution  of  a  divine 
purpose  long  before  disclosed,  and  at  the  same  time  a  just  judgment  on  the 
sins  committed  by  the  people  imder  the  predominant  influence  of  Ephraim, 
from  the  time  of  Joshua  to  that  of  EH.  The  internal  character  of  the  psalm 
determines  its  external  form,  which  is  simple,  and  admits  of  no  minute 
division,  beyond  that  afi'orded  by  the  historical  succession  of  events  and  the 
logical  design  of  the  composition,  to  prove  that  the  Israelites  under  the 
ascendancy  of  Ephraim  were  similar  in  character  to  the  elder  generation 
which  came  out  of  Egypt. 

1:'  Maschil.  By  Asaph.  Listen,  my  people,  to  wy  law ;  incline  your 
ear  to  the  sayings  of  my  mouth.  This  is  eminently  a  didactic  psalm,  because 
it  teaches  the  true  meaning  of  events  in  the  history  of  Israel  which  might 
otherwise  seem  to  be  mere  matters  of  curiosity.  For  the  same  reason  it 
was  necessary  that  it  should  be  so  designated  in  the  title  or  inscription. 
See  above,  on  Ps.xxxii.l,xlii.l,lii.  l,&c.  TheAsaph  meant,  as  we  have  seen, 
is  probably  the  contemporary  and  chief  musician  of  David,  but  also  an 
inspired  psalmist.  See  above,  on  Ps.  1.  1.  In  this  verse  he  invites  atten- 
tion, as  if  to  something  strange  and  unexpected.  My  people,  fellow-mem- 
bers of  the  ancient  church,  not  as  individuals,  however,  but  as  an  organised 
body.  My  law,  my  inspired  instructions  which,  as  such,  have  a  binding 
authority  and  force. 

2.  /  will  open,  in  a  parable,  my  mouth  ;  I  will  utter  riddles  from  an' 
tiquity.  By  a  parable  we  are  here  to  understand  an  analogical  illustration 
of  divine  truth.  An  exposition  of  the  true  design  and  meaning  of  the  his- 
tory of  Israel  was  in  this  sense  a  mashal  or  parable.  Riddles,  enigmas, 
not  the  events  themselves,  but  their  latent  import,  which  escaped  a  merely 
superficial  observation.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlix.  5  (4).  Of  old,  or  from  an- 
tiquity, i.  e.  belonging  to  the  early  period  of  our  national  existence.  Utter ^ 
literally  pour  forth,  cause  to  flow  or  gush.     See  above,  on  Ps.  six.  3  (2). 


336  Psalm  78:3  -  13 

3.  Which  we  have  heard,  and  have  knovm  them,  and  our  fathers  recounted 
to  us.  Here,  as  often  elsewhere,  the  knowledge  of  God's  ancient  dealings 
with  his  people  is  ascribed  to  that  national  tradition,  which  they  were  not 
only  suffered  but  required  to  cherish  and  perpetuate  (Exod.  xii.  14,  Deut. 
vi.  20),  but  which  was  not  at  all  exclusive  of  a  written  and  authoritative 
record, 

4.  We  will  not  hide  {them)  from  their  sons,  to  an  after  generation  recount- 
ing the  praises  of  Jehovah,  and  his  strength,  and  his  wonders  which  he  did. 
The  psalmist  here  recognises  the  obligation  resting  on  the  individual  parent, 
but  above  all  on  the  church  as  such,  to  continue  the  transmission  of  this 
knowledge  to  the  latest  generations. 

5.  And  set  up  a  testimony  in  Jacob,  and  a  law  established  in  Israel, 
which  he  commanded  our  fathers,  to  make  them  known  unto  their  sons. 
The  essential  idea  here  conveyed  still  is,  that  the  traditional  transmission 
of  God's  mighty  deeds  entered  into  the  very  end  or  purpose  for  which 
Israel  existed  as  a  nation. 

6.  In  order  that  the  after  generation  might  know,  sons  be  bom,  arise,  and 
tell  (if^  to  their  own  sons.  This  prolonged  reiteration  of  the  same  thing 
seems  intended  to  preclude  the  thought  or  feeling,  that  the  things  about  to 
be  recounted  were  mere  relics  of  antiquity,  without  interest  or  use  to  the 
contemporary  race. 

7.  And  might  place  in  God  their  hope,  and  not  forget  the  deeds  of  the 
Almighty,  and  his  commandments  might  observe  (or  keep).  The  construction 
is  continued  from  the  verse  preceding.  The  recollection  thus  enjoined  was 
not  a  mere  historical  or  speculative  exercise,  but  designed  to  have  a  prac- 
tical effect,  to  wit,  that  of  securing  obedience. 

8.  And  might  not  be  as  their  fathers,  a  generation  stubborn  and  rebellious, 
a  generation  that  did  not  prepare  its  heart,  and  whose  spirit  was  not  true  to 
God.  A  still  more  specific  purpose  is  here  mentioned,  to  wit,  that  of 
warning  by  means  of  bad  examples.  The  fathers  here  meant  are  the  elder 
race  that  came  out  of  Egypt.  The  description  stubborn  and  rebellious  is 
borrowed  from  Deut.  xxi.  18.  To  prepare  the  heart  is  to  dispose  or  devote 
it  to  God's  service.     Compare  1  Sam.  vii.  3,  2  Chron.  xx.  33. 

9.  The  sons  of  Ephraim,  armed  bowmen,  turned  (back)  in  the  day  of 
battle.  The  people,  during  the  ascendancy  of  Ephraim,  proved  false  to 
their  great  mission  of  subduing  Canaan  and  destroying  its  inhabitants.  This 
neglect  is  represented,  in  the  history  itself,  as  the  source  of  all  the  national 
calamities  that  followed.  As  the  bow  among  the  ancients  was  one  of  the 
chief  weapons  of  war,  the  description  armed  bowmen  is  equivalent  to  well 
anned  soldiers,  and  is  added  to  enhance  the  guilt  and  shame  of  those  who 
thus  betrayed  their  trust,  in  spite  of  every  external  advantage. 

10.  They  kept  not  the  covenant  of  God,  and  in  his  lata  refused  to  walk. 
They  violated  the  condition  of  their  national  vocation,  and  relumed  to  do  the 
very  thing  for  which  they  were  brought  out  of  Egypt. 

11.  And  forgot  his  deeds  and  his  wonders  xvhich  he  shewed  them.  The 
second  generation  forgot  the  proofs  of  God's  presence  and  power,  which,  in 
the  person  of  their  fathers,  they  had  seen  when  they  came  out  of  Egypt. 

12.  Before  their  fathers  he  did  a  wonder,  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  in  the 
field  of  Zoan.  "Wonder  has  here  the  same  collective  sense  as  in  Ps. 
Ixxvii.  12,  15  (11,  14).  Zoan,  called  by  the  Greeks  Tanis,  was  the  an- 
cient capital  of  Lower  Egypt.  See  Num.  xiii.  22.  The  field  of  Zoan  yn^iS 
the  country  immediately  adjacent  to  it. 

18.  He  clave  the  sea,  and  let  them  pass,  and  made  the  waters  stand  as  a 


Psalm  78:14 -21  337 

heap.     This  last  expression  is  derived  from  Exod.  xv.  8.     See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxxiii.  7. 

14.  And  led  them  by  the  cloud  by  day,  and  all  (he  night  by  light  of  fire. 
See  Exod,  xiii.  21,  22.  The  original  expression,  in  the  cloud,  may  denote 
something  more  than  instrumental  agency,  to  wit,  the  personal  presence  of 
the  Divine  Angel  in  the  cloud  itself. 

15.  He  cleaves  rocks  in  the  wilderness,  and  gives  them  drink  as  a  great 
deep.  This  last  is  a  hyperbolical  description  of  an  abundant  flow  of  water 
in  the  desert.  Some  account  for  it  by  supposing  an  allusion  to  the  flood, 
from  the  account  of  which  (Gen.  vii.  11)  some  of  the  expressions  are  bor- 
rowed. The  verse  has  reference  to  both  miraculous  supplies  of  this  kind, 
one  in  the  first,  and  one  in  the  last  year  of  the  error  in  the  wilderness. 
See  Exod.  xvii.  6,  Num.  xx.  8. 

16.  And  brings  out  torrents  from  a  rock,  and  brings  down  waters  like  the 
rivers.  Ihis  verse  relates  to  the  later  miracle,  recorded  in  the  twentieth 
of  Numbers. 

17.  And  they  continued  still  to  sin  against  him,  to  rebel  against  the 
Highest  in  the  desert.  What  ought  to  have  been  the  efiect  of  these  divine 
interpositions,  is  clearly  implied  in  this  description  of  the  actual  effect. 
The  very  means  which  should  have  made  them  more  obedient  made  them 
more  rebellious.  The  last  word  in  Hebrew  means  a  desert,  properly  bo 
called,  a  dry  land,  and  may  here  be  used  to  suggest  the  idea,  that  they 
foolishly  and  wickedly  provoked  God  in  the  very  situation  where  they  were 
most  dependent  on  him  for  protection  and  supplies.  The  extent  of  this 
dependence  is  impUed  in  the  use  of  a  divine  name  signifying  sovereignty, 
supremacy. 

18.  And  tempted  God  in  their  heart,  to  ask  food  for  their  soul.  To  tempt 
God  is  to  require  unnecessary  proof  of  what  should  be  believed  without  it. 
Instead  of  trusting  in  his  bounty  to  supply  them,  they  anxiously  demanded 
what  they  looked  upon  as  necessary  for  their  sustenance.  In  their  heart 
describes  the  first  conception  of  the  sin,  as  distinguished  from  its  outward 
commission  in  the  next  verse.  To  ask,  by  asking,  or  rather,  so  as  to  ask. 
Such  was  their  impious  distrust  of  God,  that  they  actually  asked,  &c.  For 
their  suul,  for  themselves  ;  or,  for  their  appetite,  to  gratify  their  inordinate 
desire  of  bodily  indulgence ;  or,  for  their  life,  as  absolutely  necessary  to 
preserve  it. 

19.  And  spake  of  God  [and]  said,  Will  the  Almightg  be  able  to  set  a  table 
in  the  wilderness  ?  This  they  not  only  said,  but  said  it  speaking  of  or 
against  God.  The  unreasonableness  of  the  doubt  is  aggravated  by  the  use 
of  a  divine  name  which  impUes  omnipotence.  As  if  they  had  said,  Can  he 
do  this  who  can  do  everj'thing  ? 

20.  Lo,  he  smote  the  rock,  and  waters  flow,  and  streams  gush  out;  (but) 
can  he  also  give  bread  or  provide  flesh  for  his  people  ?  The  same  thing  is 
now  proved  by  an  appeal  to  what  he  had  done.  The  question  is  reduced 
to  an  absurdity  by  introducing  as  a  kind  of  preamble,  what  ought  to  have 
prevented  its  being  asked  at  all.  The  doubters  are  described  in  these  two 
verses  as  virtually  reasoning  thus  :  God  is  almighty;  but  is  he  able  to 
supply  our  wants  ?  He  has  given  us  water ;  but  can  he  give  us  bread  or 
meat  ? 

21.  Therefore  Jehovah  heard  and  was  icroth,  and  fire  was  kindled  in  Jacob, 
and  also  anger  came  up  in  (or  against)  Israel.  The  first  clause  exemplifies 
a  common  Hebrew  idiom,  equivalent  to  saying,  therefore  when  he  heard  he 
was  angry.     Heard,  not  the  rumour  or  report  of  their  offence,  but  the 


338  Psalm  78:22  -  27 

offence  itself,  which  consisted  externally  in  speaking  against  God.  The 
second  verb  is  a  reflexive  form  of  one  that  means  to  pass  out  or  over,  and 
properly  denotes  the  act  of  letting  one's  self  out  or  giving  vent  to  the  emo- 
tions. Fire  seems  to  be  a  figure  for  this  same  wrath,  with  or  without 
allusion  to  material  fire  as  a  destroying  agent.  Compare  Num.  xi.  1. 
Came  up,  in  the  mind.  See  2  Sam.  xi.  20.  Or  there  may  be  an  allusion 
to  the  visible  ascent  of  smoke  and  flame,  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  9  (8). 

22.  Because  they  believed  not  in  God,  and  trusted  not  in  his  salvation. 
Compare  the  terms  of  the  history  in  Exod.  xiv.  13,  Num.  xiv.  11. 

23.  And  he  commanded  the  cloud  above,  and  the  doors  of  heaven  he  opened. 
The  connection  of  the  sentences  is  correctly  although  freely  given  in  the 
common  version,  though  he  had  commanded,  &c.  Above,  hterally//ow  above, 
but  see  on  Ps.  1.  4.  The  whole  verse  expresses  the  idea  of  a  copious  supply 
from  heaven.  In  the  last  clause  there  seems  to  be  a  reference  to  the  open- 
ing of  the  windows  of  heaven  at  the  deluge.  Compare  Gen.  vii.  11,  and 
see  above  on  ver.  15. 

24.  And  rained  upon  them  manna  to  eat,  and  corn  of  heaven  gave  to  them. 
The  expression  rained  is  borrowed  from  the  history,  Exod.  xvi.  4.  The 
addition  of  the  words  to  eat  may  have  reference  to  the  primary  import  of 
the  word  (]D)  manna  as  an  interrogative  or  indefinite  pronoun,  meaning  what 

or  somewhat,  so  that  the  words  here  might  also  bear  the  sense  of  something 
to  eat.  See  Exod.  xvi.  15,  31.  It  is  called  corii  of  heaven  as  a  miraculous 
substitute  for  bread,  and  also  in  allusion  to  its  granular  form  and  appear- 
ance, Exod.  xvi.  31. 

25.  Bread,  of  the  mighty  (ones)  did  {each)  man  eat;  victual  he  sent  them 
to  the  full.  The  first  Hebrew  word,  as  appears  from  the  preceding  verse, 
;  s  used  in  its  specific  sense  of  bread,  and  not  in  the  generic  one  of  food, 
which  is  otherwise  expressed  in  ver.  20.  Some  explain  bread  of  the  mighty  to 
mean  deUcate  or  costly  bread,  like  that  used  by  the  rich  and  noble.  But 
io  these  the  epithet  is  nowhere  else  applied,  as  a  similar  one  is  to  the  angels 
in  Ps.  ciii.  20,  a  circumstance  which  favours  the  old  explanation  given  in 
the  Targum  and  the  Septuagint,  according  to  which  manna  is  called  angels' 
bread,  not  as  being  their  food,  but  as  comiag  from  the  place  where  they  re- 
side. Man  is  not  used  generically  in  antithesis  to  angels,  which  would  have 
required  another  Hebrew  word  (OlX),  but  distributively  in  the  sense  of 

every  one,  as  it  is  in  the  history  of  this  very  miracle,  Exod.  xvi.  16.  The 
idea  then  is  that  enough  was  sent  for  all  without  exception.  The  word 
ti-anslated  victual  denotes  specially  provision  for  a  march  or  journey.  See 
Exod.  xii.  39.  To  the  full,' or  to  satiety,  enough  and  more  than  enough  to 
satisfy  the  appetite  of  eveiy  individual ;  another  expression  borrowed  from 
the  history.     See  Exod.  xvi.  3. 

26.  He  rouses  an  east-wind  in  the  heavens,  and  guides  hy  his  power  a 
south-wind.  The  first  verb  is  a  causative  of  that  used  in  Num.  xi.  31,  which 
strictly  means  to  strike  a  tent  or  break  up  an  encampment,  and  then  to  set 
out  upon  a  march  or  journey,  but  is  there  applied  to  the  sudden  rise  of  a 
particular  wind.  The  east  and  south  are  here  named  as  the  points  from 
which  the  strongest  winds  were  known  to  blow  in  that  part  of  the  world. 
The  history  itself  contains  no  such  specification.  Guides,  directs  it  in  the 
course  required  for  this  purpose. 

27.  And  he  rained  upon  them,  like  dust,  flesh,  and  like  the  sand  of  seas, 
winged  fowl  (or  birds  of  wing).  Here,  as  in  the  miracle  of  water,  two 
miraculous  supplies  of  flesh  are  brought  together.     See  Exod.  xvi.  13,  Num. 


Psalm  78:28 -36  339 

xi.  31,  32.     To  these  two  is  transferred  the  figure  of  rain,  which,  in  the 
history,  is  applied  only  to  the  manna. 

28.  Ayid  let  it  fall  in  the  midst  of  his  camp,  round  about  his  dwellings. 
The  pronoun  his  refers  to  Israel  as  a  body,  and  may  be  rendered  clearer  by 
the  use  of  the  plural  their.  Several  of  the  terms  here  used  are  borrowed 
from  the  Mosaic  narrative.     See  Exod.  xvi.  13,  Num.  xi,  31. 

29.  And  they  ate  and  uere  sated  exceedingly,  dnd  (thus)  their  desire  he  brings 
to  them.  The  first  clause  is  an  amplification  of  the  phrase  to  the  full  in 
ver.  25  above.  Compare  the  history  in  Num.  xi.  18-20.  Their  desire, 
i.  e.  the  object  of  it,  that  which  they  had  longed  for. 

30.  They  were  not  (yet)  estranged  from  their  desire;  still  {w&s)  their  food 
in  their  mouth.  This  is  merely  the  protasis  or  conditional  clause  of-  the 
sentence  completed  in  the  next  verse.  The  first  clause  does  not  mean  that 
the  food  had  not  begun  to  pall  upon  their  appetite,  but,  as  the  other  clause 
explains  it,  that  it  was  still  in  their  possession,  in  their  very  mouths,  when 
God  smote  them.     Compare  Num.  xi.  33. 

31.  And  the  wrath  of  God  came  up  among  them  (or  against  them),  ani 
slew  among  their  fat  ones,  and  the  chosen  (youths)  of  Israel  brought  low.  The 
form  of  expression  in  the  first  clause  is  the  same  as  in  ver.  21  above. 
Among  their  fat  ones,  i.e.  killed  some  or  many  of  them.  The  parallel 
term,  according  to  its  etymology,  means  picked  or  chosen  men,  but  its  usage 
is  applied  to  young  men  in  their  full  strength  and  the  flower  of  their  age,  and 
therefore  fit  for  military  service.  Thus  the  youngest  and  strongest  are  de- 
scribed as  unable  to  resist  the  exhibition  of  God's  wrath  against  his  people. 

32.  For  all  this  they  sinned  still,  and  believed  not  for  his  wonders.  Not- 
withstanding all  these  favours  and  extraordinary  interpositions,  the  genera- 
tion that  came  out  of  Egypt  still  persisted  in  their  evil  courses.  The  last 
clause  does  not  charge  them  with  denying  the  reality  of  the  wonders  which 
they  witnessed,  but  with  refusing  to  trust  God  on  the  strength  of  them. 
This  appears  from  the  history  itself,  Num.  xiv.  11,  to  which  there  is  obvi- 
ous allusion. 

33.  And  (therefore)  he  wasted  in  vanity  their  days  and  their  years  in 
terror.  As  the  preceding  verse  relates  to  the  refusal  of  the  people  to  go 
up  against  the  Canaanites  in  the  first  year  of  the  exodus,  so  this  relates  to 
the  forty  years  of  eiTor  in  the  wilderness,  by  which  that  refusal  was  at  once 
indulged  and  punished.  The  fruitless  monotony  of  their  existence  during 
this  long  period,  and  their  constant  apprehension  of  some  outbreak  of 
divine  wrath,  are  expressed  here  by  the  words  translated  vanity  and  terror. 
The  meaning  of  the  verb  is  that  he  suffered  or  caused  their  years  to  be  thus 
unprofitably  and  miserably  spent.     Compare  Ps.  Ixxiii.  19. 

34.  //  he  slew  them,  then  they  sought  him,  and  returned  and  inquired 
early  after  God.  Whenever,  during  this  long  interval,  he  punished  them 
with  more  than  usual  severity,  a  temporary  and  apparent  reformation  was 
the  immediate  consequence.  The  verb  in  the  last  clause  denotes  eager  and 
importunate  solicitation.     See  above,  onPs.  xliii.  2  (1). 

35.  And  remembered  that  God  (was)  their  Enck,  and  the  Mighty,  the 
Most  High,  their  Redeemer .  It  was  only  at  these  times  of  peculiar  sufl'ering 
that  the  people,  as  a  body,  called  to  mind  their  national  relation  to  Jeho- 
vah, as  their  founder,  their  protector,  and  their  refuge.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xviii.  3  (2),  and  compare  Deut.  xxxii.  4,  15,  18,  31. 

36.  And  (yet)  they  deceived  him  with  their  mouth,  and  with  their  tongue 
they  lie  to  him.  Even  these  apparent  reformations  only  led  to  hypocritical 
professions.     The  verb  in  the  first  clause  does  not  describe  the  effect  but 


340  Psalm  78:37 -42 

the  intention.     It  may  therefore  be_translated  flattered,  although  this  is  not 
the  strict  sense  of  the  Hebrew  word. 

37.  And  their  heart  was  not  fi,xed  {or  constant)  with  him,  and  they  were 
not  true  to  (or  faithful  in)  his  covenant.  Their  obedience  was  capricious 
and  imperfect,  and  proceeded  from  no  settled  principle  or  genuine  devotion 
to  his  service.  They  were  false  to  the  very  end  for  which  they  existed  as 
a  nation.  For  the  meaning  of  a  fixed  or  settled  heart,  see  above,  on  Ps. 
h.  12  (10),  and  compare  Ps.  Ivii.  8  (7). 

38.  And  he,  the  Merciful,  forgives  iniquity,  and  does  not  (utterly)  de- 
stroy;  and  he  often  withdrew  his  anger,  and  would  not  arouse  all  his  wrath. 
The  first  clause  relates  rather  to  God's  attributes,  or  to  his  method  of  pro- 
ceeding in  the  general,  than  to  his  proceeding  in  this  particular  case,  which 
is  not  brought  forward  till  the  last  clause.  There  is  obvious  allusion  to  the 
description  of  God's  mercy  in  Ex.  xxxiv.  6,  7.  Forgives  is  a  very  inade- 
quate translation  of  the  Hebrew  word,  which  necessarily  suggests  the  idea  of 
expiation  as  the  ground  of  pardon.  Often  withdrew,  literally  multiplied  to 
withdraw  his  wrath,  or  cause  it  to  return  without  accomplishing  its  object. 

39.  And  he  remembered  that  they  (were  but)  flesh,  a  breath  departing  and 
returning  not.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  frailty  and  infirmity  of  man  is 
assigned  as  a  ground  of  the  divine  forbearance.  Compare  Ps.  ciii.  14-16. 
Flesh,  a  common  scriptural  expression  for  humanity  or  human  nature,  as 
distinguished  from  superior  beings,  and  especially  from  God.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Ivi.  5  (4),  and  compare  Gen.  vi.  3,  Isa.  xxxi.  3.  The  idea  of  fragi- 
lity and  brief  duration  is  expressed  still  more  strongly  by  the  exquisite 
figure  in  the  last  clause.  The  melancholy  thought  with  which  it  closes  is 
rendered  still  more  emphatic  in  Hebrew  by  the  position  of  the  verb  and  the 
irregular  construction  of  the  sentence,  a  breath  going  and  it  shall  not  return. 

40.  Hotv  oft  do  they  resist  him  in  the  wilderness  (and)  grieve  him  in  the 
desert!  Many  particular  occurrences  are  summed  up  in  this  pregnant  ex- 
clamation. The  future  form  of  the  verbs  seems  to  have  reference  to  the 
ideal  situation  of  the  writer,  looking  forward  in  imagination  to  the  error  as 
still  futm-e,  and  saying  as  Moses  might  have  said,  if  gifted  with  prophetic 
foresight  of  the  sins  of  Israel,  Notwitstanding  all  these  favours  and  these 
high  professions,  how  oft  will  they  resist  his  authority  and  rouse  his  wrath ! 

41.  And  they  turned  and  tempted  God,  and  (on)  the  Holy  One  of  Israel 
set  a  mark.  Having  described  the  conduct  of  the  first  generation  in 
the  wilderness,  the  Psalmist  now  proceeds  to  shew  that  the  younger  gene- 
ration, after  the  death  of  Joshua  (Josh.  xxiv.  31),  were  like  their  fathers 
(ver.  57  below).  The  first  verb  may  either  have  the  independent  meaning 
turned  away,  or  turned,  hack  from  his  service,  or  qualify  the  next  verb  by 
denoting  repetition  of  the  action  ;  and  they  tempted  again,  or  still  tempted. 
They  tempted  God  by  doubting  his  supremacy,  and  practically  challenging 
him  to  the  proof  of  it.  See  above,  on  ver.  19.  The  last  woi-d  in  Hebrew 
is  of  doubtful  meaning.  Some  explain  it,  by  a  Syriac  analogy,  and  on  the 
authority  of  the  ancient  versions,  to  mean  provoked  or  grieved.  In  the  only 
other  place  where  the  Hebrew  word  occurs  (Ezek.  ix.  4)  it  mea,ns  to  set  a 
mark  upon  a  person,  which  some  apply  here,  in  the  figurative  sense  of 
stigmatising  or  insulting.  A  cognate  verb  is  used  by  Moses  (Num.  xxxiv. 
7,  8)  -to  denote  the  act  of  laying  ofi"  or  marking  out  a  boundary,  which  is 
probably  the  origin  of  the  common  version,  limited,  i.e.  prescribed  bounds 
to  the  power  of  Jehovah  in  their  unbelief.  Holy  One  of  Israel,  see  above,  on 
Ps.  Ixxi.  22) 

42.  They  remembered  not  his  hand,  the  day  that  he  redeemed  them  from 


Psalm  78:43 -48  341 

distress  (or  from  the  eneyny).  The  psalmist  still  confounds  or  identifies  the 
several  generations  as  one  aggregate  or  national  person.  The  younger 
race  remembered  not  the  miraculous  favours  experienced  by  their  prede- 
cessors. His  hand,  the  exertion  of  his  power,  a  favourite  Mosaic  figure. 
See  particularly  Exod.  vii.  5,  xiii,  9,  Deut.  vii.  8.  The  last  clause  admits  of 
two  constructions.  The  day  may  be  in  apposition  with  his  hand,  and  a 
collateral  object  to  the  verb,  as  in  the  common  version;  or  it  may  be  an 
adverbial  expression  qualifying  what  precedes.  "  They  remembered  not 
how  his  power  was  exerted  in  the  day  that  he  redeemed  them  from  the 
enemy."     The  essential  meaning  is  the  same  in  either  case. 

43.  {He)  who  set  in  Er/ypt  his  signs  and  his  wonders  in  the  field  of  Zoan. 
The  miraculous  interpositions  at  the  exodus  were  signs  of  God's  presence 
and  immediate  agency.  To  set  these  was  to  hold  them  up  to  view.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ixxiv.  4.  The  description  of  Egypt  in  the  last  clause  is 
repeated  from  ver.  12  above. 

44.  And  turned  to  blood  their  rivers,  and  their  streams  they  cannot 
drink.  The  general  statement  of  the  preceding  verse  is  rendered  more 
specific  by  the  mention  of  several  of  the  plagues  in  detail,  beginning  with 
the  first.  See  Exod.  vii.  18-20.  The  word  translated  rivers  is  the  plural 
of  one  commonly  applied  to  the  Nile,  and  supposed  to  be  of  Egyptian  origin. 
It  may  here  be  understood  as  denoting  either  the  natural  branches  of  the 
Nile,  or  the  artificial  channels  by  which  its  waters  are  employed  in  the  irri- 
gation of  the  country.  In  the  last  clause,  by  a  very  common  trope,  the 
writer  speaks  as  he  might  have  spoken  at  the  time  of  the  event. 

45.  He  sends  among  them  (or  against  them)  flies  and  they  devour  them, 
and  frogs  and  they  destroy  them.  Two  of  the  other  plagues  are  here  added, 
from  the  narrative  in  Exod.  viii.  The  first  noun  in  Hebrew  was  explained 
by  the  ancient  writers  as  denoting  a  mixture  of  noxious  animals ;  but  the 
best  interpreters  are  now  agreed  that  it  means  the  Egj'ptian  dog-fly,  which 
Philo  represents  as  feeding  upon  flesh  and  blood. 

46.  And  he  gave  [up)  to  the  caterpillar  their  produce,  and  their  labour  to 
the  locust.  Both  the  animal  names  in  this  verse  are  really  designations  of 
the  locust,  one  meaning  the  devourer,  and  the  other  denoting  the  vast  num- 
bers of  that  insect.  Their  labour,  i.  e.  its  effect  or  fruit.  Compare  the 
narrative  in  Exod.  x.  12-19. 

47.  He  kills  with  hail  their  vine  and  their  sycamores  with  frost.  The 
destruction  of  the  vines  is  not  mentioned  in  the  history  (Exod.  ix.  23-32), 
though  it  is  in  Ps.  cv.  33.  It  has  even  been  denied  that  the  culture  of  the 
vine  was  known  in  ancient  Egypt ;  but  the  fact  has  been  fully  established 
by  modem  investigation  and  discovery.  The  last  word  of  the  sentence 
occurs  nowhere  else.  Some  of  the  moderns  explain  it,  from  an  Arabic 
analogy,  to  mean  an  ant ;  but  the  parallelism  favours  the  usual  interpreta- 
tion which  is  derived  from  the  ancient  versions. 

48.  And  delivered  their  cattle  to  the  hail  and  their  herds  to  the  flames. 
The  Hebrew  verb  strictly  means  shut  up,  and  occurs,  elsewhere  in  the  com- 
bination to  shut  tip  in  the  hand,  i.  e.  abandon  to  the  power,  of  another. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxi.  9  (8),  and  compare  1  Sam.  xxiii.  11.  Here,  as  in 
Deut.  xxxii.  30,  the  verb  is  used  absolutely  in  the  sense  of  the  whole  phrase. 
The  word  translated  yZames  occurs  above  in  Ps.  Ixxvi.  4  (3),  and  is  here  a 
poetical  description  of  the  lightning.  The  common  version  {hot  thunder- 
bolts) is  striking  and  poetical,  but  perhaps  too  strong.  This  verse  does  not 
relate  to  a  distinct  plague,  but  to  the  effects  of  the  hail- storm  upon  animals, 
as  its  effect  upon  plants  was  described  in  the  preceding  verse. 


342  Psalm  78:49 -55 

49.  He  sends  upon  them  the  heat  of  his  anger,  wrath  and  indignation  and 
anguish,  a  mission  of  angels  of  evil.  Before  mentioning  the  last  and  greatest 
plague  of  all,  he  accumulates  expressions  to  describe  it  as  the  effect  of  the 
divine  displeasure.  The  slaughter  of  the  first-born  is  ascribed  in  the  his- 
tory itself  to  a  destroyer  or  destroying  angel  (Exod.  xii.  23,  Heb.  xi.  28), 
which  may  be  a  collective  as  it  seems  to  be  in  1  Sam.  xiii.  17,  or  denote 
the  commander  of  a  destroying  host  (Josh.  v.  15),  here  called  a  mission  or 
commission  of  angels.  The  destroying  angel  reappears  in  the  history  of 
David  (2  Sam.  xxiv.  16)  and  of  Hezekiah  (2  Kings  xix.  35).  The  original 
construction  in  the  case  before  us  is  peculiar,  angels  of  evil  [ones).  This 
cannot  mean  evil  angels,  in  the  sense  of  fallen  spirits,  who  are  not  described 
in  the  Old  Testament  as  the  executioners  of  God's  decrees.  The  best 
explanation  is  perhaps  to  take  the  plural  evils  in  an  abstract  sense,  angels 
of  evil,  not  moral  but  physical,  i.  e.  authors  of  suffering  or  destruction. 

50.  He  levels  a  path  for  his  anger  ;  and  he  did  not  withhold  from  death 
their  soul,  and  their  life  to  the  plague  gave  up.  For  the  meaning  of  the 
first  verb,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Iviii.  3  (2).  The  meaning  of  the  figure  seems 
to  be,  that  he  removes  all  hindrance  to  his  anger  and  allows  it  free  scope. 
Not  content  with  having  smitten  their  possessions  and  their  persons,  he 
now  extends  his  stroke  to  their  Uves.  The  word  translated  life  more  usually 
means  an  animal  or  animals  collectively.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixviii.  11,  31 
(10,  30),  Ixxiv.  19.  If  we  retain  this  meaning  here,  the  verse  may  be 
referred  to  the  death  of  the  Egyptian  cattle  by  the  murrain  (Exod.  ix.  1-7). 
But  the  parallelism  and  the  context  rather  favour  the  translation  life,  and 
the  reference  of  the  passage  to  the  death  of  the  first-born,  which  was  pro- 
bably occasioned  by  a  pestilence  (Exod.  ix.  15)  and  is  expressly  mentioned 
in  the  next  verse. 

51.  And  smote  all  the  first-horn  in  Egypt,  the  first-fruits  of  strength  in  the 
tents  of  Ham.  Compare  the  narrative  in  Exod.  xii.  29,  30.  The  poetical 
description  of  the  first-born  in  the  last  clause  is  derived  from  Gen.  xUx.  3 
(compare  Deut.  xxi.  17),  and  that  of  Eg^-pt  from  Gen.  x.  6. 

52.  And  brought  out,  like  sheep,  his  people,  and  led  them,  like  a  flock  in 
the  wilderness.  For  the  precise  meaning  of  the  first  verb,  see  above,  on 
ver.  26,  and  compare  Exod.  xii.  37,  xv.  22.  The  guidance  in  the  wilder- 
ness'includes  that  on  both  sides  of  the  Red  Sea,  as  appears  from  Exod. 
xii.  37. 

53.  And  guided  them  in  safety,  and  they  did  not  fear,  and  their  enemies 
the  sea  covered.  They  did  not  fear,  because  he  removed  all  gi'ound  of  appre- 
hension. This  was  especially  the  case  at  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea,  Exod. 
XV.  19,  to  which  there  is  clearly  a  particular  allusion. 

54.  And  brought  them  to  his  holy  border,  this  mountain  (which)  his  right 
hand  uon.  The  bound  or  border  of  his  hoUness,  the  frontier  of  the  land 
which  he  had  set  apart  as  holy.  This  mountain  may,  agreeably  to  Hebrew 
usage,  mean  this  hilly  country,  as  it  does  in  Deut.  iii.  25.  But  there  is 
no  doubt  a  particular  reference  to  mount  Zion,  in  the  wide  sense,  as  the 
central  point  of  the  theocracy,  designated  as  such  long  before  the  conquest 
of  Canaan.  See  Gen.  xxii.  14,  and  compare  Exod.  xv.  13,  17.  His  right 
hand,  the  exertion  of  his  strength.  Won,  purchased,  not  in  the  restricted 
modem  sense  of  buying,  but  in  the  old  and  wide  sense  of  acquiring. 

55.  And  drove  out  before  them  nations,  and  assigned  them  by  measure  (as) 
a  heritage,  and  caused  to  dwell  in  their  tents  the  tribes  of  Israel.  Before  them, 
literally  from  their  face  or  presence.  Nations,  whole  nations,  not  mere 
armies,  much  less  individuals.     Assigned  them,  Uterally  made  them  fall,  by 


Psalm  78:56 -59  343 

lot  or  otherwise,  a  common  expression  for  the  distribution  and  allotment  of 
the  land.  See  Num.  xxxiv.  2.  The  pronoun  (them)  refers  to  the  nations, 
put  for  their  possessions,  and  especially  their  territory.  The  word  trans- 
lated measure  means  primarily  a  measuring  line,  but  then  the  portion  of 
land  measured.  Hence  we  may  also  read,  assigned  them  as  (or  for)  a  here- 
ditary portion.  In  the  last  clause,  their  tents  means  of  com'se  those  of  the 
Canaanites,  not  of  the  Israelites  themselves,  which  would  make  the  clause 
unmeaning. 

56.  And  they  tempted  and  resisted  God,  Most  High,  and  his  testimonies 
did  not  keep.  Having  brought  down  the  narrative  of  God's  dealings  with 
the  older  race  to  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  the  Psalmist  now  resumes  his 
charge  (against  the  following  generations)  of  being  no  better  than  their 
fathers.  To  tempt  God  and  resist  him,  or  rehel  against  him,  has  the  same 
sense  as  in  ver.  18,  40.  The  divine  title  ]v?)!l  suggests  that  their  rebel- 
lion was  against  the  highest  and  the  most  legitimate  of  all  authority.  His 
testimonies  against  sin,  contained  in  his  commandments ;  hence  the  use  of 
the  verb  keep.  The  form  of  expression,  in  both  clauses  of  this  verse,  is 
borrowed  from  Deut.  vi.  16,  17. 

67.  And  revolted,  and  dealt  falsely  like  their  fathers;  they  were  turned  like 
a  deceitful  bow.  He  here  resumes  the  thread  dropped  at  ver.  8,  for  the 
purpose  of  relating  what  their  fathers  did  and  were,  i.  e.  the  older  genera- 
tion who  came  out  of  Egypt.  Having  shewn  this  at  great  length,  he  now 
reiterates  the  charge  that  their  descendants,  after  the  days  of  Joshua,  were 
no  better,  and  proceeds  to  prove  it.  The  first  clause  describes  them  both 
as  rebels  and  traitors.  2'hey  were  turned,  i.  e.  as  some  suppose,  turned 
aside,  swerved  or  twisted  in  the  archer's  hand,  so  as  to  give  a  wrong  direc- 
tion to  the  arrow.  Others  understand  it  to  mean,  they  were  converted  (or 
became)  like  a  deceitful  bow,  i.  e.  one  which  deceives  the  expectation,  and 
fails  to  accomplish  the  design  for  which  it  is  employed.  By  a  similar  trope, 
falsehood  or  lying  is  ascribed  to  waters  which  are  not  perennial,  but  fail 
precisely  when  most  needed.  See  Isa.  Iviii.  11,  Job  vi.  15.  The  figure  of 
a  deceitful  bow  is  borrowed  from  this  passage  by  Hosea  (vii.  16). 

68.  And  made  him  angry  with  their  heights,  and  with  their  idols  made  him 
jealous.  Here,  for  the  first  time,  idolatry  is  mentioned  as  the  great  national 
sin  of  Israel  after  the  death  of  Joshua  and  the  contemporary  elders.  This 
sin  is  intimately  connected  with  the  one  described  in  ver.  9,  since  the  failure 
to  exterminate  the  Canaanites  and  gain  complete  possession  of  the  country, 
with  its  necessary  consequence,  the  continued  residence  of  gross  idolaters 
in  the  midst  of  Israel,  could  not  fail  to  expose  the  chosen  people  to  perpetual 
temptation,  and  afford  occasion  to  their  worst  defections.  In  the  last  clause, 
graven  images  are  put  for  the  whole  class  of  idols  or  created  gods,  of  whom 
the  true  God  must  be  jealous  as  his  rivals,  as  well  as  indignant  at  the  heights 
or  high  places,  the  hill-tops  where  these  false  gods  were  most  usually  wor- 
shipped. The  whole  form  of  expression  is  Mosaic.  See  Deut.  xxxii.  16,  21, 
and  compare  Exod.  xx.  5. 

69.  God  heard  and  was  indignant,  and  rejected  Israel  exceedingly.  The 
same  sin  is  followed  by  the  same  retribution  as  in  ver.  21.  Abhorred  is  an 
inadequate  translation  of  the  last  verb,  which  denotes  not  merely  an  internal 
feeling,  but  the  outward  exhibition  of  it.  It  means  not  merely  to  abhor, 
but  to  reject  with  abhorrence.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xv.  4.  The  addition  of 
the  intensive  adverb,  very  or  exceedingly,  serves  at  the  same  time  to  enhance 
and  to  restrict  the  meaning  of  the  verb  which  it  quahfies.  He  abhorred 
them,  not  a  httle  but  exceedingly,  and  as  a  token  of  his  doing  so,  rejected 


344  Psalm  78:60  -  64 

them  exceedingly,  yet  not  utterly  or  altogether.  As  there  is  nothing  to 
restrict  the  application  of  this  statement,  we  must  understand  it  in  its  widest 
sense,  as  meaning  that  the  whole  people  was  regarded  with  displeasui*e,  and 
punished  on  account  of  its  transgressions  during  the  ascendancy  of  Ephraim. 

60.  And  forsook  the  dwelling-place  of  Shilo,  tlie  tent  (which)  he  caused  to 
dwell  among  men.  The  punishment  of  Ephraim,  not  as  the  sole  offender, 
but  as  the  unfaithful  leader  of  the  chosen  people,  consisted  in  the  transfer 
of  the  sanctuary,  and  the  manifested  presence  of  God  in  it,  to  the  tribe 
which  was  intended  from  the  first  to  have  that  honour  (Gen.  xhx.  10),  but 
whose  rights  had  been  held  in  abeyance  during  the  experimental  chieftainship 
of  Ephraim.  The  ark,  after  it  was  taken  by  the  Philistines  (1  Sam.  iv.  17), 
never  returned  to  Shiloh,  but  was  deposited  successively  at  Nob  (1  Sam. 
xxi.  2)  and  at  Gibeon  (1  Kings  iii.  4),  until  David  pitched  a  tabernacle  for 
it  on  mount  Zion  (2  Chron.  xv.  1).  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  1.  Caused  to 
dwell  is  an  expression  used  in  the  very  same  connection  in  the  history.  See 
Josh,  xviii.  1,  and  compare  Deut,  xii.  11,  where  the  sanctuary  is  described 
as  the  place  in  which  God  caused  his  name  to  dwell.  Among  men  implies 
that  this  was  his  only  earthly  residence,  and  hints  at  the  true  meaning  of 
the  sanctuary,  as  propounded  in  the  law  (Exod.  xxv.  8). 

61.  And  gave  up  to  captivity  his  strength,  and  his  beauty  into  the  foeman's 
hand.  This  is  a  still  more  distinct  allusion  to  the  capture  of  the  ark  by  the 
Philistines  (1  Sam.  iv.  17).  The  pronouns  admit  of  two  constructions,  as 
they  may  be  referred  either  to  God  or  Israel.  In  the  former  case,  the  ark 
is  called  his  strength,  because  it  was  the  symbol  of  his  saving  presence  and 
a  pledge  for  the  exertion  of  his  power  to  protect  and  save  his  people.  It  is 
called  his  beauty  or  honour,  as  it  marked  the  place  where  God  was  pleased 
to  manifest  his  glory.  At  the  same  time  it  was  Israel's  strength,  because 
it  was  considered  as  ensuring  the  divine  protection  (1  Sam.  iv.  3),  and  his 
glory,  because  the  possession  of  this  symbol  was  his  highest  honour  (1  Sam. 
iv.  21).  Both  these  senses  are  so  perfectly  appropriate,  that  it  is  not  easy 
to  choose  either,  to  the  entire  exclusion  of  the  other. 

62.  And  abandoned  to  the  sword  his  people,  and  at  his  heritage  was  wroth. 
For  the  meaning  of  the  first  verb,  see  above  on  ver.  48,  and  for  that  of  the 
second,  on  ver.  21.  To  the  sword,  to  defeat  and  destruction  in  war,  with 
particular  reference  to  1  Sam.  iv.  10.  The  severity  of  these  judgments  is 
enhanced  by  their  having  been  inflicted  on  his  people  and  his  heritage. 

63.  His  youths  (or  chosen  ones)  the  fire  devoured,  and  his  maidens  were 
not  praised.  This  may  either  mean  that  they  attracted  no  attention  on 
account  of  public  troubles,  or  that  they  were  not  praised  in  nuptial  songs, 
implying  what  is  expressed  in  the  text  of  the  EngUsh  Bible,  to  wit,  that  they 
were  not  given  to  marriage.  The  fire  may  be  a  figure  for  destructive  war, 
as  in  Num.  xxi.  28.  The  pronoun  (his)  refers  to  Israel  as  a  whole  or  an 
ideal  person. 

64.  His  priests  by  tlie  sword  fell,  and  his  widows  weep  not.  The  priests 
are  particularly  mentioned  because,  at  the  time  specially  referred  to,  the 
chief  magistracy  was  vested  in  a  sacerdotal  family,  and  because  Hophni 
and  Phinehas,  the  sons  of  Eli,  were  among  the  first  victims  of  the  great 
calamity  in  question.  See  1  Sam.  iv.  11,  17.  In  the  last  clause  there 
seems  to  be  allusion  to  the  death  of  Phinehas's  wife,  whose  sorrow  for  her 
husband  and  herself  was  lost  in  sorrow  for  the  departing  glory  of  Israel 
(1  Sam.  iv.  21).  In  a  wider  sense,  the  words  may  represent  the  whole 
class  of  Israelitish  widows  as  not  weeping  for  their  husbands,  either  because 
they  were  engrossed  by  their  own  perils  and  personal  sufferings,  or,  as 


Psalm  78:65  -  71  345 

Bome  interpreters  suppose,  because  the  bodies  of  the  slain  were  absent,  and 
there  could  not  therefore  be  a  formal  mourning  in  accordance  with  the  oriental 
usage.     The  last  words  of  this  verse  are  copied  in  Job  xxvii.  15. 

65.  Then  awoke,  as  a  sleeper,  the  Lord,  as  a  hero  rejoicing  from  wine. 
His  apparent  connivance  or  indifference  to  what  was  passing  was  abruptly 
exchanged  for  new  and  terrible  activity.  The  Lord,  the  sole  and  rightful 
sovereign,  both  of  men  in  general  and  of  Israel  in  particular.  A  hero, 
mighty  man,  or  warrior.  See  above  on  Ps.  xiv.  8.  From  wine  is  not  to 
be  construed  with  awoke  or  awakes  understood,  but  with  rejoicing,  exhilar- 
ated, cheered  by  wine. 

66.  And  he  struck  his  foes  hack  (and)  disgrace  cf  eternity  gave  them. 
The  idea  of  driving  his  assailants  back,  repelUng  or  repulsing  them,  is 
worthier  in  itself,  and  better  suited  to  the  context  than  the  one  expressed 
in  the  English  Bible.  Perpetual  dishonour  was  in  fact  the  doom  of  the 
Philistines  from  the  time  of  the  events  in  question.  The  successes  parti- 
cularly meant  are  those  of  Saul  and  David.  Gave  them,  or  to  them,  as 
their  portion. 

67.  And  rejected  the  tent  of  Joseph,  and  the  tribe  of  Ephraim  did  not 
choose.  This  is  the  completion  and  specification  of  the  statement  in  ver. 
60.  Even  after  the  punishment  of  Israel,  as  a  whole,  had  ceased,  Ephraim, 
though  still  a  member  of  the  chosen  people,  was  deprived  of  the  ascend- 
ancy, of  which  he  had  proved  himself  unworthy,  and  by  means  of  which  he 
had  betrayed  the  whole  race  into  grievous  sin.  The  tent  or  house  of 
Joseph  (the  progenitor  of  Ephraim)  is  particularly  mentioned,  because  the 
honour  taken  from  that  family  was  the  honour  of  God's  dwelling  in  the 
midst  of  them.  The  last  clause  might  be  rendered,  and  the  tribe  of  Eph- 
raim no  (longer)  chose.  But  the  original  contains  a  simple  negative  without 
qualification  ;  and  according  to  the  scriptural  account,  Ephraim  never  was 
the  chosen  tribe,  but  only  allowed  to  act  as  such,  for  a  particular  purpose, 
just  as  the  experimental  reign  of  Saul  afterwards  preceded  the  commence- 
ment of  the  true  theocratical  monarchy  in  David. 

68.  And  chose  the  tribe  of  Judah,  the  Mount  Zion  which  he  loved.  He 
now  assigned  the  visible  pre-eminence  to  Judah,  who  had  long  enjoyed  it 
in  the  divine  purpose  (Gen.  xlix.  10).  Zion  is  mentioned  as  the  capital  of 
Judah,  the  place  of  the  sanctuary,  and  the  seat  of  the  theocratic  monarchy. 
The  name,  as  usual  in  this  book,  does  not  signify  the  single  eminence  so 
called,  but  the  entire  height  on  which  Jerusalem  was  built. 

69.  And  built  like  high  (places)  his  sanctuary,  like  the  earth  (which)  he 
founded  for  ever.     Some  give  the  adjective  in  the  first  clause  the  abstract 

sense  of  heights,  which  it  never  has  in  usage.  Others  supply  heavens,  but 
the  construction  most  agreeable  to  usage  is  that  which  snpphes  hills  or 
mountains.  The  sanctuary  is  then  described  as  being,  not  externally  but 
spiritually,  lofty  as  mountains  and  enduring  as  the  earth. 

70.  And  chose  David  (as)  his  servant,  and  took  him  from  the  sheep  folds. 
Having  spoken  of  the  tribe  and  the  particular  locality  preferred  to  Ephraim 
and  Shiloh,  he  now  brings  into  view  the  personal  instrument  or  agent,  by 
whom  it  pleased  God  that  the  theocratic  kingdom  should  be  founded.  He 
did  not  choose  David  because  he  was  his  servant,  i.  e.  a  good  man,  but  to 
be  his  servant,  in  the  same  pregnant  and  emphatic  sense  in  which  the  title 
is  apphed  to  him  in  Ps.  xviii.  1.  The  sovereignty  of  the  choice  is  indi- 
cated by  the  humble  occupation  and  condition  firom  which  he  was  promoted. 

71.  From  behind  the  suckling  {ewes)  he  brought  him,  to  feed  Jacob  his 
people  and  Israel  his  heritage.     From  behind  them,  t.  e.  from  following  and 


346  Psalm  79:1  -  6 

watching  them  vi'iih.  tender  care,  one  of  the  chief  duties  of  a  shepherd.  The 
next  word  in  Hebrew  is  a  participle,  and  means  nursing,  giving  suck.  The 
sense  is  incorrectly  given  in  the  common  version  of  this  place,  and  ambigu- 
ously in  that  of  Isa.  xl.  11.  To  feed  expresses  only  one  part  of  the  mean- 
ing of  the  Hebrew  verb,  which  signifies  to  do  the  work  or  exercise  the 
office  of  a  shepherd.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xHx.  14  (13).  The  contrast  pre- 
sented is,  that  he  who  had  spent  his  youth  in  tending  sheep  was  now  to  be 
the  shepherd  of  a  nation,  nay,  of  the  chosen  people,  of  the  church,  the  heri- 
tage of  God  himself.  To  this  passage,  and  those  portions  of  the  history  on 
which  it  is  founded  (2  Sam.  vii.  8,  1  Chron.  xi.  2),  may  be  traced  the  con- 
stant use  of  pastoral  images,  in  the  later  Scriptures,  to  express  the  relation 
which  subsists  between  the  Church  and  Christ,  as  its  Chief  Shepherd,  and 
his  faithful  ministers  as  his  representatives  and  deputies. 

72.  And  he  has  fed  them  after  his  integrity  of  he^rt,  and  in  the  skill  (or 
prudence)  of  his  hands  will  lead  them  (still).  This  is  no  sudden  interruption 
of  the  psalm,  but  the  conclusion  to  which  all  was  tending  from  the  first. 
At  the  same  time  it  implies  that  when  the  psalm  was  written,  David  was 
still  reigning  and  expected  to  reign  longer.  Besides  the  divine  attestation 
here  afforded  to  his  theocratical  fidelity,  the  verse  may  be  regarded  as  a 
beautiful  tribute  to  the  good  and  great  King  from  his  chief  musician  and 
fellow-seer.  To  lead,  in  the  last  clause,  is  to  lead  or  tend  a  flock,  and, 
with  the  parallel  term  feed,  makes  up  the  full  description  of  a  shepherd. 

Psalm  79 

This  psalm  belongs  to  the  same  period  with  Ps.  Ixxiv.,  perhaps  that  of  the 
Babylonish  conquest,  and  contains  a  description  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
chosen  people,  ver.  1-4,  a  prayer  for  deUverance,  ver.  5-12,  and  a  promise 
of  thanksgiving,  ver.  13. 

1.  A  Psalm.  By  Asaph.  0  God,  gentiles  have  come  into  thy  heritage  ; 
they  have  defiled  thy  holy  temple ;  they  have  turned  Jerusalem  to  heaps. 
The  intrusion  of  heathen  into  the  sanctuary  was  its  worst  dishonour,  They 
have  placed  Jerusalem  for  heaps,  or  as  a  heap  of  ruins.  This  includes  the 
destruction  of  the  temple.     Compare  Ps.  Ixxiv.  4. 

2.  They  have  given  the  corpse  of  thy  servants  (as)  food  to  the  bird  of  the 
heavens,  the  fiesh  of  thy  saints  to  the  (wild)  beast  of  the  earth.  A  common 
description  of  extensive  and  promiscuous  carnage.  The  words  translated 
corpse,  bird,  beast,  are  all  collectives.  The  last  has  here  its  most  specific 
and  distinctive  sense  as  denoting  beasts  of  prey.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixviii.  11  (10),  Ixxiv.  19. 

3.  They  have  shed  their  blood  like  water  round  about  Jerusalem,  and 
there  is  none  burying,  or  none  to  bury  them.  There  is  no  period  in  the 
history  of  ancient  Israel  to  which  these  terms  can  be  applied  without  extra- 
vagance, except  that  of  the  Babylonian  conquest. 

4.  We  have  been  (or  become)  a  contempt  to  our  neighbours,  a  scorn  and  deri- 
sion to  those  round  about  us.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xliv.  14  (13),  where  the 
very  same  expressions  are  employed. 

5.  Unto  what  (point),  until  when,  how  long,  Jehovah,  wilt  thou  be  angry 
for  ever,  will  burn  like  fire  thy  zeal  [or  jealousy)?     With  the  first  clause 

compare  Ps,  xiii.  2  (1),  Ixxiv.  1,  10;  with  the  second,  Ex.  xx.  5,  Deut. 
xxix.  19  (20),  Ps.  Ixxviii.  58. 

6.  Pour  out  thy  wrath  against  the  nations  which  have  not  known  thee, 


Psalm79:7-10  347 

and  upon  kingdoms  which  thy  name  have  not  imwked.  This  is  commonly 
explained  as  a  prayer  for  divine  judgments  on  the  nations  which  combined 
for  the  destruction  of  Judah  (2  Kings  xxiv.  2).  But  it  seems  to  be  rather 
an  expostulation  and  complaint  that  God  had  made  no  diflference  between 
his  own  people  and  the  heathen.  As  if  he  had  said,  If  thou  must  pour  out 
thy  wrath,  let  it  rather  be  on  those  who  neither  know  nor  worship  thee 
than  on  thine  own  peculiar  people. 

7.  For  he  hath  devoured  Jacob,  and  his  dwelling  (or  his  pasture-ground) 
they  have  laid  waste.  The  singular  verb  in  the  first  cause  relates  to  the 
chief  enemy,  the  plural  in  the  last  to  his  confederates.  The  wide  sense  of 
dwelling  and  the  narrower  one  of  pasture  are  both  authorised  by  usage. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiii.  2,  kv.  13  (12),  Ixxiv.  20. 

8.  Remember  not  against  us  the  iniqitities  of  former  [generations)  ;  make 
haste,  let  thy  compassions  meet  us,  for  we  are  reduced  exceedingly.  Against 
us,  literally,  as  to  us,  respecting  us,  which,  in  this  connection,  must  mean 
to  our  disadvantage  or  our  condemnation.  Former  iniquities  is  scarcely  a 
grammatical  construction  of  the  Hebrew  words  usually  so  translated.  The 
adjective,  when  absolutely  used,  always  refers  to  persons,  and  means  ances- 
tors or  ancients.  Personal  and  hereditary  guilt  are  not  exclusive  but 
augmentative  of  one  another.  The  sons  merely  fill  up  the  iniquities  of 
their  fathers.    The  verb  hasten  ("IHD)  may  be  either  imperative  or  infinitive. 

If  the  latter,  it  qualifies  the  following  verb,  as  in  the  English  version,  let 
thy  tender  mercies  speedily  prevent  us.  For  the  meaning  of  this  last  verb, 
see  above,  on  Ps.  xxi.  4  (3).  Reduced,  weakened,  brought  low,  both  in 
strength  and  condition.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xl.  2  (1),  where  the  cognate 
adjective  is  used.  It  was  probably  the  verse  before  us  that  determined  the 
position  of  this  psalm,  in  close  connection  with  Ps.  Ixxviii.,  the  great  themo 
of  which  is  the  iniquity  of  former  generations. 

9.  Help  Its,  0  God  of  our  salvation,  on  account  of  the  glory  of  thy  name  ; 
and  set  us  free  and  pardon  our  sins  for  the  sake  of  thy  (own)  name.  The 
title,  God  of  our  salvation,  is  expressive  of  a  covenant  obligation  to  protect 
his  people,  as  well  as  of  protection  and  deliverance  experienced  already.  On 
account,  literally  for  the  word,  or  as  we  say  in  English,  for  the  sake,  which 
is  used  above,  however,  to  translate  a  difierent  Hebrew  word.  The  glory  of 
thy  name,  to  maintain  and  vindicate  the  honour  of  thy  attributes  as  hereto- 
fore revealed  in  act.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11),  xxiii.  3.  Set  us  free, 
deliver  us,  from  our  present  sufierings  and  the  power  of  our  enemies.  Par- 
don our  sins,  literally  make  atonement  for  them,  i.e.  forgive  them  for  the 
sake  of  the  expiation  which  thou  hast  thyself  provided.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixxviii.  38.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  ancient  saints  to  ask  God's  favour, 
not  for  their  own  sake  merely,  but  for  the  promotion  of  his  glory. 

10.  Wherefore  should  the  nations  say.  Where  (is)  their  God  ?  Known 
among  the  nations,  in  our  sight,  he  the  avenging  of  the  blood  of  thy  servants, 
the  (blood)  poured  out,  (or  shed),  as  was  described  above,  in  ver.  8.  This 
argument  in  favour  of  God's  interposition,  founded  on  the  false  conclusions 
which  his  enemies  would  draw  fi:om  his  refusal,  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in 
the  Pentateuch.  See  Exod.  xxxii.  12,  Num.  xiv.  13-16,  Deut.  ix.  28,  and 
compare  Joel  ii.  17,  from  which  the  words  before  us  are  directly  borrowed. 
Where  is  their  God,  the  invisible,  spiritual  being  whom  they  worship,  but 
who  cannot  save  them  from  external  dangers  ?  Or  the  meaning  may  be. 
Where  is  the  proof  of  that  ahnighty  power,  and  that  love  for  his  own  people, 
of  which  they  have  so  often  and  so  loudly  boasted  ?  The  English  Bible 
makes  the  verb  in  the  second  clause  agree  with  God  {let  him  be  known),  and 


348  Psalm  79:11  -  13 

supplies  a  preposition  before  vengeance  {by  the  revenging).  But  the  ancient 
versions,  followed  by  the  Prayer  Book  and  the  best  modem  interpreters, 
construe  the  verb  and  noun  together  [known  he  the  avenging).  The  diversity 
of  gender  may  be  easily  reduced  to  the  general  law  of  Hebrew  syntax,  that 
when  the  verb  precedes  its  subject,  and  especially  when  separated  from  it, 
the  former  may  assume  the  mascuhne  form,  not  as  such,  but  as  the  primi- 
tive and  simplest  form.  In  our  sight,  literally  to  our  eyes,  just  as  we  say 
in  Enghsh,  to  our  faces.  This  aggravating  circumstance  is  borrowed  from 
Dent.  vi.  22,  and  the  idea  of  avenging  blood  from  Deut.  xrdi.  43. 

11.  Let  the  sighing  of  the  prisoner  come  before  thee,  according  to  the  great- 
ness of  thine  arm,  suffer  to  survive  the  sons  of  death  (or  of  mortality).  The 
nation  is  here  viewed  as  an  individual  captive,  not  without  reference  to  the 
literal  captivity  and  exile  occasioned  by  the  Babylonian  conquest,  and  with 
evident  historical  allusion  to  the  bondage  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  from  the  account 
of  which  (Exod.  ii.  23-25)  some  of  the  expressions  here  are  borrowed.  Come 
before  thee,  reach  thee,  and  attract  thy  notice.  Compare  the  opposite  ex- 
pression in  Isa.  i.  23.  The  arm,  as  usual,  is  the  symbol  of  exerted  strength. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  x.  15,  xxxvii.  17,  xliv.  4  (3).  The  whole  phrase  is  a 
Mosaic  one.  See  Exod.  xv.  16,  and  compare  Num.  xiv.  19,  Deut.  iii.  24. 
The  last  verb  in  the  sentence  means  to  leave  behind  or  over,  to  cause  or  suffer 
to  remain.  See  Exod.  x.  15,  xii.  10,  Isa.  i.  9.  The  last  noun  in  Hebrew 
occurs  only  here,  but  is  an  obvious  derivative  from  (JTlD)  death,  bearing 
perhaps  the  same  relation  to  it  that  mortalitas  sustains  to  mors.  According 
to  a  well-known  oriental  idiom,  the  whole  phrase  denotes  dying  men,  or 
those  about  to  die,  or  more  specifically,  those  condemned  or  doomed  to 
death. 

12.  And  render  to  our  neighbours  sevenfold  into  their  bosom  their  contempt 
(with)  which  they  have  contemned  thee,  Lord  !  The  first  verb  is  a  causative, 
and  means  to  bring  back  or  cause  to  return.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxii.  10. 
The  neighbours  are  those  mentioned  in  ver.  4,  and  the  allusion  here  at  least 
includes  the  expression  of  contemptuous  incredulity  in  ver.  10.  Sevenfold, 
a  common  idiomatic  term  denoting  fi-equent  repetition  or  abundance.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xii.  7  (6).  Into  the  bosom,  an  expression  which  originally 
seems  to  have  had  reference  to  the  practice  of  carrying  and  holding  things 
in  the  lap  or  the  front  fold  of  the  flowing  oriental  dress,  has  in  usage  the 
accessory  sense  of  retribution  or  retaliation.  See  my  note  on  Isa.  Ixv.  6,  7, 
and  compare  Jer.  xxxii.  18,  Luke  vi.  38.  The  cognate  noun  and  verb, 
translated  contempt  and  contemned,  denote  not  the  mere  internal  feeling,  but 
the  oral  expression  of  it  by  revilings,  scoffs,  and  insults.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xUi.  11  (10),  Ixix.  10  (9).  The  Lord  at  the  conclusion  is  by  no  means  a 
mere  expletive,  but  aggravates  the  sin  of  these  despisers  by  describing  it  as 
committed  against  their  rightful  sovereign. 

13.  And  we,  thy  people  and  flock  of  thy  pasture,  will  give  thanks  to  thee 
for  ever,  to  generation  and  generation  will  we  recount  thy  praise.  Some  inter- 
preters needlessly  make  two  distinct  propositions,  we  (are)  thy  people  (and 
therefore)  will  give  thanks,  &c.  The  flock  of  thy  pasture,  that  which  thou 
feedest,  that  of  which  thou  art  the  shepherd.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxiv.  1, 
Ixxviii.  70-72.  For  ever,  literally  to  eternity.  The  following  words,  though 
thi-own  into  the  first  clause  by  the  masoretic  interpunction,  belong  to  the 
second,  as  appears  from  the  parallel  structure  of  the  sentence. 


Psalm  80:  J,  2  349 

Psalm  80 

This  pealm  was  probably  occasioned  by  the  overthrow  and  deportation  of 
the  ten  tribes,  and  expresses  the  feelings  of  the  ancient  church  in  view  of 
that  event.  Besides  a  title  or  inscription,  ver.  1,  it  contains  a  lamentation 
or  complaint,  in  reference  to  the  strokes  which  had  befallen  Israel,  ver.  2-8 
(1-7) ;  an  exquisite  picture  of  the  vocation  and  original  condition  of  the 
chosen  race,  under  the  image  of  a  transplanted  vine,  ver.  9-14  (8-13) ;  and 
an  earnest  prayer  that  God  would  again  have  mercy  on  his  afflicted  people, 
ver.  15-20  (14-19).  The  structure  of  the  psalm  is  very  regular,  deriving 
a  strophical  character  from  the  recurrence  of  a  burden  or  refrain  in  ver. 
4  (3),  8  (7),  20  (19).  The  disputed  questions,  as  to  the  occasion  and  de- 
sign of  the  composition,  will  be  considered  in  the  exposition  of  the  several 
verses. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  As  to  lilies.  A  Testimony.  By  Asaph.  A 
Psalm.  The  first  and  last  of  these  inscriptions  shew  that  the  composition 
was  intended  to  be  used  in  public  worship.  The  preposition  before  lilies 
indicates  the  theme  or  subject,  as  in  Ps.  v.  1.  Lilies,  as  in  Ps.  xlv.  1,  Ix.  1, 
Ixix.  1,  probably  means  loveliness,  delightfulness,  as  an  attribute  of  the 
divine  favour  which  is  here  implored.  Testimony  is  a  term  commonly  applied 
to  the  divine  law,  as  a  testimony  against  sin,  and  in  such  cases  as  the  pre- 
sent indicates  the  divine  authority  under  which  the  Psalmist  writes.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ix.  1. 

2  (1).  Shepherd  of  Israel,  give  ear,  leading  Joseph  like  a  flock,  sitting  {ori) 
the  cherubim,  shine  forth !  The  description  of  Jehovah  as  the  Shepherd  of 
Israel  is  peculiarly  appropriate  in  this  connection,  because  borrowed  from 
Jacob's  blessing  upon  Joseph,  Gen.  xlviii.  15,  xlix.  24.  According  to  some 
interpreters,  Joseph  is  simply  a  poetical  equivalent  to  Israel,  the  son  being 
put  upon  a  level  with  the  father  in  the  usage  of  the  language,  on  account  of 
his  historical  pre-eminence  and  his  being  the  progenitor  of  two  of  the  twelve 
tribes.  According  to  another  view,  Josqyh  denotes  the  ten  tribes  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  which  is  rendered  more  probable  by 
the  specification  of  certain  tribes  in  the  next  verse.  On  this  hypothesis,  the 
verse  before  us  is  an  invocation  of  Jehovah,  as  the  patron  and  protector, 
not  of  Judah  merely  but  of  all  Israel,  including  the  posterity  of  Joseph  and 
the  tribes  pohtically  allied  to  them.  Dwelling  (between)  the  Cherubim,  or 
sitting  (enthroned  upon)  the  Cherubim,  a  token  of  superiority  to  aU  his  crea- 
tures.    See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  11  (10). 

8  (2).  Before  Ephraim  and  Benjamin  and  Manasseh  arouse  thy  strength 
and  come  to  save  us.  The  first  clause  alludes  to  the  encampment  and  march 
through  the  wilderness,  in  which  these  three  tribes  always  went  together, 
as  the  descendants  of  one  mother  (Gen.  xliv.  20,  Num.  ii.  18-24,  x.  22-24). 
It  has  commonly  been  inferred  from  1  Kings  xii.  21,  that  the  tribe  of  Ben- 
jamin adhered  to  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  But  Hengstenberg  has  made  it 
highly  probable,  at  least,  that  those  words  relate  only  to  the  dwellers  in 
Jerusalem  and  the  immediately  cir*  umjacent  country;  that  the  tribe,  as  such, 
was  reckoned  one  of  the  ten  tribes,  among  which  Simeon  was  not  included, 
because,  in  fulfilment  of  Jacob's  prophecy  (Gen.  xhx.  7),  they  had  no  dis- 
tinct or  compact  territory  of  their  own,  but  certain  towns  within  the  bound- 
ary of  Judah  (Josh.  xix.  1-9).  Hence  we  are  told  expressly  and  repeatedly 
that  in  the  great  schism  after  the  death  of  Solomon,  but  one  tribe  remained 
faithful  to  the  house  of  David  (1  Kings  xi.  13,  32,  36,  xii.  20),  i.  e.  one 


350  Psalm  80:3 -5 

complete  tribe,  having  a  definite  and  independent  share  in  the  allotment  of 
the  land.  That  Benjamin  should  take  part  with  Ephraim  and  Manasseh 
rather  than  with  Judah,  might  have  been  expected  from  the  near  affinity 
and  mutual  affection  of  the  sons  of  Kachel,  and  from  the  jealousy  which 
must  have  been  excited  by  the  transfer  of  the  crown  from  Saul,  a  Benjamite, 
to  David,  a  Jew.  The  same  thing  incidentally  appears  from  such  passages 
as  2  Sam.  xix.  21  (20),  where  Shimei,  a  Benjamite,  speaks  of  himself  as 
representing  the  whole  house  of  Joseph.  If  this  be  admitted  or  assumed, 
the  mention  of  Benjamin  with  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  in  the  verse  before 
us,  far  from  invalidating,  seems  to  confii-m  the  application  of  the  passage 
to  the  kingdom  of  the  Ten  Tribes,  and  that  of  the  whole  psalm  to  thefr 
overthrow  and  deportation  by  the  Assyrians.  Thus  imderstood,  the  verse 
before  us  is  a  prayer,  that  God  would  again  march  at  the  head  of  the 
"jcamp  of  Ephraim,"  as  he  did  of  old.  Arouse  thy  strength,  awake  from 
thy  present  state  of  seeming  inaction  and  indifierence.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xliv.  24  (23),  Ixxviii.  65.  Come,  hterally  go,  which  may  mean  go  forth, 
march ;  but  see  above,  on  (Ps.  xlvi.  9  (8).  To  save  us,  literally /or  salvation 
to  us. 

4  (3).  0  God,  restore  us,  and  let  thy  face  shine;  and  let  us  he  saved! 
The  verb  in  the  first  clause  would  suggest  two  ideas  to  a  Hebrew  reader, 
both  of  which  are  here  appropriate.  The  first  is  that  of  a  hteral  bringing 
back  from  exile  or  captivity;  the  other  that  of  restoration  to  a  former  state, 
without  regard  to  change  of  place  or  other  local  circumstances.  In  the 
case  before  us,  the  general  and  figurative  sense  of  restoration  includes  that 
of  Kteral  return.  The  church  prays  to  be  restored  to  her  integrity  and 
normal  state,  by  the  redemption  of  the  part  which  had  gone  into  captivity. 
This  prayer  was  substantially  fulfilled  in  the  return  of  many  members  of  the 
ten  tribes  with  Judah  from  the  Babylonish  exile,  while  the  tribes  themselves, 
as  organised  bodies,  and  the  apostate  kingdom  which  they  constituted,  ceased 
to  exist.  The  petition,  cause  thy  face  to  shine,  i.  e.  look  upon  us  with  a 
favourable  countenance,  is  borrowed  from  the  sacerdotal  blessing,  Num. 
vi.  2?>.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  7  (6),  xxxi.  17  (16).  The  last  verb  in  the 
verse  may  also  be  explained  as  an  expression  of  strong  confidence,  we  shall 
be  saved,  which  really  involves  the  subjunctive  sense  preferred  by  some  in- 
terpreters, that  we  may  be  saved.  This  sentence,  which  is  solemnly  repeated 
at  the  close  of  ver.  4,  20  (3,  19),  is  thereby  marked  as  the  theme  or  key- 
note of  the  whole  composition. 

5  (4).  Jehovah,  God,  (God  of)  Hosts,  how  long  dost  thou  smoke  against 
the  prayer  of  thy  people  ?  The  accumulation  of  di\'ine  names  involves  an 
appeal  to  the  perfections  which  they  indicate,  as  so  many  arguments  or 
reasons  why  the  prayer  should  be  favourably  heard  and  answered.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  1.  1,  and  for  the  meaning  of  the  third  title,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  10. 
Bow  long,  literally  until  when  ?  The  verb  is  preterite  in  form  [hast  thou 
smoked),  implying  that  the  state  of  things  complained  of  had  already  long 
existed.  Smoke  is  here  (as  in  Ps.  Ixxiv.  1)  put  for  fire,  the  common  emblem 
of  divine  wrath,  for  the  sake  of  an  allusion  to  the  smoke  from  the  altar  of 
incense,  the  appointed  symbol  of  the  prayers  of  God's  people.  See  Lev. 
xvi.  13,  and  compare  Ps.  cxli.  2,  Isa.  vi.  4,  Rev.  v.  8,  viii.  3,  4,  There  is 
then  a  tacit  antithesis  between  the  two  significations  of  the  symbol.  The 
smoke  of  God's  wrath,  and  that  of  his  people's  prayers,  are  presented  in  a 
kind  of  conflict. 

6  (5).  Thou  hast  made  them  eat  tear-bread,  and  made  them  drink  of  tears 
a  tierce  (or  measure).     The  noun  tear  in  Hebrew  is  commonly  collective, 


Psalm  80:6 -10  351 

but  the  singular  and  plural  forms  are  here  combined.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
vi.  7  (6),  xxxix.  13  (12),  Ivi.  9  (8).  The  same  strong  figure  of  tears  as 
nourishment  occurs  above,  Ps.  xlii.  4  (3).  The  last  word  in  Hebrew  means 
a  measure  which  is  the  third  of  another  measure,  thus  corresponding  to  the 
old  and  wide  sense  of  the  English  tierce.  See  my  note  on  Isa.  xl.  12. 
Measure  here  denotes  abundance. 

7  (6).  Thou  makest  us  a  strife  unto  our  neighbours,  and  our  enemies 
amuse  themselves  (at  our  expense).  The  future  verbs  imply  a  probable  con- 
tinuance of  this  humiliating  treatment  unless  God  interpose  to  put  an  end 
to  it,  and  thus  suggest  a  reason  for  his  doing  so.  Makest  us,  hterally  put- 
test,  settest  up.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xliv.  14  (13).  A  strife,  a  subject  of 
contention,  perhaps  in  reference  to  the  emulous,  desire  of  their  neighbours 
to  insult  and  aggravate  their  sufferings.  Here,  as  in  Ps.  xUv.  14  (13), 
Ixxix.  4,  these  neighbours  are  the  circumjacent  nations,  who  always 
triumphed  in  the  time  of  Israel's  calamities  (Amos  i.  9,  11,  Obad.  12). 
The  hteral  translation  of  the  last  words  is  will  mock  (or  scoff)  for  them,  i.  e. 
for  themselves,  for  their  own  gratification,  and  at  their  own  discretion,  as 
they  will. 

8  (7).  0  God,  (God  of)  Hosts,  restore  us,  and  let  thy  face  shine,  and  let 
us  be  saved!  See  above,  on  ver.  4  (3).  The  only  variation  in  the  case  be- 
fore us  is  the  addition  of  a  second  divine  title,  implying  God's  supremacy 
above  the  hosts  of  heaven,  both  material  and  spiritual,  and  thus  indirectly 
urging  a  new  argument  for  being  heard  and  answered.     See  above,  on  ver. 

9  (8).  A  vine  out  of  Egypt  thou  transplantest,  thou  drivest  out  nations 
and  plantest  it.  There  is  a  twofold  usage  of  the  first  verb  in  Hebrew,  which 
imparts  peculiar  force  and  beauty  to  the  sentence.  Its  primary  meaning, 
to  pluck  up,  is  strictly  appropriate  to  the  act  of  transplanting,  while  its 
secondary  but  more  usual  sense  of  moving  an  encampment,  marching,  is 
equally  appropriate  to  the  removal  of  the  nation  which  the  vine  here  repre- 
sents, and  is  actually  so  appUed  in  Ps.  Ixxviii.  52  above,  as  well  as  in  the 
history  itself,  Exod.  xii.  37,  xv.  22.  The  next  verb  is  also  used  in  Ps. 
Ixxviii.  55  and  Exod.  xxiii.  28,  xxxiii.  2,  xxxiv.  11.  The  figure  of  planting 
occurs  above,  in  Ps.  xliv.  3  (2),  that  of  a  vine  in  Isa.  v.  1-7.  The  points 
of  comparison  are  probably  assiduous  culture,  luxuriant  growth,  and  fruit- 
fulness.  The  argument  involved  is  that  by  forsaking  Israel  God  would  be 
undoing  his  own  work.     Compare  Jer.  xlv.  4. 

10  (9).  Thou  didst  clear  (the  way)  before  it,  and  it  took  root  and  filled 
the  land.  The  first  word  means  to  clear  by  the  removal  of  obstructions. 
See  Gen.  xxiv.  31,  Lev.  xiv.  36,  and  compare  my  notes  on  Isa.  xl.  3, 
Ivii.  14,  Ixii.  10.  The  sense  may  here  be,  thou  didst  clear  (the  ground), 
i.  e.  from  weeds  and  stones  (compare  Isa.  v.  2)  before  it,  i.  e.  to  make  room 
for  it  or  prepare  a  place  for  it.  Took  root,  literally  rooted  its  roots,  the 
cognate  verb  and  noun  being  combined  by  a  common  Hebrew  idiom.  See 
my  note  on  Isa.  xxvii.  6. 

11  (10).  Covered  vjere  the  mountains  (with)  its  shadoio,  and  with  its 
branches  the  cedars  of  God.  This  is  an  amphfication  and  poetical  exaggera- 
tion of  the  last  words  of  ver.  10  (9).  So  completely  did  it  fill  the  laud 
that  its  shadow  was  cast  upon  the  highest  hill-tops,  and  its  tendrils  overran 
the  loftiest  trees.  Cedars  of  God,  i.  e.  in  their  kind  the  noblest  products 
of  his  power,  the  attribute  suggested  by  (7K)  the  divine  name  here  used. 

See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  7  (6).  Some  interpreters  suppose  the  southern 
range  of  mountains  west  of  Jordan,  sometimes  called  Mount  Judah  or  the 


352  Psalm80:ll-16 

Highlands  of  Judah,  to  be  here  specifically  meant  and  contrasted  with  the 
cedars  of  Lebanon,  the  northern  frontier  of  the  Land  of  Promise,  just  as 
Lebanon  and  Kadesh  are  contrasted  in  Ps.  xxix.  5-8.  That  Lebanon, 
though  not  expressly  mentioned,  is  referred  to,  appears  probable  from  the 
analogy  of  Ps.  xxix  5,  xcii.  13,  civ.  16.  The  literal  fact  conveyed  by  all 
these  figures  is  the  one  prophetically  stated  in  Gen.  xxviii.  14,  Deut.  xi.  24, 
Joshua  i.  4. 

12  (11).  It  sends  forth  its  houghs  to  the  sea,  and  to  the  river  its  shoots  (or 
suckers).  Compare  the  description  in  Isa.  xvi.  8.  If  the  north  and  south 
are  indicated  in  the  preceding  verse,  the  other  cardinal  points  may  here  be 
represented  by  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Euphrates. 

13  (12).  Why  hast  thou  broken  down  its  walls  (or  hedges),  and  all  pluck 
it  that  pass  by  the  way?  See  below,  on  Ps.  Ixxxix.  41,  42  (40,  41),  and 
compare  Isa.  v.  5.  The  last  words  are  descriptive  of  the  hostile  powers  of 
the  heathen  world,  with  particular  reference  to  the  neighbours  of  ver  6  (5). 

14  (13).  The  boar  out  of  the  wood  doth  waste  it,  and  the  beast  of  the  field 
feeds  upon  it.  For  the  precise  sense  of  the  word  translated  beast,  see  above, 
on  Ps.  1.  11,  the  only  other  place  where  it  occurs  in  such  an  application, 
being  thus  peculiar  to  the  psalms  which  bear  the  name  of  Asaph.  The 
essential  idea  conveyed  by  the  figures  of  this  verse  is  that  of  fierce  and 
greedy  enemies.  If  any  more  specific  explanation  be  admissible,  the  wild 
boar  may  denote  the  Assyrian  power,  and  the  parallel  term  its  alHes  and 
dependents.  Feeds  upon  it,  as  a  sheep  upon  its  pasture.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxxvii.  3. 

15  (14).  0  God,  (God  of)  Hosts,  pray  return,  look  from  heaven  and  see 
and  visit  this  vine.  The  expostulation  and  complaint  are  followed  by  an 
earnest  prayer.     Pray  return  is  used  to  represent  (KJ)  the  Hebrew  particle 

of  entreaty,  expressed  in  the  English  Bible  by  a  circumlocution  {we  beseech 
thee).  The  prayer  that  God  will  return,  implies  that  the  evils  just  com- 
plained of  were  occasioned  by  his  absence.  Visit,  manifest  thy  presence 
and  thy  favourable  disposition.  See  above,  on  Ps.  viii.  5  (4).  This  vine, 
Israel,  the  church  or  chosen  people,  which,  though  robbed  of  some  of  its 
luxuriant  branches,  still  hves  and  is  yet  to  bear  abundant  fruit. 

16  (15).  And  sustain  ivhat  thy  right  hand  has  planted,  and  over  the  child 
thou  hast  roared  for  thyself  (do  thou  watch,  or  extend  thy  protection).  The 
common  version  of  the  first  words  (and  the  vineyard)  is  countenanced  neither 
by  the  ancient  versions  nor  by  Hebrew  etymology  and  usage.  By  giving  it, 
as  a  verbal  form,  the  sense  of  covering,  protecting  (which  belongs  to  some 
kindred  roots),  the  over  in  the  last  clause  may  depend  upon  it,  and  no  verb 
need  in  that  case  be  suppUed.  Thy  light  hand  impUes  an  exertion  of 
strength,  and  at  the  same  time  involves  an  allusion  to  the  name  of  Benjamin 
(Son  of  the  Right  Hand),  here  perhaps  representing  the  whole  race,  on 
account  of  the  connection  of  that  tribe  with  both  the  rival  kingdoms,  its 
central  position,  its  possession  of  the  sanctuary,  and  its  historical  relation  to 
the  infant  monarchy  under  Saul  the  Benjamite.  To  complete  the  allusion, 
the  other  element  in  the  name  {]•!,  a  son)  is  then  introduced  and  metaphori- 
cally applied  to  the  vine,  which  is  still  the  Psalmist's  theme,  by  an  assimi- 
lation of  animal  and  vegetable  life  common  in  all  languages.  Reared,  literally 
strengthened,  made  strong,  i.  e.  raised,  brought  up.  See  my  note  on  Isa. 
xUv.  14.  For  thyself,  not  for  its  own  sake,  but  as  a  means  of  promoting 
the  divine  praise  and  glory. 

17  (16).  (It  is)  burnt  with  fire,  cut  (down  or  up)  ;  at  the  rebuke  of  thy 


Psalm  81:1  353 

countenance  they  perish.  The  prayer  is  intemipted  for  a  moment  by  a  new 
description  of  the  evils  which  occasioned  it.  The  first  clause  alludes  to  the 
destruction  of  vineyards  by  fire  and  steel  in  ancient  warfare,  here  recognised, 
however,  as  a  divine  judgment.  At  the  rebuke,  i.  e.  at  the  time,  and  also  as 
a  consequence  of  it.  Any  expression  of  disapprobation  and  displeasure, 
whether  by  word  or  deed,  is  a  rebuke.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxvi.  7  (6).  The 
rebuke  is  here  supposed  to  be  expressed  in  the  countenance,  a  much  more 
natural  interpretation  than  that  which  makes  ^% /ace  mean  thy  presence. 
They  perish,  those  who  had  before  been  represented  by  the  vine  transplanted 
out  of  Egypt.  The  future  form  implies  that  it  will  always  be  so,  when  God 
utters  his  rebuke. 

18  (17).  Let  thy  hand  he  on  the  man  of  thy  riyht  hand,  on  the  son  of  man 
thou  hast  reared  (or  made  strong)  for  thyself.  Here  again  the  component 
parts  of  the  name  Benjamin  are  introduced  as  parallels,  precisely  as  in  ver. 
16  (15).  The  man  of  thy  right  hand  may  either  be  the  man  whom  thy 
power  has  raised  up,  or  the  man  who  occupies  the  post  of  honour  at  thy 
right  hand.  That  the  words  were  intended  to  suggest  both  ideas,  is  a  sup- 
position perfectly  agreeable  to  Hebrew  usage.  A  more  doubtful  question 
is  that  in  reference  to  the  first  words  of  the  sentence,  let  thy  hand  be  upon 
him,  whether  this  means  in  favour  or  in  wrath.  The  only  way  in  which 
both  senses  can  be  reconciled  is  by  applying  the  words  to  the  Messiah,  as 
the  ground  of  the  faith  and  hope  expressed.  Let  thy  hand  fall  not  on  us 
but  on  our  substitute.  Compare  the  remarkably  similar  expressions  in 
Acts  V.  81. 

19  (18).  And  (then)  we  will  not  backslide  from  thee  ;  thou  wilt  quicken 
us,  and  on  thy  name  will  we  call.  Forgiveness  founded  on  atonement  is 
the  best  security  against  relapses  into  sin.  The  first  verb  is  the  one  used 
to  describe  the  general  apostasy  in  Ps.  liii.  4  (3).  Quicken,  restore  to  life, 
or  save  alive,  or  simply  make  alive.  Compare  Ps.  Ixxi.  20.  The  meaning 
of  the  last  clause  is,  thee  {alone)  xoill  we  invoke,  as  the  object  of  our  trust 
and  worship,  a  profession  involving  the  repudiation  of  all  other  gods. 

20  (19).  Jehovah,  God,  (God  of)  Hosts,  restore  us,  let  thy  face  shine,  and 
let  us  he  saved  !  While  the  prayer  in  this  verse  is  identical  with  that  in 
ver.  4  (3)  and  8  (7),  there  is  a  kind  of  climax  in  the  form  of  the  address. 
In  the  first  of  the  three  places  it  is  simply  God,  in  the  second  God  of  Hosts, 
in  the  third  and  last  Jehovah  God  of  Hosts,  as  if  to  add  to  the  general  ideas 
of  divinity  and  sovereignty  those  of  self- existence,  eternity,  and  covenant 
relation  to  his  chosen  people,  as  additional  warrants  for  the  hope  and  prayer, 
that  he  would  turn  them,  smile  upon  them,  save  them. 

Psalm  81 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  On  (or  according  to)  the  Gittith.  By  Asaph. 
For  the  probable  meaning  of  the  Gittith,  see  above  on  Ps.  viii.  1.  In  the 
absence  of  any  proof  to  the  contrary,  the  Asaph  of  this  title  must  be  assumed 
to  be  the  contemporary  of  David.  See  above,  on  Ps.  1.  1.  The  psalm 
before  us  was  probably  intended  to  be  sung  at  the  Passover,  as  it  consists 
of  an  exhortation  to  praise  God  for  the  deliverance  of  Israel  from  Egypt, 
ver.  2-8  (1-7),  a  complaint  of  their  ingratitude,  ver.  9-13  (8-12),  and  a 
glowing  picture  of  the  happy  effects  to  be  expected  from  obedience  and 
fideUty,  ver.  14-18  (13-17). 

2  (1).  Sing  aloud  unto  God  our  strength,  make  a  joyful  noise  unto  the  God 


354  Psalm  81:2 -5 

of  Jacob  I  The  first  verb  is  properly  a  causative  meaning  make  or  let 
rejoice.  See  above,  on  Ps.  kv.  9  (8),  and  compare  Deut.  xxxii.  43,  in 
which  place,  and  in  this,  it  is  commcnly  supposed  to  be  intransitive.  The 
parallel  verb  is  a  generic  term,  applied  both  to  shouting  and  the  sound  of  a 
trumpet.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xli.  12  (11),  xlvii.  2  (1).  God  our  strength, 
our  strong  protector  and  deliverer,  in  which  character  he  specially  revealed 
himself  in  the  deliverance  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  the  main  theme  or  subject 
of  this  psalm,  and  thereby  proved  himself  to  be  indeed  the  covenant  or 
tutelary  God  of  Jacob. 

8  (2).  liaise  the  song,  and  beat  the  drum,  the  sweet  harp  with  the  lute  (or 
lyre).  Beat,  literally  give,  i.  e.  give  forth  its  sound,  or  sound  it.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xlvi.  7  (6),  Ixviii.  34  (33),  Ixxvii.  18  (17).  This  is  to  be 
understood  as  a  mutual  exhortation  of  the  musicians  to  each  other  during 
the  actual  performance. 

4  (3).  Jilow,  in  the  month,  the  trumpet,  at  the  full  moon,  on  the  day  of  our 
feast.  The  month,  by  way  of  eminence,  was  the  first  month,  in  which  the 
passover  was  celebrated  (Exod.  xii.  1,2).  Here,  as  in  the  Hebrew  of  Lev. 
xxiii.  5,  the  month  is  first  named,  then  the  particular  part  of  it.  That  this 
last  was  no  imessential  circumstance,  appears  from  the  fact,  that  when  an 
extraordinary  passover  was  kept,  it  was  on  the  same  day  of  another  month 
(Nima.  ix.  9-14),  and  that  when  Jeroboam  changed  the  feast  of  tabernacles, 
he  transferred  it  to  the  same  day  of  the  eighth  month  (1  Kings  xii.  32). 
The  time  thus  selected  for  religious  observance  seems  to  have  been  that  of 
the  fall  moon.  Compare  the  original  and  marginal  translation  of  Prov. 
vii.  20.  The  day  of  our  festival  or  feast,  *".  e.  the  great  day  of  the  Passover. 
Our  feast,  if  emphatic,  is  intended  to  describe  it  as  a  distinctive  national 
solemnity.  The  continued  use  of  instrumental  music  at  this  festival  appears 
from  2  Chron.  xxx.  21. 

5  (4)i  For  a  law  to  Israel  (is)  this,  a  right  (belonging)  to  the  God  of 
Jacob.  The  observance  of  this  festival  was  not  a  mere  matter  of  usage  or 
conventional  arrangement,  but  binding  on  the  people  and  due  to  Jehovah 
as  their  God.  The  personal  pronoun  (it)  at  the  end  of  the  first  clause  is 
emphatic,  and  may  be  better  expressed  in  English  by  a  demonstrative.  A 
right,  jus,  that  to  which  he  is  rightfully  entitled. 

6  (5).  (As)  a  testimony  in  Joseph  he  set  it,  in  his  coming  out  over  the 
land  of  Egypt.  A  speech  I  knew  not  I  am  hearing.  Besides  the 'constant 
use  of  testimony  in  the  sense  of  law,  Ps.  xix.  8  (7),  Ix.  1,  Ixxviii.  6,  Ixxx.  1, 
the  word  is  appropriate,  in  its  strict  sense,  to  the  Passover,  as  a  perpetual 
memento  or  memorial  of  the  exodus  from  Egypt.  Joseph  is  here  put  for 
Israel,  on  account  of  his  pre-eminence  during  the  residence  in  Egypt  (Gen. 
xhx.  26,  Exod.  i.  8).  He  set  it,  i.  e.  God  instituted  or  ordained  the  festi- 
val. In  his  coming,  at  the  time,  or  in  the  very  act,  of  his  departure.  Over 
the  land  of  Egypt  includes  the  usual  expression,  from  or  out  of  it  (Exod. 
xxxiv.  18),  but  suggests  the  additional  ideas  of  pubUcity  and  triumph. 
Israel,  at  the  exodus,  passed  over  a  considerable  tract  of  the  Egyptian  ter- 
ritory, and  at  the  same  time,  as  it  were,  over  the  heads  of  the  humbled  and 
terrified  Egyptians.  Compare  Exod.  xiv.  8,  Num.  xxxiii.  3.  Speech, 
hteraUy  lip,  a  common  idiomatic  expression  for  dialect  or  language.  Accord- 
ing to  the  version  of  this  last  clause  above  given,  it  refers  to  the  words  of 
God  that  follow,  and  describes  the  people  as  having  then  heard  what  they 
never  heard  before.  Some  interpreters,  however,  understand  it  as  describ- 
ing the  condition  of  the  people  while  in  Egypt,  by  one  of  its  most  marked 
and  painful  circumstances,  namely,  that  they  there  resided  in  the  midst  of 


Psalm  81:6 -10  355 

a  foreign  and  by  implication  heathen  race.  This  agi-ees  better  with  the 
figurative  usage  of  Up  elsewhere,  and  is  strongly  favoured  by  the  analogy 
of  Deut.  xxviii.  49,  Jer,  v.  15,  Ps,  cxiv.  1.  Compare  my  note  on  Isa. 
xxxiii.  19.  Thus  understood,  the  clause  may  be  translated,  (where)  I 
heard  a  tongue  I  did  not  understand.  The  future  form  of  the  first  verb  has 
reference  to  the  actual'time  of  the  events,  into  which  the  speaker  here 
transports  himself. 

7  (6).  /  removed  from  the  burden  his  shoulder  ;  his  hands  from  the  basket 
escape.  The  first  verb  strictly  means  I  caused  (or  suffered)  to  depart.  The 
idea  is  borrowed  from  Exod.  vi.  6,  7.  The  specific  reference  is  no  doubt 
to  the  carrying  of  bricks  and  monar,  and  the  pot  or  basket  of  the  next 
clause  is  the  vessel  used  for  that  purpose,  the  form  of  which  has  been  found 
delineated  in  a  burial-vault  at  Thebes.     Escape,  literally  pass  away. 

8  (7).  In  distress  thou  hast  called  and  I  have  delivered  thee  ;  I  loill  [yet) 
answer  thee  in  the  secret  place  of  thunder  ;  1  will  try  thee  at  the  waters  of 
Strife.  The  secret  or  hiding  place  of  thunder  is  the  dark  cloud  charged 
with  tempest  which  overhung  mount  Sinai  at  the  giving  of  the  law  (Exod. 
XX.  18).  This  is  here  anticipated  or  predicted,  as  well  as  the  murmuring  of 
the  people  at  Meribah  (Exod.  xvii..  Num.  xx.)  as  a  signal  instance  of  their 
unbelief  and  disobedience.  Thus  understood,  the  verse  continues  the  words 
of  God  himself,  at  the  crisis  of  the  exodus.  According  to  the  other  exegeti- 
cal  hypothesis  already  mentioned,  there  is  here  a  sudden  change  of  speaker, 
and  the  future  verbs  in  this  verse  are  to  be  explained  as  historical  presents. 

9  (8).  Hear,  my  people,  and  I  will  testify  against  thee,  Israel,  if  thou 
wilt  hearken  to  me.  There  is  a  strong  resemblance  between  this  verse  and 
Ps.  1.  7.  The  conditional  particle  {if)  in  the  last  clause  is  by  some  taken 
optatively,  Oh  that  thou  wouldst  hearken,  or,  as  we  might  say  in  English,  if 
thou  wouldst  but  hearken.  As  examples  of  this  usage,  Ps.  xcv.  7,  cxxxix.  19, 
Prov.  xxiv,  11,  are  cited.  Other  interpreters  deny  its  existence  and  regard 
this  as  an  instance  of  aposiopesis,  if  thou  wilt  hearken  to  me  (thou  shalt  do 
well),  like  those  in  Exod.  xxxii.  32,  Luke  xix.  42.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xxvii.  13.  A  simpler  and  more  natural  construction  than  either  is  to  make 
this  the  condition  of  the  statement  in  the  first  clause.  "  I  will  speak,  if 
thou  wilt  hear  me." 

10  (9).  There  shall  not  be  in  thee  a  strange  god,  and  thou  shalt  not  worship 
a  foreign  god.  The  divine  name  here  used  is  the  one  denoting  power. 
"  Thou  shalt  acknowledge  no  Almighty  but  the  true  one."  The  prohibi- 
tory futures  have  a  stronger  sense  than  that  expressed  in  some  translations, 
let  there  be  no  strange  god  in  thee,  i.e.  in  the  midst  of  thee,  among  you. 
A  strange  god,  a  god  who  is  an  ahen  to  Jehovah  and  to  Israel.  Worship, 
literally  bow  down  or  prostrate  thyself.-  A  foreign  god,  a  god  of  strange- 
ness, or  belonging  to  foreign  parts,  in  other  words,  a  heathen  deity.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  45,  46  (44,  45).  The  specific  reason  here  implied  is 
that  expressed  in  Deut.  xxxii.  12.  The  general  principle  is  the  same  that 
is  propounded  in  the  first  commandment  (Exod.  xx.  3,  Deut.  v.  7). 

11  (10).  /  am  Jehovah,  thy  God,  who  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt ;  open  thy  mouth  xoide,  and  I  will  fill  it.  The  reason  of  the  precept 
in  the  foregoing  verse  is  now  explicitly  declared.  The  {one)  making  thee 
ascend,  or  causing  thee  to  come  up.  Open  thy  mouth  wide,  literally  widen 
it.  The  supply  of  food  is  here  put  for  that  of  all  necessities.  The  reason 
here  suggested  for  adhering  to  Jehovah  is,  that  He  not  only  had  delivered 
them  from  Egypt,  but  was  abundantly  able  to  provide  for  them  in  Canaan 
and  the  wilderness. 


356  Psalm81:ll-16 

12  (11).  And  my  "people  did  not  hearken  to  my  voice,  and  Israel  did  not 
consent  unto  me.  God  having  once  been  introduced  as  speaking,  the  de- 
scription of  the  subsequent  events  is  still  ascribed  to  him.  The  phrase  my 
people  is  designed  to  aggravate  the  guilt  of  their  rebellion.  My  voice  has 
special  reference  to  the  warning  in  ver.  7-11  (6-10),  supposed  to  be  uttered 
at  the  exodus  from  Egypt.  Some  interpreters,  however,  make  the  whole 
verse  a  general  description.  Consent  unto  me,  acquiesce  in  my  require- 
ments, and  agree  to  do  my  will.  The  form  of  expression  is  like  that  in 
Deut.  xiii.  9  (8). 

13  (12).  And  I  gave  them  tip  to  the  corruption  of  their  own  heart ;  they 
go  on  in  their  ovm  counsels.  The  first  verb  strictly  means  /  sent  themjorth, 
i.  e.  to  walk  in  the  corruption  of  their  own  heart.  The  word  translated 
corruption  occurs  elsewhere  only  in  Deut.  xxix.  18,  and  in  Jeremiah's  imi- 
tations of  it  (Jer.  iii.  17,  vii.  24,  ix.  13,  xi.  8).  According  to  a  Syriac 
analogy,  and  the  most  probable  Hebrew  etymology,  it  properly  means  hard- 
ness, corresponding  to  the  'Trw^ueig  of  the  New  Testament  (Mark  vii.  5,  Rom. 
xi.  25,  Eph.  iv.  18).  In  their  own  counsels,  in  the  execution  of  their  own 
evil  purposes  and  unwise  plans.  The  verb  in  the  last  clause  may  be  read 
as  a  concession  or  permission,  by  referring  the  words  to  an  anterior  point 
of  time.  "I  gave  them  up,  &c.,  (saying)  let  them  go  on  in  their  own 
counsels."  As  to  the  fearful  kind  of  retribution  here  denounced,  see 
Prov.  i.  30,  31,  Rom.  i.  24,  2  Thess.  ii.  10,  11. 

14  (13).  If  my  people  would  {but)  hearken  to  me  (and)  Israel  in  my  ways 
would  walk.  The  conditional  particle  at  the  beginning,  although  not  the 
same  with  that  in  ver.  9  (8),  is  construed  in  the  same  way,  but  with  a 
stronger  optative  meaning.  To  listen  to  God's  teaching  and  commands 
impUes  a  docile  and  obedient  spirit.  To  walk  in  his  ways  is  to  act  as  he 
approves  and  has  required. 

15  (14).  Soon  would  I  bow  dovm  their  enemies,  and  on  their  foes  bring 
lack  my  hand.  The  first  Hebrew  phrase  strictly  means  like  a  little,  but  is 
used  like  the  English  yet  a  little,  i.e.  in  a  Uttle  while.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
ii.  12,  and  compare  Ps,  Ixxiii.  2.  To  draw  back  the  hand,  in  Ps.  Ixxiv.  11, 
means  to  withdraw  or  withhold  it  from  action ;  but  in  this  connection  it 
conveys  the  opposite  idea  of  bringing  it  again  into  action,  with  specific 
reference,  as  some  suppose,  to  its  use  in  former  exigencies,  ver.  8  (7). 
The  phrase  itself  denotes  mere  action ;  the  idea  of  hostile  or  destructive 
action  is  suggested  by  the  context.     See  my  note  on  Isa.  i.  25. 

16  (15).  The  haters  of  Jehovah  should  lie  to  him,  and  their  time  should  be 
for  ever.  The  first  phrase  is  intended  to  suggest  the  consolatory  thought 
that  the  foes  of  God's  people  are  the  foes  of  God  himself.  There  is  no 
need,  therefore,  of  referring  him  to  Israel  or  my  people,  as  in  Deut. 
xxxiii.  29,  from  which  the  clause  is  borrowed.  The  plurals  before  and  after 
render  this  less  natural,  and  as  the  interests  of  God  and  his  people  are 
identical,  the  meaning  is  the  same  in  either  case.  To  lie  is  here  to  yield  a 
feigned  obedience  to  a  conqueror  or  superior  enemy.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xviii.  45  (44),  Ixvi.  3.  Their  time,  i.  e.  the  continued  existence  of  Israel 
as  the  chosen  people.     Compare  2  Sam.  vii.  24. 

17  (16).  And  he  would  feed  him  with  the  fat  of  wheat,  and  from  the  rock 
with  honey  sate  him.  The  first  verb  is  a  causative,  and  means  would  let  (or 
make)  him  eat.  The  fat  of  wheat,  its  richest  part  or  finest  quality,  another 
transfer  of  animal  attributes  to  vegetable  objects.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixxx.  16  (15).  Honey  from  the  rock,  some  suppose  to  mean  wild  honey ; 
others,  with  more  probability,  honey  suppUed  by  miracle,  like  the  water  from 


Psalm  82:]  357 

the  rock  in  the  desert.  All  these  strong  expressions  are  borrowed  from 
Deut.  xxxii.  13,  14,  and  are  imitated  likewise  in  Ps.  cxlvii.  14,  Isa.  xxxiv,  16. 
Wheat  and  honey,  by  a  natm-al  and  primitive  association,  are  here  put  for 
the  necessaries  and  the  luxuries  of  human  sustenance,  and  these  again  for 
the  highest  enjoyment  and  prosperity.  The  EngUsh  version  refers  these 
four  verses  all  to  past  time,  had  hearkened,  had  walked,  should  have  sub- 
dued, should  have  submitted,  should  have  endured,  should  have  fed,  should 
have  satisfied.  This  is  in  fact  the  true  construction  of  the  similar  passage 
in  Isa.  xlviii.  18;  but  there  the  conditional  or  optative  particle  is  construed 
with  the  preterite,  and  not  with  the  future  tense  as  here,  which  makes  an 
essential  difference  of  syntax.  See  Nordheimer's  Hebrew  Grammar, 
§  1078. 

Psalm  82 

A  BRIEF  but  pregnant  statement  of  the  responsibilities  attached  to  the 
judicial  office  under  the  Mosaic  dispensation.  After  declaring  the  relation 
which  the  judges  bore  to  God,  ver.  1,  he  rebukes  their  malversation,  ver.  2, 
and  exhorts  them  to  a  better  practice,  ver.  3,  4,  and  in  case  of  their  per- 
sistency in  evil,  ver.  5,  notwithstanding  their  acknowledged  dignity,  ver.  6, 
threatens  them  with  condign  punishment,  ver.  7,  to  which  the  church  responds 
by  praying  God  himself  to  appear  as  the  universal  judge  and  sovereign,  ver.  8. 

1.  A  Psalm.  By  Asaph.  God  stands  in  the  assembly  of  the  Mighty  ; 
in  the  midst  of  the  gods  he  judges.  There  is  no  reason  for  doubting  that 
the  Asaph  mentioned  in  this  title  was  the  Asaph  of  the  reign  of  David,  in 
whose  times  the  necessity  for  such  a  warning  must  already  have  existed,  if 
not  in  the  person  of  the  king,  who,  perhaps  on  that  account,  is  not  particu- 
larly mentioned,  yet  in  his  chiefs  or  nobles,  the  exalted  though  inferior 
magistrates  who  executed  justice  under  him.  The  judicial  appearance  of 
Jehovah  here  presented  is  like  that  in  Ps.  1. 1.  Stands,  or,  as  the  participle 
strictly  means,  (is)  standing,  stationing  himself,  assuming  his  position. 
The  word  translated  assembly  is  one  commonly  applied  to  the  congregation 
of  Israel,  as  an  organised  whole  or  body  poHtic.  See  Exod.  xii.  3,  xvi.  1, 
Lev.  iv.  15,  Num.  xxvii.  17.  Mighty  is  singular,  not  plural,  in  Hebrew, 
being  one  of  the  divine  names  Oii),  and  qualifies  the  congregation  or  assem- 
bly as  belonging  to  God  himself,  i.  e.  instituted  by  him,  and  held  under  his 
authority.  The  parallel  expression,  in  the  midst  of  the  gods,  superadds  to 
this  idea  an  aUusion  to  a  singular  usage  of  the  Pentateuch,  according  to  which 
the  theocratical  magistrates,  as  mere  representatives  of  God's  judicial  sove- 
reignty, are  expressly  called  Elohim,  the  plural  form  of  which  is  peculiarly 
well  suited  to  this  double  sense  or  appUcation.  See  Exod.  xxi.  6,  xxii.  7,  8 
(8,  9),  and  compare  Deut.  i.  17,  xix.  17,  2  Chron.  xix.  6.  Even  reverence 
to  old  age  seems  to  be  required  on  this  principle  (Lev.  xix.  32),  and  obe- 
dience to  parents  in  the  fifth  commandment  (Exod.  xx.  12),  which  really 
apphes  to  all  the  offices  and  powers  of  the  patriarchal  system,  a  system 
founded  upon  natural  relations,  and  originating  in  a  simple  extension  of 
domestic  or  parental  government,  in  which  the  human  head  represents  the 
original  and  universal  parent  or  progenitor.  The  remarkable  use  of  the 
name  God  in  Exodus,  above  referred  to,  is  concealed  from  the  reader  of  the 
English  Bible,  by  the  arbitrary  use  of  the  word  judges,  as  a  translation  of 
the  Hebrew,  which  of  course  it  cannot  be.  He  judges,  will  judge,  is  about 
to  jadge.     The  idea  is,  that  as  the  judges  were  gods  to  other  men,  so  he 


358  Psalm  82:2 -6 

would  be  a  judge  to  them.     Compare  Isa.  iii.  13-15,  Micah  iii.  1-4,  Jer. 
xxii.  1—4. 

2.  How  long  will  ye  judge  wrong ^  and  tlie  faces  of  wicked  men  accept? 
Selah.  The  question  implies  that  they  had  done  so  long  enough,  nay,  too 
long,  since  it  was  wrong  from  the  beginning.  Wrong,  in  the  strongest 
moral  sense,  injustice,  wickedness.  Wrong,  in  Hebrew  as  in  English,  may 
be  construed  either  as  an  adverb  or  a  novm,  or  both,  i.  e.  as  a  noun  adverbi- 
ally used  to  qualify  the  verb.  See  the  similar  construction  of  its  counter- 
part or  converse,  Ps.  Iviii.  2  (1).  The  last  clause  exemplies  one  of  the 
most  peculiar  Hebrew  idioms.  The  combination  usually  rendered  respect 
persons  in  the  English  Bible,  and  applied  to  judicial  partiality,  means  lite- 
rally to  take  (or  take  up)  faces.  Some  suppose  this  to  mean  the  raising  of 
the  countenance,  or  causing  to  look  up  from  deep  dejection.  But  the  highest 
philological  authorities  are  now  agreed,  that  the  primary  idea  is  that  of 
accepting  one  man's  face  or  person  rather  than  another's,  the  precise  form 
of  expression,  though  obscure,  being  probably  derived  from  the  practice  of 
admitting  suitors  to  confer  with  governors  or  rulers  face  to  face,  a  privilege 
which  can  sometimes  only  be  obtained  by  bribes,  especially  though  not  ex- 
clusively in  oriental  courts.  The  Selah  commends  the  implied  charge  of 
official  malversation  to  the  serious  reflection  of  the  accused  parties. 

3.  Judge  the  weak  and  fatherless,  (to)  the  sufferer  and  the  poor  do  justice. 
The  indirect  censure  of  their  evil  deeds  is  followed  by  a  dii-ect  exhortation 
to  do  well.  Compare  Isa.  i.  16,  17.  The  verb  of  the  first  clause  is  ex- 
plained by  that  of  the  second,  which  is  a  technical  forensic  term,  meaning 
to  make  innocent  or  righteous,  i.  e.  to  recognise  or  declare  as  such  by  a 
judicial  act.  See  Exod.  xxiii.  7,  Deut.^xxv.  1,  and  compare  2  Sam.  xv.  4, 
Isa.  V.  23,  1.  8.  The  word  translated  weak  is  appUed  to  the  defect  of  bodily 
strength  and  of  property  or  substance.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xli.  2  (1).  It 
is  used  by  Moses  in  the  same  connection,  Exod.  xxiii.  3.  The  fatherless 
or  orphans  are  continually  spoken  of,  as  proper  objects  both  of  mercy  and  of 
justice.  See  above,  on  Ps.  x.  14,  Ixviii.  6  (5),  and  compare  Exod.  xxii. 
21  (22).  The  word  translated  poor  seems  strictly  to  denote  one  who  has 
grown  poor  or  become  impoverished.  See  the  verbal  root  in  Ps.  xxxiv. 
11  (10). 

4.  Deliver  the  weak  and  the  needy  (man),  from  the  hand  of  icicked  (men) 
free  (him).  The  first  verb  means  originally  to  suffer  or  cause  to  escape  ; 
the  second  to  extricate  or  disembarrass.  From  the  hand  of  the  wicked  im- 
plies from  their  power,  as  actually  exercised  for  coercion.  The  structure 
of  the  sentence  may  be  made  more  regular  by  disregarding  the  pause- accent 
and  attaching  the  needy  to  the  last  clause,  and  the  poor  from  the  hand  of  the 
wicked  set  free. 

5.  They  know  not  and  they  will  not  understand;  in  darkness  they  will 
(still)  walk  ;  shaken  are  all  the  foundations  of  earth.  This  is  the  Lord's 
complaint  of  their  incorrigible  ignorance  and  indocility,  which  rendered  even 
his  divine  instructions  unavailing.  The  object  of  the  first  verbs  is  sug- 
gested by  the  context,  as  in  Ps.  xiv.  4.  What  they  did  not  know  and  would 
not  understand  was  their  judicial  duty  and  responsibility,  the  end  for  which 
they  were  invested  with  authority.  Darkness  is  a  figure  both  for  ignorance 
and  wickedness.  See  Prov.  ii.  13.  The  denial  or  perversion  of  justice  is 
described  as  disorganising  society.  Compare  the  figures  in  Ps.  xi.  3, 
Ixxv.  4  (3). 

6.  I  have  said,  Gods  (are)  ye,  and  sons  of  the  Highest  all  of  you.  Their 
sin  did  not  consist  in  arrogating  to  themselves  too  high  a  dignity,  but  in 


Psalm  82:7,  8  359 

abusing  it  by  malversation,  and  imagining  that  it  relieved  them  from  respon- 
sibility, whereas  it  really  enhanced  it.  They  were  God's  representatives, 
but  for  that  very  reason  they  were  bound  to  be  pre-eminently  just  and 
faithful.  I  have  said,  not  merely  to  myself  or  in  secret,  but  in  my  law ; 
referring  to  the  passages  in  Exodus  already  cited.  See  above,  on  ver  1. 
Ye  are  gods,  or  God,  i.e.  ye  occupy  his  place  and  are  entrusted  with  his 
honour  as  a  just  and  holy  God.  The  pregnant  significancy  of  the  plural 
form  is  here  the  same  as  in  ver.  1  above.  The  parallel  expression,  sons  of 
the  Most  High,  denotes  the  closest  and  most  intimate  relation  to  Jehovah, 
as  the  Supreme  or  Sovereign  God.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  7.  This  verse  is 
cited  by  our  Lord  (John  x.  34,  35),  to  shew  that  if  the  divine  name  had 
been  appUed  by  God  to  mere  men,  there  could  be  neither  blasphemy  nor 
folly  in  its  application  to  the  incarnate  Son  of  God  himself. 

7.  (Yet)  verily  like  mankind  shall  ye  die,  and  like  one  of  the  princes  shall 
ye  fall.  Our  idiom  requires  an  adversative  particle  at  the  beginning,  to 
bring  out  the  antithetical  relation  of  the  sentences.  But  the  first  word  in 
Hebrew  is  properly  a  particle  of  strong  asseveration,  certainly,  assuredly. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxi.  23  (22),  and  compare  my  note  on  Isa.  lui.  4.  Like 
mankind,  or  rnen  collectively,  or  like  a.  man  indefinitely,  i.  e.  any  other  man. 
So  in  the  other  clause,  like  one  of  the  princes,  i.  e.  any  other  prince,  or 
person  holding  an  exalted  station.  The  clauses  constitute  a  climax.  The 
first  merely  describes  them  as  sharers  in  the  general  mortality  of  man.  The 
second  threatens  them  with  death,  i.  e.  violent  or  untimely  death,  as  a 
special  punishment.  Ye  shall  fall,  by  the  sword  (Jer.  xxxix.  18),  or  in 
some  analogous  manner.  The  verb  is  often  absolutely  used  in  this  way  to 
denote  a  violent  and  penal  loss  of  life.  See  above,  Ps.  xx.  9  (8),  and 
below,  Ps.  xci.  7,  and  compai'e  Exod.  xix.  21,  Jer.  viii,  12.  The  general 
meaning  of  this  verse,  when  taken  in  connection  with  the  one  before  it,  is 
that  notwithstanding  their  exalted  dignity,  bestowed  and  recognised  by  God 
himself,  they  were  not  thereby  exempted  from  the  common  mortality  of 
men,  nor  even  from  those  signal  and  destructive  strokes,  with  which  God 
often  visits  men  as  highly  favoured  and  exalted  as  themselves. 

8.  Arise,  0  God,  judge  the  ea 7-th;  for  thou  art  to  possess  all  nations. 
This  is  not,  as  come  interpreters  suppose,  a  mere  wish  that  God  would  do 
what  he  had  just  threatened  ;  for  this  would  make  the  psalm  end  with  a 
feeble  anti-climax.  It  is  rather  a  petition  that,  since  the  representative  or 
delegated  judges  had  proved  so  unfaithful,  God  would  appear  in  person  and 
reclaim  the  powers  which  had  been  so  wickedly  abused.  And  this  he  is 
besought  to  do,  not  only  in  Israel,  where  the  proximate  occasion  of  the 
prayer  was  furnished,  but  throughout  the  earth,  over  all  whose  nations  he 
possessed,  and  was  one  day  to  make  good,  the  same  hereditary  right,  i.  e. 
a  right  continuing  unchanged  through  all  successive  generations. 

Psalm  83 

1.  A  Song.  A  Psalm.  Py  Asaph.  To  the  general  description  (mimor), 
there  is  here  prefixed  a  more  specific  one  {shir),  which  designates  the  com- 
position as  a  song  of  praise  or  triumph.  The  same  combination  occurs 
above,  in  the  title  of  Ps.  xlviii.,  a  composition  which,  as  we  have  there  seen, 
was  probably  occasioned  by  the  victory  of  Jehoshaphat  over  the  Moabites, 
Ammonites,  and  their  confederates,  as  described  in  2  Chron.  xx.  This 
agrees  well  with  the  hypothesis,  conclusively  maintained  by  Hengstenberg, 


360  Psalm  83:1 -4 

that  the  psalm  before  us  has  relation  to  the  same  event,  and  that  as  the 
forty- seventh  was  probably  sung  upon  the  field  of  battle,  and  the  forty- 
eighth  after  the  triumphant  return  to  Jerusalem,  so  the  eighty-third  was  com- 
posed in  confident  anticipation  of  the  victory.  The  points  of  agreement 
with  the  history  will  be  indicated  in  the  exposition  of  the  several  verses. 
After  a  general  petition  for  divine  help,  ver.  2  (1),  follows  a  description  of 
the  violence,  craft,  destructive  purpose,  and  extensive  combination  of  the 
enemies  of  Judah,  ver.  3-9  (2-8),  and  then  an  earnest  prayer  for  the  re- 
newal of  God's  ancient  deeds  in  similar  emergencies,  ver.  10-15  (9-14), 
•with  a  view  to  the  promotion  of  his  glory  in  the  destruction  of  his  irrecon- 
cilable enemies,  ver.  16-19  (15-18).  According  to  the  view  of  the  his- 
torical occasion  above  given,  the  Asaph  of  the  title  must  denote  some 
descendant  of  the  ancient  seer,  as  it  seems  to  do  in  several  of  the  preceding 
psalms.  Now  it  happens,  by  a  singular  coincidence,  that  in  the  history 
(2  Chron.  xx.  14),  such  a  descendant  is  particularly  mentioned,  Jahaziel, 
upon  whom  the  Spii'it  of  the  Lord  came  in  the  midst  of  the  assembly,  and 
prompted  him  to  take  a  leading  part  in  the  preliminary  movements  which 
resulted  in  the  triumph  of  Judah  (ib.  ver.  15-18).  Compare  the  similar 
coincidence  in  reference  to  the  Sons  of  Korah,  as  the  authors  of  Ps.  xlviii. 
p.  213. 

2  (1).  0  God,  he  not  silent,  hold  not  thy  peace,  and  be  not  still,  0  Mighty 
(One)  !  This  is  a  general  introductory  petition,  that  God  would  not  remain 
inactive  and  indifferent  to  the  dangers  which  environed  his  own  people. 
The  peculiar  form  of  expression  in  the  first  clause,  let  there  not  [be)  silence 
to  thee,  is  copied  by  Isaiah  (Ixii.  6,  7).  The  next  phrase  is  one  that  has 
occurred  repeatedly  before.  See  Ps.  xxviii.  1,  xxxv.  22,  xxxix.  13  (12). 
The  third  petition,  be  not  still  or  quiet,  rest  not,  has  the  same  relation  to  act 
that  the  others  have  to  w^ord  or  speech.     The  use  of  this  divine  name  (7^<) 

involves  an  appeal  to  God's  omnipotence,  as  furnishing  a  reason  for  his  in- 
terference. Why  should  He  who  is  Almighty  remain  silent  and  inactive, 
when  his  people  are  in  danger  and  his  enemies  apparently  triumphant  ? 

3  (2).  For  lo,  thine  enemies  roar,  and  thy  haters  raise  the  head.  The 
general  prayer  in  the  preceding  verse  is  now  enforced  by  a  description  of  the 
danger,  beginning  with  the  violence  and  confidence  of  the  assailants.  The 
lo  is  equivalent  to  see  there,  and  converts  the  passage  into  a  description  of  a 
present  scene.  The  enemies  of  Israel  are,  as  usual,  identified  with  those 
of  God,  as  a  reason  why  he  should  appear  for  their  destruction.  The  first 
verb  means  to  make  a  noise,  and  is  applied  to  the  roar  of  the  sea  in  Ps. 
xlvi.  4  (3),  as  it  is  to  the  howl  of  dogs  in  Ps.  lix.  7  (6),  and  to  internal 
commotions  in  Ps.  xxxix.  7  (6),  xlii.  6,  12  (5,  11).  Lift  up  the  head,  as  a 
natural  indication  of  confidence  and  triumph.  Compare  the  description  of 
a  conquered  people,  Judges  viii.  28. 

4  (3).  Against  thy  people  they  take  crafty  counsel,  and  consult  against 
thy  hidden  ones.  To  the  qualities  of  violence  and  arrogance,  the  descrip- 
tion now  adds  that  of  treacherous  cunning.  The  construction  in  the  first 
clause  is,  they  make  (their)  considtation  crafty.  For  the  meaning  of  the 
Hebrew  noun  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  14,  Iv.  15  (14),  Ixiv.  3  (2).  Thy 
hidden  ones,  those  whom  thou  hast  hidden  for  safe-keeping,  the  objects  of 
thy  merciful  protection.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  5,  xxxi.  21  (20). 

5  (4).  They  have  said,  Come  and  let  us  destroy  them  from  (being)  a  nation^ 
and  let  not  the  name  of  Israel  be  remembered  any  more.  Not  only  were  they 
turbulent  and  confident  and  crafty,  but  malignant  and  determined  to  de- 
stroy.   The  past  tense  of  the  first  verb  represents  the  combination  as  already 


Psalm  83:5-11  361 

formed.  The  idiomatic  phrase,  from  a  nation,  is  used  more  than  once  by 
Isaiah  (vii.  8,  xxiii.  1).  The  expression  for  complete  extirpation  in  the  last 
clause  is  borrowed  from  the  curse  on  Amalek,  Exod.  xvii,  14.  Israel,  as 
the  name  of  the  chosen  people,  was  rightfully  claimed  by  Judah  after  the 
great  schism,  even  while  the  rival  kingdom  still  existed. 

6  (5).  Fur  they  have  consulted  heartily  together;  against  thee  a  covenant 
they  ratify.  The  word  translated  heartily  is  really  a  noun  meaning  heart, 
but  here  used  to  quaUfy  the  verb  by  adding  the  idea,  with  the  heart,  ex 
animo,  cordially,  heartily.  The  phrase  rendered  one  heart  in  1  Chron. 
xii.  38,  is  altogether  different.  For  the  meaning  of  the  last  verb,  see  above, 
on  Ps.  1.  5.  The  preterite  and  future  tense  represent  the  combination  as 
already  formed  and  still  continued. 

7  (6).  The  tents  of  Edam  and  the  Ishmaelites,  Moab  and  the  Hagarenes. 
The  use  of  the  word  tents  does  not  necessarily  imply  a  wandering  mode  of 
life,  as  it  may  mean  military  tents,  or  be  a  figure  for  dwellings.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  67,  and  compare  Judges  vii.  8,  1  Kings  xii.  16.  The  Ish- 
maelites inhabited  a  part  of  Desert  Arabia  (Gen.  xxv.  18),  as  did  also  the 
Hagarenes  or  Hagarites,  a  people  driven  from  their  lands  by  the  tribe  of 
Simeon  in  the  reign  of  Saul.  See  1  Chron.  v.  10,  19-22,  and  compare 
1  Chron.  xi.  38,  xxvii.  31. 

8  (7).  Gebal  and  Amnion  and  Amalek,  Philistia  uith  the  inhabitants  of 
Tyre.  Gebal  was  probably  a  part  of  Idumea.  Ammon  and  Amalek  are 
joined  in  the  same  manner,  Judges  iii.  13,  as  Philistia  and  Tyre  are,  Ezek. 
xxxviii.  13,  and  Phihstia,  Tyre,  and  Edom,  Amos  i.  6-10. 

9  (8).  Also  Assyria  was  joined  with  them.  (These)  were  an  arm  to  the 
Sons  of  Lot.  Selah.  Assyria  is  put  last,  as  the  remotest  and  least  interested 
in  this  combination  against  Judah.  It  had  evidently  not  yet  supplanted 
Babylonia  as  the  dominant  power  of  Western  Asia.  The  last  clause  refers, 
not  merely  to  Assyria,  as  the  plural  verb  shews,  but  to  all  the  confederates 
except  the  Sons  of  Lot,  i.  e.  Moab  and  Ammon  (Gen.  xix.  37,  38),  who  are 
here  referred  to,  as  the  authors  and  conductors  of  the  expedition. 

10  (9).  Do  to  them  as  (thou  didst)  to  Midian,  as  (to)  Suera,  as  {to)  Jabin, 
in  the  valley  of  the  Kishon.  This  is  a  prayer  for  such  deliverances  as  Israel 
experienced  of  old.  The  examples  here  selected  are  the  victory  of  Gideon 
over  the  Midianites  (Judges  vii.  viii.),  and  that  of  Deborah  and  Barak  over 
Jabin  and  Sisera  (Judges  iv.  v.)  Between  the  first  of  these  and  the  event 
which  the  psalm  before  us  was  designed  to  celebrate,  there  was  this  remark- 
able resemblance,  that  the  enemies  of  Israel  were  in  both  cases  made  to 
destroy  each  other  (Judges  vii.  22,  2  Chron.  xx.  23).  Compare  the  allu- 
sions to  the  same  event  in  Isa.  ix.  4  (3),  Hab.  iii.  7.  The  Kishon  is 
repeatedly  mentioned  in  the  history  of  Deborah  and  Barak's  triumph 
(Judges  iv.  7,  13,  v.  21). 

11  (10).  They  were  destroyed  at  Endor,  they  were  dung  to  the  earth. 
This  refers  to  the  second  of  the  battles  mentioned  in  the  preceding  verse. 
Endor  is  not  expressly  named  in  the  history,  but  is  known  to  have  been  in 
the  vicinity  of  Tabor,  which  is  repeatedly  there  mentioned  (Judges  iv.  6, 
12,  14).  The  last  clause  derives  illustration  from  the  extraordinary  fruit- 
fulness  of  certain  battle-fields  in  modem  times,  particularly  that  of  Water- 
loo.    Compare  2  Kings  ix.  37,  Jer.  ix.  21  (22). 

12  (11).  Make  them,  (even)  their  nobles,  like  Oreh  and  like  Zeeb ;  and 
like  Zebah  and  like  Zalmunnah  all  their  princes.  He  asks  not  only  that  the 
masses  of  the  enemy  may  fare  hke  those  of  Midian,  but  that  their  chief 
men  may  be  utterly  destroyed  as  the  kings  and  chiefs  of  Midian  were  by 


362  Psalm  83:12  -  18 

Gideon,  See  Judges  vii.  25,  viii.  5-21.  The  appeal  to  the  historical 
associations  of  the  people  is  greatly  strengthened  by  this  recital  of  familiar 
names.  The  first  word  properly  means  set  or  place  them,  i.  e.  put  them  in 
the  same  condition. 

13  (12).  Who  have  said,  let  us  inherit  for  ourselves  the  dwellings  {or pasture- 
grounds)  of  God.  This  relates  not  to  the  former  but  to  the  present  enemies 
of  Israel,  and  assigns  the  reason  why  they  should  experience  the  same  fate 
with  their  predecessors.  The  double  meaning  of  the  word  translated  dwell- 
ings makes  it  peculiarly  descriptive  of  the  Holy  Land,  where  God  dwelt 
with  his  people,  and  where  he  fed  them  as  a  shepherd.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xxiii.  3,  Ixv.  13  (12),  kxiv.  20. 

14  (13).  My  God,  make  them  like  the  whirling  chaff  before  the  wind. 
Make  them,  hteraUy  place  them,  as  in  ver.  11.  Like  the  whirling  chaff, 
literally  like  the  whirl  (or  whirlwind),  like  the  chaff.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixxvii.  19  (18),  and  compare  Isa.  xvii.  13. 

15  (14).  As  fire  consumes  a  forest,  and  as  a  fame  kindles  mountains. 
The  original  construction  is  like  a  fire  (which)  consumes,  like  a  flame  (which) 
kindles.  By  mountains  we  are  here  to  understand  what  covers  them  or 
grows  upon  them. 

16  (15).  So  wilt  thou  pursue  them  xoith  thy  storm,  and  with  thy  tempest 
scare  them.  There  is  no  need  of  translating  these  futures  as  imperatives. 
It  is  one  of  those  cases,  so  frequent  in  Hebrew,  and  especially  in  this 
book,  where  the  form  of  direct  petition  alternates  with  that  of  confident 
anticipation. 

17  (16).  Fill  their  face  vnth  shame,  and  (men)  will  seek  thy  name,  Jeho- 
vah !  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  Ixix.  8  (7),  Ixxxix.  46  (46).  Some 
refer  the  last  clause  also  to  the  enemies  ;  but  their  destruction  is  stiU  anti- 
cipated in  the  next  verse,  and  to  seek  the  name  of  God  can  hardly  be 
expressive  of  a  compulsory  humiliation.  The  word  translated  shame  is  very 
strong,  and  means  contempt,  disgrace,  or  ignominy. 

18  (17).  They  shall  be  shamed  and  terror-stricken  to  eternity,  and  blush  and 
perish.  This  no  doubt  includes  a  prayer  or  the  expression  of  a  wish,  but 
it  also  includes  a  strong  and  confident  anticipation.  To  discard  the  future 
form  is  therefore  at  the  same  time  weakening  to  the  sense  and  destructive 
of  a  characteristic  feature  of  the  language.  With  the  first  clause  compare 
Ps.  vi.  11  (10).  The  word  translated  terror-stricken  is  the  same  that  was 
rendered  scared  in  ver.  16  (15).    See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  5,  vi.  4  (3),  xlviii.  6  (5). 

19  (18).  And  (men)  shall  know  that  thou,  whose  name  (/s)  Jehovah,  (art) 
alone  Most  High  over  all  the  earth.  The  reference  here,  as  in  ver.  17  (16), 
is  not  to  the  impression  made  upon  the  minds  of  those  destroyed,  but  upon 
men  in  general  considered  as  spectators  of  their  fate.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
lix.  14  (13),  and  compare  1  Sam.  xvii.  46,  2  Kings  xix.  19,  Isa.  xxxvii. 
16,  20.  The  original  construction  is  pecuHar  :  "  they  shall  know  that  thou 
— thy  name  Jehovah — thou  alone — art  Most  High  over  all  the  earth."  The 
simple  pronoun  t.hoii  is  explained  and  amplified  by  the  addition  of  the  words, 
thy  name  Jehovah,  i.  e.  thou  who  hast  revealed  thyself  already  as  the  self- 
existent  and  eternal  God,  and  as  the  coa  onant  God  of  Israel. 


Psalm  84 

1.   To  the  Chief  Musician .     On  [ov  according  to)  the  Giitith.     By  [or for) 
the  Sons  of  Korah.     The  Psalmist  celebrates  the  blessedness  of  intimate 


Psalm  84:1 -3  363 

communion  with  God,  ver  2-8  (1-7),  and  prays  that  he  may  himself  enjoy 
it,  ver.  9-13  (8-12).  The  resemblance  of  this  psalm,  in  subject,  tone,  and 
spirit,  to  Ps.  xlii.,  is  the  more  remarkable  because  each  stands  at  the  be- 
ginning of  a  series  inscribed  to  the  Sons  of  Korah.  The  experience  here 
recorded  is  so  evidently  David's,  that  we  must  either  understand  the  Sons 
of  Korah  to  be  mentioned  merely  as  the'  musical  performers,  or  suppose 
that  they  composed  it  to  express  the  feelings  of  the  king  himself,  a  hypo- 
thesis which  Hengstenberg  illustrates  by  the  case  of  David  playing  and 
singing  before  Saul,  in  order  to  alleviate  his  paroxysms  of  madness.  For 
the  arguments  on  both  sides  of  the  question,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  1,  and 
for  the  meaning  oi  the  Gittith,  on  Ps.  viii.  1,  Ixxxi.  1. 

2  (1).  How  dear  (to  me  are)  thy  dwellmgs,  O  Jehovah,  (God  of)  Hosts! 
The  adjective  is  rendered  by  the  Enghsh  versions  aviiahle,  in  the  sense  of 
the  French  aimahle,  lovely.  But  the  usage  of  the  Hebrew  word  requires  it 
to  be  understood  as  meaning  dear,  beloved,  which  is  exactly  the  idea  here 
required  by  the  context.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlv.  1.  The  plural  divellhigs 
has  reference  to  the  subdivisions  and  appurtenances  of  the  sanctuary,  and  is 
apphed  to  the  tabernacle  in  Ps.  xliii.  3.  Compare  Ps.  Ixviii.  36  (35).  The 
divine  titles  are  as  usual  significant.  While  one  suggests  the  covenant 
relation  between  God  and  the  petitioner,  the  other  makes  his  sovereignty 
the  ground  of  a  prayer  for  his  protection.  The  force  of  this  impassioned 
exclamation  is  enhanced  by  the  structure  of  the  sentence,  which  consists  of 
a  single  clause,  like  Ps.  xviii.  2  (1).  With  the  whole  verse  compare  Ps. 
xxvii.  1-5, 

3  (2.)  Longs  and  also  faints  my  soul  for  the  courts  of  Jehovah,  my  heart 
and  my  flesh  ;  they  sing  (with  joy)  unto  the  living  God.  The  first  verb  is 
expressive  of  intense  desire,  as  in  Ps.  xvii.  12.  Compare  Gen.  xxxi.  30. 
Instead  of  and  also  the  English  Bible  has  yea  even,  which  is  perhaps  too 
strong,  and  indicates  a  climax  not  intended  by  the  writer.  Faints,  fails, 
or  is  consumed  with  strong  desire.  The  plural  courts,  i.  e.  enclosures,  is  to 
be  explained  like  dwellings  in  ver.  2  (1).  Solomon's  temple  had  two  courts  ; 
but  one  was  appropriated  to  the  priests,  2  Chron.  iv.  9.  The  courts  of 
the  tabernacle  are  mentioned  as  the  place  where  God  statedly  communed 
with  Israel.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixv.  5  (4),  and  below,  on  Ps.  xcii.  14  (13). 
They  are  here  mentioned  merely  as  a  sign  of  the  communion  itself,  which 
might  be  enjoyed  in  any  place  whatever.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  4,  xxxvi.  9. 
Soul,  heart,  and  flesh,  denote  the  whole  man.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixiii.  2  (1). 
The  Hebrew  accents  connect  heart  and  flesh  with  the  preceding  words.  A 
much  more  natural  division  is  the  common  one,  which  construes  them 
directly  with  the  verb  of  the  last  clause.  That  verb  elsewhere  always  denotes 
a  joyM  shout  or  song  ;  but  the  derivative  noon  (Hi)"))  is  used  to  signify  a 

cry  for  help  or  earnest  prayer,  which  meaning  some  attach  to  the  verb  itself 
in  this  place,  so  as  to  make  the  clauses  strictly  parallel.  If  the  usual  mean- 
ing of  the  verb  be  here  retained,  the  clause  shews  that  the  speaker  had 
already  experienced  that  for  which  he  prays.  The  living  God,  really  exist- 
ing, 'and  the  giver  of  life  to  others.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  3  (2). 

4  (3).  Yes,  the  sparrow  has  found  a  home,  and  the  swallow  a  nest,  (in) 
which  she  lays  her  young,  even  thine  altars,  Jehovah,  (God)  rf  Hosts,  my 
King  and  my  God.  The  first  word  properly  means  also,  as  in  the  preced- 
ing verse,  and  is  by  some  translated  even,  as  if  he  had  said,  "  the  very 
birds  have  nests  in  the  sanctuary  of  God,  while  I  am  excluded  from  it." 
Compare  Mat.  viii.  20.  But  the  fact  thus  alleged  is  highly  improbable 
and  nowhere  recorded.     A  more  natural  interpretation  is  to  make  the  spar- 


364  Psalm  84:4 -6 

row  and  the  swallow  (put  for  small  and  helpless  birds  in  general)  emblems  of 
the  worshipper  himself.  As  if  he  had  said,  yes,  this  wandering  bird  has  at 
last  found  a  resting-place,  or  home,  both  for  itself  and  for  its  young.  That 
this  is  perfectly  in  keeping  with  Davidic  usage,  is  plain  from  1  Sam.  xxvi.  20, 
Ps.  xi.  1,  Iv.  7  (6),  Ivi.  1.  The  translation  even  thine  altars  supposes  the 
Hebrew  particle  (PX)  to  indicate  the  object  of  the  verb,  as  it  does  before 
the  same  noun  in  1  Kings  xix.  10,  14.  It  may,  however,  be  a  proposition 
meaning  at  or  near,  and  this  sense  is  preferred  by  those  interpreters  who 
suppose  a  literal  nestling  of  the  birds  in  the  sanctuary  to  be  here  alluded 
to.  The  altars  meant  are  those  of  burnt-offering  and  of  incense,  as  in 
Num.  iii.  31.  They  are  particularly  mentioned,  because  it  was  by  means 
of  sacrifice  and  prayer  that  communion  between  God  and  man  was  possible. 
Compare  Ps.  xxvi.  6.  The  young  birds  are  introduced,  not  only  to  com- 
plete the  picture,  but  to  shew  that  the  communion  and  divine  protection, 
which  the  Psalmist  so  highly  valued,  were  not  merely  personal  but  domestic 
and  social  privileges,  which  he  desired  both  for  himself  and  those  dependent 
on  him.  The  address,  Jehovah  (God)  of  [lasts,  has  the  same  sense  as  in 
ver.  2  (1).  The  same  essential  notions  of  supremacy  and  covenant  relation 
are  conveyed  by  the  parallel  expression,  my  King  and  my  God,  a  combina- 
tion which  occurs  only  here  and  in  Ps.  v.  3  (2). 

5  (4).  Happy  the  dwellers  in  thy  house,  (for)  still  they  praise  thee  (or  will 
praise  thee).  The  first  phrase  is  the  idiomatic  one  with  which  the  book 
begins,  for  the  peculiar  form  and  sense  of  which,  see  above  on  Ps.  i.  1, 
ii.  12,  xxxii.  1,  2,  xxxiii.  12,  xli.  2  (1).  Dtoellers  in,  inhabitants  of,  thy 
house,  i.  e.  members  of  thy  family,  as  the  same  words  literally  mean  in 
Jer.  XX.  5.  For  the  spiritual  or  figurative  meaning,  see  above,  on  Ps. 
XV.  1,  xxiii.  6,  xxiv.  3,  xxvii.  4,  Ixi.  5  (4),  Ixv.  5  (4).  The  privilege  thus 
described  might  be  enjoyed  in  any  local  situation  ;  but  the  outward  sign  of 
it,  under  the  old  economy,  was  the  frequenting  of  the  sanctuary.  As  in- 
mates, not  mere  visitors,  they  will  still  have  occasion  and  opportunity  of 
doing  what  they  do  when  first  admitted  into  God's  household.  They  vjill 
still  praise,  because  they  will  have  renewed  cause  so  to  do.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  V.  8  (7),  1.  15,  23,  Ixxix.  13. 

6  (5).  Happy  the  wan  who  (has)  strength  in  thee,  (who  hB,ve)  highways  in 
their  heart.  The  original  consists  of  several  exclamations  or  ejaculations — 
happy  man  ! — (there  is)  strength  to  him  in  thee ! — (there  are)  highways  in 
their  heart  ?  This  last  unusual  and  obscure  expression  is  supposed  by 
some  to  mean,  in  whose  thoughts,  (or  affections)  are  the  highways  to 
Jerusalem,  i.  e.  who  still  think  of  going  up  to  worship  there.  But  another 
explanation,  which  agrees  far  better,  both  with  the  immediate  context  and 
with  usage  and  analogy,  supposes  the  figure  to  be  identical  with  that  in  Ps. 
I.  23,  Prov.  xvi.  17,  Isa.  xl.  3,  4,  where  the  removal  of  all  moral  or 
spiritual  hindrances  to  God's  revisiting  his  .-people  and  communing  with 
them,  is  poetically  represented  as  the  opening,  levelUng,  and  raising  of  a 
causeway  through  a  pathless  wilderness  or  otherwise  impracticable  ground. 
The  word  translated  highways  is  determined,  both  by  etymology  and  usage, 
to  denote  not  a  mere  beaten  track  or  footpath,  but  a  road  artificially  con- 
structed, and  raised  above  the  level  of  the  ground  through  which  it  passes. 
The  sudden  change  of  number  in  the  last  clause  shews  that  man  is  a  gene- 
ric or  collective  term. 

7  (6).  Passing  through  the  Vale  of  Tears,  a  spring  they  make  it ;  also 
with  blessings  is  the  teacher  clothed.  This  is  one  of  the  obscurest  verses  in 
the  book.     Interpreters,  however,  are  now  commonly  agreed  as  to  the  first 


Psalm  84:7 -10  365 

clause.  The  explanation  of  Baca,  as  meaning  the  Valley  of  Mulberry  or 
Baca-trees  (2  Sam.  v.  23,  24,  1  Chron.  xiv.  13, 14),  is  nowvery  commonly 
abandoned  for  the  one  given  in  the  ancient  versions,  the  Vale  of  Weeping 
or  of  Sorrow,  a  beautiful  poetical  description  of  the  present  life  as  one  of 
suffering.  To  the /cms  lacrymarum  is  opposed  the  fountain  of  salvation  or 
of  joy,  a  figure  so  familiar  in  the  Scriptures,  as  to  be  readily  suggested  by 
the  one  word  spring  or  fountain.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  10  (9), 
xlvi.  5  (4),  and  compare  Isa.  xii.  3.  The  meaning  of  the  clause,  as  thus 
explained,  is,  that  the  persons  pronounced  happy  in  the  foregoing  verse  are 
a  source  of  happiness,  and  convert  the  very  Vale  of  Tears  into  a  fountain  of 
deUght.  The  meaning  of  the  other  clause  is  still  disputed.  As  the  first 
noun,  by  varying  a  single  vowel-point,  may  mean  either  pools  or  blessings^ 
and  the  next,  though  it  commonly  means  teacher  (2  Kings  xvii.  28,  Prov. 
V.  13,  Isa,  XXX.  20), [has  in  one  other  place  (Joel  ii.  23)  the  sense  of  rain,  or 
rather  of  the  early  rain  in  Palestine,  the  clause  admits  of  several  very  dif- 
ferent explanations.  1.  The  rain  also  covers  the  pools.  2.  The  teacher 
is  clothed  in  blessings.  3.  The  rain  covers  it  with  blessings.  In  favour 
of  the  second  is  its  close  adherence  to  the  usage  of  the  three  leading  words. 
It  is  also  found  substantially  in  the  ancient  versions.  The  meaning  then 
is,  that  this  strange  transforming  power  is  exerted  by  the  good  man  as 
a  teacher  of  righteousness,  in  which  sense  one  of  the  disputed  words  (IT^iD) 

occurs  in  Joel  ii.  23,  which  accounts  for  its  being  there  repeated  in  the 
very  same  sentence,  by  a  kind  of  paronomasia,  in  the  sense  of  early  rain, 
elsewhere  denoted  by  a  cognate  form  (mi^).     Compare  the  sentiment  with 

that  in  Ps.  Ii.  15  (13).  For  the  neuter  or  intransitive  meaning  of  the  last 
verb,  see  Lev.  xiii.  45,  Mic.  iii.  7,  Jer.  xliii.  12. 

8  (7).  They  shall  go  from  strength  to  strength  ;  he  shall  appear  to  God 
in  Zion.  The  change  of  number  is  the  opposite  of  that  in  ver.  6  (5),  but 
to  be  explained  on  the  same  principle.  Or  the  singular  verb  in  the  last 
clause  may  refer  to  the  Teacher  in  ver.  7  (6).  The  streng^  is  that 
bestowed  by  God,  in  the  experience  of  which  they  make  continual  advances. 
The  form  of  expression  in  the  last  clause  is  one  used  in  the  Law  to  denote 
the  stated  appearance  of  the  Israelites  at  the  sanctuary.  The  meaning  of 
the  whole  verse  is,  that  they  who  answer  to  the  previous  description  shall 
finally  attain  to  the  full  finiition  of  that  union  with  God  in  which  their  hap- 
piness resides. 

9  (8).  Jehovah,  God,  (Lord  of)  Hosts,  hear  my  prayer  ;  give  ear,  0  God 
of  Jacob !  Selah.  Here  begins  the  second  part  of  the  psalm,  containing 
the  petition  founded  on  the  preceding  view  of  the  happiness  arising  from 
communion  with  God.  The  names  appHed  to  him  suggest,  as  usual,  the 
grounds  of  the  petition,  namely,  his  eternity,  self- existence,  sovereignty, 
and  covenant  relation  to  his  people. 

10  (9).  [Oh)  our  shield,  see,  (0)  God,  and  behold  the  face  of  thine 
Anointed.  Some  make  the  first  noun  the  object  of  the  verb  that  (ollows, 
see  our  shield;  but  in  ver.  12  (11)  God  himself  is  so  described,  as  well  as 
in  Ps.  iii.  4  (3),  Gen.  xv.  1.  Its  position,  as  a' vocative,  is  certainly 
unusual,  but  seems  to  be  emphatic.  Behold  the  face,  i.  e.  behold  it  favour- 
ably, look  Upon  it  graciously.  Thine  Anointed  [One),  i.e.  David,  by  whom, 
or  in  whose  name,  the  psalm  was  written. 

11  (10).  For  better  (is)  a  day  in  thy  courts  than  a  thousand ;  I  have 
chosen  to  occupy  the  threshold  in  the  house  of  my  God,  rather  than  dwell  in 
tents  of  wickedness.     The  comparison  in  both  clauses  is  expressed,  as  usual 


366  Psalm  85: 1,2 

in  Hebrew,  by  the  preposition  from,  away  from.  "  Good  from,  i.  e.  in 
comparison  with,  a  thousand."  "  I  choose  from  dwelling,  i.  e.  rather  than 
to  dwell,"  The  first  clause  of  course  means  that  one  day  in  God's  courts 
is  better  than  a  thousand  elsewhere.  1  have  chosen,  and  do  still  choose,  a 
stronger  expression  than  I  would  choose  or  would  rather.  The  next  verb 
occurs  only  here,  and  is  evidently  formed  from  the  noun  (C]D)  sill  or  threshold. 

To  he  a  door-keeper  (guard  the  threshold),  and  to  lie  on  the  threshold,  are 
too  specific,  and  appear  to  add  something  to  the  sense  of  the  original.  The 
idea  perhaps  is,  that  he  would  rather  stand  at  the  door  of  God's  house  and 
look  in  (which  was  all  that  the  worshippers  could  do  at  the  Mosaic  sanc- 
tuary), than  dwell  in  the  interior  of  tents  or  houses  where  iniquity  prevailed. 
The  use  of  the  word  tents  in  this  clause  makes  it  still  more  probable  that 
the  tabernacle,  not  the  temple,  is  meant  by  the  parallel  expression,  house 
of  God. 

12  (11).  For  a  sun  and  a  shield  is  Jehovah,  God  ;  grace  and  glory  will 
Jehovah  give  ;  he  will  not  refuse  (anything)  good  to  those  ivalhing  in  a  per- 
fect (way).     The /or  shews  that  this  verse  gives  a  reason  for  the  preference 

expressed  in  that  before  it.  God  is  here  called  a  sun,  as  he  is  called  a  Ught 
in  Ps.  xxvii.  1.  Both  these  figures  represent  him  as  a  source  of  happiness  ; 
that  of  a  shield  describes  him  as  a  source  of  safety,  or  a  strong  protector. 
Grace  and  glory  (or  honour)  are  related  as  the  cause  and  the  effect.  The 
latter  includes  all  the  sensible  fruits  and  manifestations  of  the  divine  favour. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xlix.  17  (16).  In  a  perfect  is  by  some  understood  to 
mean  as  a  perfect  person,  i.  e.  perfectly,  uprightly.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
XV.  2,  xviii.  24  (23),  and  compare  Gen.  xvii.  1. 

13  (12).  Jehovah  (Lord  of)  Hosts,  happy  the  man  trusting  in  thee.  The 
participle  is  expressive  of  habitual  reliance.     Trusting  in  thee,  as  I  do. 


Psalm  85 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  To  (or  hy)  the  Sons  of  Eorah.  A  Psalm. 
On  the  ground  of  former  benefits,  the  Church  prays  for  deliverance  from 
present  evils,  ver.  2-8  (1-7),  and  joyfully  anticipates  a  favourable  answer, 
ver.  9-14  (8-13).  There  is  nothing  in  the  title,  or  the  psalm  itself,  to 
determine  its  date  or  confine  its  application  to  any  particular  historical 
occasion.  It  seems  to  be  appropriate  to  every  case  in  which  the  fulfilment 
of  the  promise  (Lev.  xxvi.  3-13)  was  suspended  or  withheld. 

2  (1).  Thou  wast  gracious,  0  JehovaJi,  to  thy  land;  thou  didst  return 
{to)  the  captivity  of  Jacob.  Some  interpreters  refer  these  words  to  favours 
recently  experienced  ;  thou  hast  (now)  been  gracious,  &c.  But  it  is  clear 
from  ver.  5-8  (4-7),  that  the  people  were  actually  sufiering,  and  that  the 
acknowledgments  in  ver.  2-4  (1-3)  must  relate  to  former  instances  of  God's 
compassion.  The  idea,  that  the  benefit  acknowledged  was  deliverance  from 
the  Babylonish  exile,  has  arisen  from  a  false  interpretation  of  the  last  clause, 
for  the  true  sense  of  which  see  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  7.  Captivity  is  a  com- 
mon figure  for  distress,  and  God's  revisiting  the  captives  for  relief  from  it. 
It  is  also  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  favour  shewn  was  to  the  land,  i.  e.  to 
the  people  while  in  possession  and  actual  occupation  of  it. 

8  (2).  Thou  didst  take  away  the  guilt  of  thy  people;  thou  didst  cover  all 
their  sin.  Selah.  The  same  form  of  expression  occurs  above,  in  Ps. 
xxiii.  1,  5.     Both  verbs  suggest  the  idea  of  atonement  as  well  as  pardon. 


Psalm  85:3 -9  367 

4  (3).  Thou  didst  withdraio  all  thy  vjrath  ;  thou  didst  turn  from  the  heat 
of  thine  anger.  There  is  probably  an  allusion  here  to  the  prayer  of  Moses 
in  Exod.  xxxii.  12.  The  Hebrew  verb  of  the  second  clause  corresponds 
strictly  to  the  English  verb  in  its  transitive  or  causative  sense.  It  is  used, 
however,  in  the  same  way  by  Ezekiel  (xviii.  30,  32),  who,  in  one  place 
(xiv.  6),  has  the  phrase  to  turu  away  the  face,  of  which  the  other.may  be  an 
abbreviation. 

5  (4.)  Return  to  us,  0  God  of  our  salvation,  and  cease  thine  anger 
towards  us.  The  recollection  of  former  mercies  is  here  followed  by  a  prayer 
for  their  renewal.  "  As  thou  hast  had  pity  on  thy  people  heretofore,  so 
have  pity  on  them  now."  Return  to  us,  revisit  us  again  in  mercy.  See 
above,  on  ver.  2  (1),  and  on  Ps.  xiv.  7.  The  verb  in  the  last  clause  means 
to  annul  or  nullify,  put  an  end  to,  cause  to  cease.  It  occurs  above,  Ps. 
xxxiii.  10.  The  word  translated  anger  is  one  which  properly  expresses  a 
mixed  feeling  of  grief  and  indignation.     See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  7  (6). 

6  (5).  For  ever  wilt  thou  be  angry  ot  us  ?  Wilt  thou  draw  out  thine 
anger  to  generation  and  generation  !  The  first  Hebrew  word  strictly  means 
to  ages  or  eternities.  The  verb  to  draw  out,  protract,  continue,  is  used  in  a 
favourable  sense,  Ps.  xxxvi.  11  (10).  The  idea  here  expressed  is  the  oppo- 
site of  that  in  Ps.  xxx.  6  (5). 

7  (6).  Wilt  thou  not  return  (and)  quicken  us,  (and)  shall  (not)  thy  people 
rejoice  in  thee?  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  Ixxi.  20,  Ixxx.  19  (18), 
Deut.  xxxii.  39,  Hos.  vi.  2.  With  the  second  compare  Ps.  v.  12  (11), 
ix.  3  (2),  xl.  17  (16).  "  Wilt  thou  not  revisit  us  in  mercy,  raise  us  from 
the  dead  or  dying  state  in  which  we  now  are,  and  give  us,  as  thy  people, 
fresh  occasion  to  rejoice  in  our  relation  to  thee,  and  in  our  union  and  com- 
munion with  thee  ?  "  The  construction  which  continues  the  interrogation 
through  the  sentence  is  much  simpler  and  more  natural  than  that  which 
makes  the  second  clause  contingent  and  dependent  on  the  first,  that  thy 
people  may  rejoice  in  thee.  At  the  same  time,  the  interrogative  form 
expresses  a  more  confident  anticipation  than  a  bare  petition. 

8  (7).  Let  us  see,  0  Lord,  thy  mercy ;  and  thy  salvation  thou  wilt  give 
unto  us.  The  first  petition  is,  that  God  would  cause  them  to  experience 
his  mercy.  In  the  last  clause,  as  in  many  other  places,  the  form  of  peti- 
tion is  insensibly  exchanged  for  that  of  anticipation.  As  if  he  had  said, 
"  We  can  confidently  ask  thee  to  shew  us  thy  mercy,  for  we  know  that  thou 
wilt  grant  us  thy  salvation." 

9  (8).  I  will  hear  what  the  Mighty  {God),  Jehovah,  will  speak  ;  for  he 
will  speak  peace  to  his  people  and  to  his  saints  ;  and  let  them  not  return  to 

folly.  The  first  clause  expresses  the  people's  willingness  to  hear  and  to 
abide  by  God's  decision.  The  second  gives  the  reason  of  this  willingness, 
to  wit,  because  they  know  that  the  response  will  be  auspicious.  The  third 
assigns  the  necessary  limitation  to  this  confidence,  by  stating  the  condition 
of  God's  favourable  answer.  The  failure  to  comply  with  this  condition 
accounts  for  the  partial  fulfilment  of  the  promise,  both  in  the  case  of  indi- 
viduals and  of  the  church  at  large.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxx.  19  (18),  and 
compare  the  promise  in  Lev.  xxvi.  3-13.  His  saints,  the  objects  of  his 
mercy  and  subjects  of  his  grace.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  4  (3).  And  let 
them  not  turn  is  equivalent  to  saying,  so  (or  therefore)  let  them  not  turn. 
The  real  connection  of  the  clauses  might  be  brought  out  still  more  clearly 
in  our  idiom  by  the  paraphrase,  "  provided  they  do  not  return  to  folly." 

10  (9).  Only  nigh  to  his  fearers  (is)  his  salvation,  for  glory  to  dwell  in 
our  land.     As  the  limitation  of  the  promise  to  those  fearing  God  is  an 


368  Psalm  85:10  -  13 

essential  stroke  in  this  description,  there  is  no  need  of  departing  from  the 
strict  sense  of  (*nS)  the  particle  with  which  the  sentence  opens.    See  above, 

on  Ps.  Ixii.  10  (9),  Ixviii.  7  (6),  and  compare  Ps.  Iviii.  12  (11),  Ixxiii.  1. 
The  meaning  then  is,  that  salvation  is  provided  by  God's  mercy  for  none 
but  those  who  fear  him.  The  last  clause,  which  is  literally  rendered  above, 
is  equivalent  to  saying  in  our  idiom,  that  glory  may  dwell  in  our  land. 
Glory _has  the  same  sense  as  in  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  12  (11).  Dwell,  reside  perma- 
nently, long  continue. 

11  (10).  Mercy  and  truth  have  met  {together);  righteousness  and  peace 
have  kissed  {each  other).  By  truth,  we  are  to  understand  the  truth  of  God's 
promises,  the  divine  veracity.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  5.  The  same  com- 
bination with  grace  or  mercy  occurs  above,  in  Ps.  xxv.  10,  xl.  11  (10), 
Ivii.  4  (3),  Ixi.  8  (7),  and  below,  Ps.  Ixxxix.  15  (14).  Righteousness,  con- 
sidered as  the  gift  of  God,  justification,  whether  judicial  or  providential. 
Peace,  immunity  from  all  disturbing  causes,  which  implies  prosperity  of 
every  kind.  See  above,  onPs.  Ixxii.  3.  Have  met,  in  a  peaceable  and  friendly 
manner,  an  idea  still  more  strongly  expressed  by  the  kiss  of  reconcihation 
or  affection  in  the  last  clause.  A  still  more  pointed  and  emphatic  mean- 
ing may  be  put  upon  the  sentence  by  supposing  it  to  mean,  that  God's 
mercy  or  free  favour  to  the  undeserving  is  now  seen  to  be  consistent  with 
his  truth,  which  was  pledged  for  their  destruction,  and  their  peace  or 
safety  with  his  righteousness  or  justice,  which  might  otherwise  have  seemed 
to  be  wholly  incompatible. 

12(11).  Truth  from  the  earth  is  springing,  and  righteousness  from  heaven 
looks  down.  The  truth  of  God's  promise  may  be  seen,  as  it  were,  springing 
from  the  earth  in  its  abundant  fruits,  and  its  rectitude,  or  faithfulness  to 
his  engagements,  looking  down  from  heaven  in  the  rain  and  sunshine.  By 
this  bold  and  beautiful  conception,  the  certainty  of  God's  providential  care 
is  expressed  more  strongly  than  it  could  be  by  any  mere  didactic  state- 
ment. The  beauty  of  the  image  in  the  last  clause  is  heightened  by  the  use 
of  a  verb  which  originally  means  to  lean  or  bend  over,  for  the  purpose  of 
gazing  down  upon  a  lower  object.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  2,  and  compare 
Judges  V.  28,  2  Sam.  vi.  16. 

13  (12).  Jehovah  also  will  give  the  (material  or  earthly)  good,  and  our 
land  will  give  its  produce  (or  increase).  In  other  words,  the  promise  shall 
be  verified  that  stands  recorded  in  the  Law  (Lev.  xxvi.  4),  from  which  the 
form  of  the  expression  is  borrowed,  as  it  is  in  Ps.  Ixvii.  7  (6). 

14  (18).  Righteousness  hefore  him  shall  march,  and  set  (us)  in  the  way  of 
his  steps.  The  verb  in  the  first  clause  is  a  poetical  intensive  form  of  one 
which  means  to  walk  or  go.  The  idea  here  expressed  seems  to  be  that  of 
public  and  solemn  manifestation.  The  last  clause  is  obscure,  and  of  dubious 
construction.  The  latest  interpreters  understand  it  as  meaning,  and  set  its 
steps  for  a  way,  i.e.  mark  out  by  its  own  steps  the  way  in  which  we  are  to 
walk.  This  yields,  in  the  end,  the  same  sense  as  the  common  version 
above  given. 

Psalm  86 

1.  A  Prayer.  By  David.  Incline,  0  Jehovah,  thine  ear  (and)  answer 
me,  for  urretched  and  needy  (am)  /.  The  whole  psalm  is  called  a  prayer, 
because  entirely  made  up,  either  of  direct  petitions,  or  of  arguments  in- 
tended to  enforce  them.     The  tone  and  substance  of  the  composition  are 


Psalm  86:2 -5  369 

well  suited  to  David's  situation  in  his  days  of  suffering  at  the  hands  of  Saul 
or  Absalom,  more  probably  the  latter,  on  account  of  the  repeated  allusions 
to  deliverance  from  former  trials  of  the  same  kind.  Some  account  for  the 
position  of  this  psalm  in  the  midst  of  a  series  inscribed  to  the  Sons  ofKorah, 
by  supposing  that  the  latter  composed  it  in  the  person  or  the  spirit  of  David. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  1.  The  same  hypothesis  is  used  by  these  interpreters 
to  explain  the  many  forms  of  expression  borrowed  from  other  psalms  of 
David,  as, if  the  Sons  of  Korah  meant  to  comfort  him  by  the  repetition  of 
his  own  consolatory  words  in  other  cases.  Compare  2  Cor.  i.  4.  The 
psalm  admits  of  no  minute  or  artificial  subdivision.  The  only  marked 
diversity  of  the  parts  is,  that  in  ver.  1-10,  petition  is  combined  with  argu- 
ment, whereas  in  ver.  11-17,  it  is  more  unmixed.  The  first  ground  or 
reason  is  derived,  in  this  verse,  from  the  urgency  of  the  necessity.  At  the 
same  time,  there  is  a  tacit  claim  to  God's  protection,  on  the  ground  that 
he  who  asks  it  is  one  of  his  own  people.  According  to  the  usage  of  the 
psalms,  the  afflicted  and  the  needy  denote  sufi"erers  among  God's  people. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  x.  2. 

2.  Keep  my  soul,  for  a  gracious  one  {am)  I ;  save  thy  servant,  even  thou, 
my  God,  the  (servant)  trusting  in  thee.  He  prays  for  the  safe  keeping  of 
his  soul  or  life,  because  it  was  this  that  the  enemy  threatened.  See  below, 
ver.  14.  The  grounds  assigned  are  two,  or  rather  one  exhibited  in  two 
forms.     The  first  is,  that  he  is  a  (TDH)  saint  or  gracious  one,  a  merciful 

object  of  God's  mercy.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxv.  8  (7).  The  other  is  that, 
as  a  servant  of  Jehovah,  he  believes  and  trusts  in  him  alone.  The  origi- 
nal expression  is  not  in  but  to  or  toioards  thee,  as  if  implying  that  the  be- 
liever turns  or  looks  away  from  every  other  ground  of  confidence  to  God 
alone.  The  same  construction  occurs  twice  above,  in  Ps.  iv.  6  (5),  xxxi. 
7  (6). 

3.  Be  gracious  unto  me,  0  Lord,  for  unto  thee  vnll  1  cry  all  the  day. 
The  prayer  is  still  substantially  the  same,  but  enforced  by  two  additional 
reasons  :  one  implied  in  the  divine  name  used,  to  wit,  that  God  is  his  sove- 
reign, and  as  such  bound  to  protect  his  subject ;  the  other  expressed, 
namely,  that  his  subject  never  ceases  to  invoke  his  aid.  The  future  mean- 
ing of  the  verb  includes  the  present,  but  suggests  the  additional  idea  of 
determination  to  pursue  the  same,  course  till  the  blessing  is  obtained.  Com- 
pare Gen.  xxxii.  27  (26),  Luke  xviii.  1.  All  the  rfay  is  a  common  idiomatic 
phrase  equivalent  to  all  the  time  in  English,  and  may  therefore  be  consi- 
dered as  including,  though  it  does  not  formally  express,  the  idea  of  every 
day  or  daily.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xhi.  4,  11  (3,  10). 

4.  Gladden  the  soul  of  thy  servant,  for  unto  thee,  Lord,  my  soul  do  I 
raise.  The  first  clause  is  not  a  mere  periphrasis  for  "  make  me  glad,"  or 
"  cause  me  to  rejoice."  It  means  "  make  me  heartily  rejoice,  because  I 
am  thy  servant,"  thus  suggesting  a  new  ground  of  his  petition,  different  in 
form  although  substantially  identical  with  that  in  the  preceding  verse.  A 
similar  analogy  exists  between  the  second  clause  of  that  verse  and  the 
second  clause  ofthis,  the  form  of  which,  however,  is  boiTOwed  from  Ps. 
XXV.  1.  Here,  as  there,  to  raise  the  soul  to  God  is  to  regard  him  with 
affection  and  strong  confidence.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  4.  At  the  same 
time,  there  is  an  allusion  to  the  strict  sense  of  the  Hebrew  verb,  as  if  he  had 
said,  "  make  my  soul  rejoice,  since  I  bring  it  up  or  raise  it  to  thee  for  this 
very  purpose."     The  force  of  the  future  is  the  same  as  in  ver.  4. 

5.  For  thou,  Lord,  art  good  and  forgiving,  and  rich  in  mercy  to  all 
(those)  invoking  thee.     God  is  not  only  the  sovereign  of  his  people,  and  as 


370  Psalm  86:6 -11 

such  bound  by  covenant  to  protect  them,  but  benevolent  or  good  in  his  own 
nature  ;  and  that  not  merely  in  the  general,  or  in  reference  to  all  his  crea- 
tures, but  especially  in  reference  to  the  undeserving  and  the  ill-deserving ;  that 
is,  to  such  of  them  as  really  desire  his  favour,  and  evince  their  willingness 
to  have  it  by  the  act  of  asking  for  it.  Rich  {in)  mercy,  literally  great  (or 
much,  abimdant,  plenteous,  as  to)  mercy.  This  expression,  and  indeed 
the  whole  description,  is  borowed  from  Exod.  xxxiv.  6. 

6.  Give  ear,  Jehovah,  to  my  prayer,  and  attend  (or  hearken)  to  the  voice 
of  my  supplications.  The  same  verbs  are  used  in  a  similar  connection,  Ps. 
V.  2,  3  (1,  2).  The  last  word  in  Hebrew,  according  to  its  etymology, 
denotes  specifically  prayers  for  favour,  grace,  or  mercy.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxviii.  6,  xxxi.  23  (22).  There  is  no  new  ground  or  argument  sug- 
gested here,  beyond  what  is  implied  in  the  use  of  the  word  just  explained, 
and  of  the  divine  name  in  the  first  clause. 

7.  In  the  day  of  my  distress  I  loill  invoice  thee,  for  thou  wilt  answer  me. 
The  future  includes  the  present,  I  do  and  will  invoke  thee,  call  thee  to  my 
aid,  or  call  upon  thee  for  assistance.  The  second  clause  assigns  the 
reason,  namely,  his  conviction  that  he  shall  not  call  in  vain.  The  implied 
ground  of  this  conviction  is,  tliat  he  never  does  and  never  did  call,  in  the 
exercise  of  faith,  without  being  favourably  heard  or  answered. 

8.  There  is  none  like  thee  among  the  gods,  0  Lord,  and  nothing  like  thy 
works  (among  their  works).  This  last,  which  might  seem  to  be  needed  to 
complete  the  sense  and  the  parallelism,  was  suppressed  perhaps  in  order  to 
suggest  the  idea,  that  the  gods  have  no  works,  even  the  Gentiles  who  wor- 
ship them  being  creatures  of  Jehovah,  as  is  expressly  stated  in  the  next 
verse.  Even  the  full  comparison,  however,  in  the  first  clause,  does  not 
necessarily  concede  the  personal  existence  of  the  gods  themselves,  but  only 
that  of  their  material  images,  or  at  most  the  belief  of  their  besotted  wor- 
shippers. Compare  with  this  verse  its  Mosaic  models,  Exod.  xv.  11, 
Deut.  iii.  24,  and  the  Davidic  imitations  of  them,  2  Sam.  vii.  22,  Ps. 
xviii.  32  (31).  The  exclusive  Godhead  of  Jehovah  is  here  urged  as  a  dis- 
tinct ground  or  reason  of  importunate  petition  to  him. 

9.  All  nations  which  thou  hast  made  shall  come  and  worship  before  thee, 
0  Lord,  and  give  honour  to  thy  name.  The  common  relation  of  Jehovah 
to  all  men  as  their  Maker,  although  now  denied  by  most  nations,  shall  be  one 
day  universally  acknowledged,  not  in  word  merely,  but  in  act,  the  most 
expressive  act  of  worship,  involving  a  believing  recognition  of  the  previous 
display  of  God's  perfections,  in  the  language  of  the  Scriptures  called  his 
name.  This  prospective  view  of  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  the  belief 
and  service  of  its  Maker  shews  how  far  the  Old  Testament  writers  were 
from  cherishing  or  countenancing  the  contracted  nationality  of  the  later  and 
the  less  enlightened  Jews.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  28,  29  (27,  28),  xlv. 
13-17  (12-16),  xlvii.  10  (9),  and  compare  Jer.  xvi.  19,  Zeph.  ii.  11, 
Zech.  xiv.  9,  16. 

10.  For  great  (art)  thou  and  doing  wonders,  thou  (art)  God  alone.  The 
only  new  idea  here  is  the  evidence  afforded  of  Jehovah's  sole  divinity  by 
his  miraculous  performances.  The  for,  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse, 
implies  that  these  proofs  of  divinity  must  sooner  or  later  have  their  full 
effect. 

11.  Guide  me,  Jehovah,  {in)  thy  way  ;  I  tvill  ivalk  in  thy  truth  ;  unite 
my  heart  to  fear  thy  name.  The  common  version  of  the  first  verb  {teach 
me)  is  too  vague,  as  it  fails  to  bring  out  the  peculiar  suitableness  of  the 
term  to  express  the  kind  of  teaching  here  specifically  meant.     The  original 


Psalm  86:12 -17  371 

meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  is  to  point  out  or  mark  the  wa}'.  According 
to  the  usage  of  the  Psalms,  the  way  of  God  is  here  the  course  of  his  pro- 
vidential dealings,  and  his  truth  the  truth  of  his  promises,  to  walk  in  which 
is  to  assent  to  them,  or  acquiesce  in  them  and  trust  them.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  XXV.  4,  5,  xxvi.  3.  That  he  ma}'  be  enabled  to  do  this  without  distrac- 
tion or  reserve,  is  the  prayer  of  the  last  clause.  The  idea  of  a  united 
heart  is  the  opposite  of  a  double  heart.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xii.  3  (2), 
and  compare  James  iv.  8. 

12.  I  will  thank  thee,  0  Lord  my  God,  with  all  my  heart,  and  I  will 
honour  thy  name  for  ever.  The  first  verb  means  not  merely  to  praise  in 
general,  but  to  praise  for  benefits  received.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5). 
This  verse  describes  the  effect  that  is  to  follow  from  the  granting  of  the 
prayer  at  the  close  of  the  preceding  verse.  When  his  heart  is  once  united 
to  fear  God,  cordial  and  perpetual  thanksgiving  will  follow  as  a  necessary 
consequence. 

13.  For  thy  mercy  (has  been)  great  towards  me,  and  thou  hast  freed  rny 
soul  from  the  lowest  hell.  The  most  natural  explanation  of  these  words  is 
that  which  makes  them  an  appeal  to  former  mercies  as  a  reason  for  expect- 
ing new  ones.  If  the  psalm  belongs  to  the  period  of  Absalom's  rebellion 
(see  above,  on  ver.  1),  the  reference  here  may  be  to  David's  dangers  and 
dehverances  from  Saul.  Towards  me,  literally  on  me,  with  an  implication 
of  descent  from  above.  Hell,  in  the  wide  sense  of  death  or  the  state  of  the 
dead.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5).  Lowest,  or  lower,  hang  under,  subter- 
raneous. The  expression  is  derived  from  Deut.  xxxii.  22.  With  this 
verse  compare  Ps.  xviii.  6  (5),  Ivi.  14  (13). 

14.  0  God,  proud  [men)  have  arisen  against  me,  and  an  assembly  of 
violent  [men)  have  sought  my  soid,  and  have  not  set  thee  before  them.  Nearly 
the  same  words  had  been  used  by  David  in  reference  to  the  Sauline  perse- 
cution, Ps.  liv.  5  (3).  But  instead  of  aliens,  he  here  speaks  of  proffc^  ones, 
and  before  the  parallel  term  violent,  oppressive,  or  tyrannical  (Ps.  xxxvii.  35), 
inserts  congregation  or  assembly,  as  if  to  imply  organization,  both  which 
variations  agree  well  with  the  hypothesis  that  this  psalm  relates  to  the  re- 
volt of  Absalom. 

15.  And  thou,.  Lord,  [art)  a  God  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering, 
and  plenteous  in  mercy  and  truth.  He  here  appeals  to  God's  description  of 
himself  as  warranting  his  prayer  for  mercy.  See  Exod.  xxxiv.  6,  and  the 
imitations  or  quotations  of  it  by  Joel  (ii.  13)  and  Jonah  (iv.  2).  See  also 
Ps.  Ixxxv.  11  (10). 

16.  Turn  toivards  me  and  be  gracious  to  me  ;  give  thy  strength  to  thy  ser- 
vant, and  grant  salvation  to  the  son  of  thy  handmaid.  The  first  prayer.implies 
that  God's  face  had  previously  been  averted.  Give  thy  strength,  exercise  it 
for  his  protection.  The  son  of  thy  handmaid  or  female  slave,  i.  e.  a  home- 
bom  and  hereditary  servant,  and  as  such  entitled  to  defence  and  sustenance. 
The  expression  is  borrowed  from  Exod.  xxiii.  12,  and  reappears  in  Ps. 
cxvi.  16.  The  last  verb  is  the  common  one  meaning  to  save,  but  here  con- 
nected with  its  object  by  the  preposition  to. 

17.  Shew  me  a  token  for  good,  and  (then)  my  haters  shall  see  and  be 
shamed,  because  thou,  Jehovah,  hast  helped  me  and  comforted  me.  The 
phrase  translated  shew  me  strictly  means  do  with  me,  and  is  here  used  be- 
cause the  sign  or  token  asked  is  neither  a  verbal  declaration  nor  a  miracle, 
but  a  practical  or  providential  indication  of  God's  favour,  furnished  by  his 
dealings  with  him.  The  word  translated  good  is  the  one  used  in  Ps.  xvi.  2, 
where,  as  here,  it  has  the  sense  of  physical  good,  welfare,  happiness.     A 


372  Psalm  87:1 -4 

token  for  good  is  a  pledge  of  its  possession  and  enjoyment.  The  oblique 
construction,  that  my  haters  may  see,  is  really  included  in  the  direct  future. 
Shamed,  surprised,  disappointed,  and  confounded.  The  preterites  in  the 
last  clause  have  reference  to  the  time  when  this  effect  shall  be  produced 
upon  the  enemy,  and  when  the  divine  help  and  consolation  shall  have  been 
ah-eady  granted. 

Psalm  87 

1.  To  (or  hy)  the  Sons  of  Korah.  A  Psalm..  A  Song.  His  foundation 
[is)  in  the  hills  of  holiness.  The  first  title  decides  nothing  as  to  the  date  of 
composition.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  1,  xlvi.  1,  xlvii.  1,  xlviii.  1.  It  is  not 
only  a  psalm,  a  religious  lyric,  bnt  a  song,  i.e.  a  song  of  praise  or  triumph. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  1.  This  agrees  well  with  the  tone  of  the  com- 
position, which  seems  to  indicate  some  great  deliverance  as  its  historical 
occasion.  The  only  one  that  can  be  fixed  upon  with  any  great  degree  oi 
probability  is  that  of  Hezekiah  from  the  power  of  Assyria.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xlvi.  1,  Ixxv.  1,  Ixxvi.  1.  In  view  of  some  such  signal  intervention  in 
behalf  of  Israel,  the  psalm  celebrates  the  actual  security  of  Zion,  ver.  1-3, 
and  anticipates  its  future  honours  as  the  spiritual  birth-place  of  the  nations, 
ver.  4-7.  His  foundation,  that  which  he  has  founded,  meaning  his  sanc- 
tuary and  his  theocratical  kingdom.  The  plural  expression,  hills  of  holiness, 
means  Zion  in  the  wide  sense,  including  all  the  heights  on  which  Jerusalem 
w^as  built.  It  was  peculiarly  appropriate  in  this  case,  if  the  psalm  was 
written  in  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  because  at  that  time  Zion,  in  the  strict 
sense,  was  no  longer  the  exclusive  residence  of  God  on  earth.  At  the  same 
time,  there  is  particular  reference  to  Zion  as  the  citadel,  in  which  the 
strength  of  the  royal  city  was  concentrated. 

2.  Jehovah  loves  the  gates  of  Zion  more  than  all  the  dwellings  of  Jacob. 
This  description  of  Jehovah's  choice  of  Zion  as  his  dwelling-place  is  similar 
to  that  in  Ps.  Ixxviii.  68.  The  gates  of  a  walled  city  give  access  to  it  and 
power  over  it,  and  are  therefore  naturally  here  put  for  the  whole.  The 
Hebrew  participle  {loving)  implies  constant  and  habitual  attachment. 

3.  Glorious  things  (have  been)  spoken  in  thee,  0  City  of  God.  Seluh. 
Glorious  or  honourable  things,  in  the  way  of  prophecy  and  promise,  the  ful- 
filment of  which  is  here  implied.  As  if  he  had  said,  the  promises  I'espect- 
ing  thee  are  great,  but  they  are  or  shall  be  fully  verified.  So  too  in  the 
other  clause  the  meaning  is,  thou  art  well  called  the  city  of  God,  for  he  is 
in  thee,  to  protect  and  honour  thee.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlvi.  5  (4),  xlviii.  2, 
9  (1,  8).  Instead  of  in  thee  some  read  of  thee,  but  the  former  is  entitled  to 
the  preference :  first,  because  it  is  the  strict  sense,  and  therefore  not  to  be 
rejected  without  reason ;  then,  because  it  really  includes  the  other,  but  is 
not  included  in  it ;  lastly,  because  it  suggests  the  additional  idea  of  the  holy 
city  as  the  scene,  no  less  than  the  theme,  of  the  prophetic  visions. 

4.  I  vnll  mention  Rahah  aad  Babylon  as  knowing  me.  Lo,  Philistia  and 
Tyre  with  Ethiopia  !  This  [one)  luas  born  there.  Interpreters  are  com- 
monly agreed,  that  these  are  the  words  of  God  himself,  though  not  ex- 
pressly so  announced.  The  first  verb  in  Hebrew  is  a  causative,  I  will  make 
to  be  remembered,  celebrate,  commemorate.  See  above,  Ps.  xx.  8  (7), 
xlv.  18  (17),  Ixxi.  16  (15),  Ixxvii.  12  (11).  It  here  means  to  announce  or 
proclaim.  To  know  God  is  to  love  him  and  to  be  his  servant.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xxxvi.  11  (10),  and  compare  Isa.  xix.  21.     Those  knowing  him  in 


Psalm  87:5,  6  373 

this  sense  are  his  people.  As  knowing  me,  literally  to  those  knowing  me, 
*'.  e.  belonging  to  their  number.  Or  the  sense  may  he,  for  knowers  of  me, 
I  will  recognise  and  reckon  them  for  such.  Compare  the  Hebrew  of  Exod. 
xxi.  2,  he  shall  go  out  free,  hterally  ^br/ree,  i.e.  as  free.  The  nations  thus 
announced  as  belonging  to  God's  people  are  mere  samples  of  the  whole 
gentile  world,  those  being  chosen  for  the  purpose,  who  were  or  had  been 
most  connected  with  the  history  of  Israel,  and  were  at  the  same  time  ruhng 
powers  of  antiquity.  Rahah  is  an  enigmatical  name  given  to  Egypt  by  the 
Prophet  Isaiah.  See  below,  on  Ps.  Ixxxix.  11  (10),  and  compare  my  notes 
on  Isa.  XXX.  7,  li.  9.  Babylon  is  named  instead  of  Assyria,  perhaps  be- 
cause in  Hezekiah's  reign  the  former  began  to  supersede  the  latter  as  the 
dominant  power  of  Western  Asia.  See  my  note  on  Isa,  xxxix.  1.  Com- 
pare the  prophecy  respecting  Egypt  and  Assyria  in  Isa.  xix.  23,  24. 
PhiHstia  and  Tyre  are  put  together,  as  in  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  8  (7).  As  to  the 
latter,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xlv.  13  (12),  and  compare  Isa.  xxiii.  18.  The 
conversion  of  Cush  or  Ethiopia  had  already  been  foretold  by  David,  Ps. 
Ixviii.  32  (31),  and  by  Solomon,  Ps.  Ixxii.  10.  The  last  words  are  obscure, 
but  may  be  rendered  clearer  by  supplying  before  them,  as  to  each  of  these  it 
shall  be  said.  The  pronoun  (this)  is  then  to  be  referred  not  to  individual 
men,  but  to  the  nations  as  ideal  persons.  The  idea  of  regeneration  or 
spiritual  birth,  applied  in  the  New  Testament  to  indi%dduals,  is  here  applied 
to  nations,  who  are  represented  as  born  again,  when  received  into  commu- 
nion with  the  church  or  chosen  people. 

5.  And  of  Zion  it  shall  be  said,  (This)  man  and  (that)  man  was  born  in 
her,  and  He  will  establish  her,  the  Highest.  The  strict  translation  of  the 
first  words  is  to  Zion,  but  the  subsequent  use  of  the  third  person  {in  her) 
shews  that  the  act  described  is  that  of  speaking  of  a  person  in  his  presence, 
yet  not  directly  to  him,  or,  as  we  sometimes  say  in  English,  talking  at  him. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  3  (2),  Ixxi.  10.  The  idiomatic  phrase  man  and  man 
means  every  one  or  each  one  severally.  See  the  Hebrew  of  Esther  i.  8, 
and  compare  that  of  Lev.  xvii.  10,  13.  The  clause  may  then  be  understood 
as  asserting  of  individuals  what  had  just  been  said  of  whole  communities, 
or  as  repeating  the  latter,  in  a  more  emphatic  form,  for  the  pm^ose  of  con- 
necting it  with  an  additional  promise,  namely,  that  the  church  thus  en- 
larged by  the  accession  of  the  Gentiles,  shall  be  permanently  established 
and  secured.  The  pronoun  is  emphatic,  and  is  rendered  more  so  by  the 
epithet  attached  to  it.  He  the  Hig/iest,  or  the  Highest  himself.  The  pro- 
tector of  the  church  is  neither  man  nor  angel,  but  the  supreme  and  sove- 
reign God.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xlvii.  3  (2),  xlviii.  9  (8). 

6.  Jehovah  shall  count,  in  enrolling  the  nations  :  This  (one)  was  horn 
there.  Selah.  The  theme  or  idea  of  the  whole  psalm,  that  Zion  should 
yet  be  the  birth-place  of  all  nations,  is  again  repeated,  imder  a  new  figure, 
that  of  registration.  Compare  Ezek.  xiii.  9.  The  meaning  is  that,  as  he 
counts  the  nations,  he  shall  say  of  each,  in  turn  or  one  by  one,  this  one 
was  also  born  there.  In  enrolling,  literally  writing,  i.  e.  inscribing  in  a  Ust 
or  register.  The  common  version  [when  he  writeth  -up  the  people)  not  only 
fails  to  reproduce  the  plural  form  of  the  last  word,  or  to  shew  in  any  way 
that  more  than  a  single  nation  is  referred  to,  but  ascribes  the  act  of  writing 
to  the  Lord  himself,  which,  though  not  so  inadmissible  in  a  figurative  pas- 
sage as  some  writers  think  it,  is  not  necessarily  imphed  in  the  original, 
where  the  form  of  expression  is  in  the  writing,  i.  e.  at  the  time  or  in  the  act 
of  doing  so,  whether  the  act  be  that  of  God  himself  or  merely  done  by  his 
authority  and  under  his  direction. 


374  Psalm  88:1 

7.  And  singers  as  well  as  well  as  players  (shall  be  heard  saying),  All  my 
springs  are  in  thee.  The  construction  in  the  first  clause  is  pecuUar,  singers 
as  players.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlviii.  6  (5).  The  image  present  to  the 
Psalmist's  mind  seems  to  be  that  of  a  procession  or  triumphal  march,  com* 
posed  of  the  nations  on  their  way  to  Zion.  At  the  head  of  this  procession 
are  the  minstrels,  who,  as  the  spokesmen  of  the  rest,  acknowledge  that  the 
source  of  their  happiness  is  henceforth  to  be  sought  in  Zion,  not  as  a  mere 
locality,  but  as  the  place  where  God  was  pleased  to  manifest  his  gracious 
presence.  It  matters  little,  therefore,  whether  the  closing  words  {in  tltee) 
be  referred  to  God  directly,  or  to  Zion,  as  the  channel  through  which  he 
imparted  spiritual  blessings  to  the  gentiles.  Compare  the  figure  of  a  spring 
or  stream  in  Joel  iv.  18  (iii.  18),  Zech.  xiii.  1,  xiv.  8,  Ezek.  xlvii.  1,  and 
see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  7  (6).  The  word  joined  with  singers  admits  of  a 
twofold  derivation,  and  may  either  mean  players  upon  instruments,  or  still 
more  definitely,  pipers,  as  the  players  on  stringed  instruments  are  named  in 
the  same  connection,  Ps.  Ixviii.  26  (25) ;  or  as  some  of  the  latest  interpre- 
ters prefer,  it  may  mean  dancers,  as  this  indication  of  joy  was  commonly 
practised,  in  connection  with  singing,  not  only  by  women  but  by  men.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  12  (11),  and  below,  on  Ps.  cl.  4.  and  compare  Exod. 
XV.  20,  2  Sam.  vi.  16.  The  Selah  at  the  end  of  the  preceding  verse  shews 
that  the  variations  of  the  main  theme  are  concluded,  and  separates  the  body 
of  the  psalm  from  this  verse,  which  contains  the  words  neither  of  the  Psalmist 
nor  the  Church  nor  God  himself,  but  of  the  converted  Gentiles. 


Psalm  88 

1.  A  Song.  A  Psalm.  To  (or  by)  the  Sons  of  Korah.  To  the  Chief 
Musician.  Concerning  afflictive  sickness.  A  didactic  Psalm..  By  Heman 
the  Ezrahite.  The  first  word  of  this  title  elsewhere  denotes  a  song  of  praise 
or  triumph.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  9  (8),  Ixxxiii.  1.  It  is  here  prefixed, 
however,  to  the  most  despondent  psalm  in  the  collection,  in  which  the 
complaints  and  lamentations  are  relieved  by  no  joyful  anticipations  or  ex- 
pressions of  strong  confidence.  The  only  satisfactory  explanation  of  these 
facts  is  afl"orded  by  the  supposition,  that  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  and  Ixxxix  were  in- 
tended to  constitute  a  pair  or  double  psalm,  like  the  first  and  second,  third 
and  fourth,  ninth  and  tenth,  forty-second  and  forty-third,  &c.  The  de- 
sponding lamentations  of  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  are  then  merely  introductory  to  the 
cheering  expectations  of  Ps.  Ixxxix.  This  supposition  also  explains  the 
unusual  length  of  the  inscription  now  before  us,  the  first  part  of  which  may 
then  be  considered  as  belonging  to  both  psalms,  while  the  last  clause  cor- 
responds to  tbe  title  of  Ps.  Ixxxix.  Afflictive  sickness,  literally  sickness  to 
afflict  or  humble.  For  the  figurative  use  of  sickness,  and  the  sense  of  this 
inscription,  see  above,  on  Ps.  liii.  1.  Heman  the  Ezrahite  is  mentioned, 
with  Asaph  and  Ethan,  as  chief  musicians  in  the  reign  of  David,  1  Chron. 
vi.  18  (33),  XV.  17,  xvi.  41,  42.  The  Heman  and  Ethan,  spoken  of  in 
1  Chron.  ii.  6  as  Ezrahites  {i.  e.  sons  of  Zerah),  and  in  1  Kings  v.  11,  as 
eminent  for  wisdom,  are  supposed  by  some  to  be  difierent  persons,  because 
they  were  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  while  others  suppose  that  they  were  Levit'^s 
adopted  into  that  tribe.  The  Psalm  before  us  neither  requires  nor  admits 
of  any  minute  or  artificial  subdivision. 

2  (1).  Jehovah,  God  of  my  salvation,  (by)  day  have  I  cried,  and  by  night, 
be/ore  thee.     God  of  my  salvation,  the  God  in  whom  I  trust  to  save  me, 


Psalm  88:2  -  8  375 

because  he  is  a  saving  God,  or  God  my  Saviour.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxv. 
5  (4),  Day  and  by  night  are  related  to  each  other  here,  as  night  and  by  day 
are  inPs.  Ixxvii.  3  (2).  Before  theeimiplies  that  his  cries  were  not  mere  in- 
stinctive expressions  of  distress,  but  prayers  addi'essed  to  God.  With  the 
whole  verse  compare  Ps.  xxii.  3  (2). 

3  (2).  Let  my  prayer  come  before  thee  ;  incline  thine  ear  unto  my  cry. 
The  first  petition  is  that  his  prayer  may  attract  the  divine  attention,  which 
is  varied  in  the  last  clause  by  the  figure  of  one  bending  down  to  catch  a 
faint  or  distant  cry.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  6,  xxxi.  3  (2),  Ixxi.  2. 

4  (3).  For  sated  with  evils  is  my  soul,  and  my  life  to  the  grave  draws  near. 
Evils,  sufferings,  distresses.  As  life  is  plural  in  Hebrew,  it  can  be  construed 
regularly  with  the  plural  verb  ;  but  as  this  is  properly  a  causative,  it  may 
also  be  construed  with  evils,  or  with  men  indefinitely,  they  have  brought  my 
life  near  to  the  grave.  The  first  construction  is  favoured  by  the  analogy  of 
Ps.  cvii.  18.  The  grave,  sheol,  the  state  of  the  dead.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
vi.  6  (5). 

5  (4).  /  am  reckoned  with  those  going  down  to  the  pit  ;  I  am  (or  am  be- 
come) as  a  man  witth  no  strength.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps. 
xxviii.  1,  cxliii.  7.  With  no  strength,  literally  (to  whom)  there  is  no  strength. 
The  last  word  in  Hebrew  occurs  only  here,  but  a  cognate  form  in  Ps.  xxii, 
20  (19).  There  is  in  the  original  an  antithesis,  which  cannot  be  conveyed 
by  mere  translation,  arising  from  the  fact  that  the  first  word  for  man  is  one 
implying  strength. 

6  (5).  With  (or  among)  the  dead,  free,  like  the  slain,  lying  in  the  grave, 
whom  thou  rememberest  no  more,  and  they  by  (or  from)  thy  hand  are  cut  off. 
As  to  be  God's  servant  is  the  highest  privilege  and  honour  (Ps.  Ixxx^i.  16), 
80  to  be  free  from  his  service  (Job  iii.  19)  is  to  be  miserable.  The  refer- 
ence is  not  to  death  in  general,  but  to  death  by  violence  and  as  a  punishment. 
The  slain,  literally  the  (mortally)  wounded.  See  above  on  Ps.  Ixix.  27  (26). 
The  latter  half  of  the  verse  contains  a  strong  poetical  description  of  the 
wicked,  as  no  longer  the  objects  of  God's  protecting  care.  Of  the  two 
translations,  from  and  by  thy  hand,  the  first  conveys  the  same  idea  with  the 
foregoing  words,  while  the  second  represents  the  destruction  of  God's 
enemies  as  the  work  of  his  own  hands. 

7  (6).  Thou  hast  placed  me  in  a  deep  pit,  in  dark  places,  in  abysses.  A 
deep  pit,  literally  a  pit  of  low  or  under  places.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixiii. 
10  (9),  Ixxxvi.  13,  and  compare  Ezek.  xxvi.  20.  The  dark  places  are  those 
of  the  invisible  and  lower  world.  Abysses,  deeps,  or  depths  of  water.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ixix.  3  (2). 

8  (7).  Upon  me  weighs  thy  wrath,  and  (loith)  all  thy  waves  thou  dost 
oppress  me.  Selah.  The  word  translated  waves  corresponds  etymologically 
to  breakers.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  8  (7).  With  the  first  clause  compare 
Ps.  xxxviii.  3  (2).  The  verb  to  oppress  or  ajlict  is  applied  in  historical 
prose  to  the  oppression  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  Gen.  xv.  13,  Exod.  i.  12.  The 
infinitive  of  the  same  verb  occurs  in  the  title  of  the  psalm  before  us.  The 
Selah  indicates  the  depth  of  his  distress,  and  the  necessity  of  a  pause  before 
resuming  the  description. 

9  (8).  Thou  hast  put  far  my  acquaintances  from  me ;  thou  hast  made  me 
an  abomination  to  them  ;  (I  am)  shut  up  and  cannot  come  forth  The  cir- 
cumstance complained  of  in  the  first  clause,  is  one  often  mentioned  as  an 
aggravation  of  distress.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxi.  12  (11),  xxxviii.  12  (11), 
Ixix.  9  (8),  and  compare  Ps.  xxvii.  10.  The  next  clause  shews  that  he  com- 
plains of  something  more  than  mere  neglect.     Made  me,  hterally  put  or 


376  Psalm  88:9  -  16 

jilaced  me.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxix.  9  (8).  There  may  be  an  allusion  to 
the  statement  in  the  history,  that  the  Israelites  were  an  abomination,  an 
object  of  religious  detestation  and  abhorrence,  to  their  Egyptian  masters. 
See  Gen.  xliii.  32,  xlvi.  34.  The  last  clause  is  by  some  understood  to  mean, 
I  am  encompassed  by  inextricable  difficulties.  Compare  Lam.  iii.  7,  Job 
iii.  23.  Others,  with  more  probability,  connect  it  with  what  goes  before, 
and  understand  the  sense  to  be,  that  he  is  not  wilhng  to  expose  himself  to 
this  unmerited  hatred  and  contempt.  See  Job  xxxi.  34,  and  compare  Ps. 
xUv.  14  (13),  Ixxx.  7  (6). 

10  (9).  My  eye  decays  by  reason  of  affliction  ;  I  invoke  thee,  0  Jehovah, 
evei-y  day  ;  I  spread  out  unto  thee  my  hands.  With  the  first  clause  compare 
Ps.  vi.  8  (7),  xxxi.  10  (9),  xxxviii.  U  (10),  Ixix.  4  (3).  With  the  last  com- 
pare Ps.  xliv.  21  (20).  The  first  Hebrew  verb  is  one  of  rare  occurrence  ; 
a  derivative  noun  is  used  by  Moses,  Deut.  xxviii.  65.  The  preterites  repre- 
sent the  suffering  as  no  new  thing,  but  one  of  long  continuance. 

11  (10).  Wilt  thou  to  the  dead  do  wonders,  or  shall  ghosts  arise  (and)  thank 
thee  ?  Selah.  The  argument  implied  is  that  the  present  life  is  the  appro- 
priate time  for  those  favours  which  belong  to  it.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5). 
The  word  Rephaim,  in  the  last  clause,  is  the  name  of  a  Canaanitish  race  of 
giants,  but  is  applied  poetically  to  the  gigantic  shades  or  spectres  of  the 
dead.  See  my  note  on  Isa,  xiv.  9.  Do  iconders,  literally  wonder,  as  in  Ps. 
Ixxvii.  12  (11). 

12  (11).  Shall  thy  mercy  he  recounted  in  the  grave,  thy  faithfulness  in 
destruction  ?  The  last  word  {Abaddon)  appears  elsewhere  in  conjunction 
with  the  grave  and  death,  as  a  poetical  equivalent.  See  Prov.  xv.  11,  Job 
xxvi.  6,  xxviii.  22. 

13  (12).  Shall  thy  wonders  he  known  in  the  dark,  and  thy  righteousness  in 
the  land  of  forgeffulness  ?  These  are  varied  metaphorical  descriptions  of  the 
state  of  death,  considered  negatively  as  the  privation  or  the  opposite  of  life. 
Darkness  is  here  opposed  to  the  light  of  life  or  of  the  living,  Ps.  Ivi.  14  (13). 
The  land  of  forge tfulness,  where  men  forget,  Eccles.  ix.  5,  6,  10,  and  are 
forgotten,  Ps.  xxxi.  13  (12). 

14  (13).  And  I  unto  thee,  0  Jehovah,  have  cried,  and  in  the  morning 
shall  my  prayer  come  before  thee.  What  he  has  done  he  is  still  resolved  to 
do,  as  the  only  means  of  safety.  Hence  the  alternation  of  the  preterite  and 
future.  The  first  verb  means  to  cry  for  help.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii. 
42  (41).  With  the  last  clause  compare  Ps.  v.  4  (3),  Ivii.  9  (8),  lix.  17  (16). 
The  verb  has  its  proper  sense  of  coming  before  one  or  into  his  presence. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  13,  xviii.  6  (5),  xxi.  4  (3). 

15  (14).  Why,  0  Jehovah,  wilt  thou  reject  my  soul,  wilt  thou  hide  thy  face 
from,  me  ?  The  first  verb  means  to  reject  with  abhorrence.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xliii.  2,  xliv.  10,  24  (9,  23),  Ix.  3,  12  (1,  10),  Ixxiv.  1,  Ixxvii.  8  (7). 
The  question  impHes  that  such  rejection  would  be  inconsistent  with  God's 
faithfulness,  and  is  therefore  not  expressive  of  entire  despondence. 

16  (15).  Wretched  [am)  I  and  expiring  from,  childhood;  I  have  home  thy 
terrors ;  I  despair.  Expiring,  ready  to  perish,  at  the  point  of  death,  a  strong 
description  of  extreme  distress.  The  childhood  may  be  that  of  the  individual 
sufferer,  or  of  Israel  as  a  nation  (Hos.  xi.  1).  Both  applications  may  have 
been  intended. 

17  (16).  Over  me  have  passed  thine  indignations  ;  thy  terrors  have 
destroyed  me.  TIio  image  in  the  first  clause  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  xlii.  8  (7). 
Indignations,  literally  heats  or  inflamations,  but  always  applied  to  anger. 
The  plural  occurs  only  here.    The  unusual  form  of  the  last  verb  is  supposed 


Psalm  89:1, 2  311 

by  some  to  have  been  coined  by  the  writer,  for  the  sake  of  an  allusion  to 
Lev.  XXV.  23. 

18  (17).  They  have  surrounded  me  like  waters  all  the  day ;  they  have  en- 
compassed me  at  once  (or  all  toffether).  The  figure  of  overwhelming  waves 
is  still  continued.  The  subject  of  the  verbs  can  only  be  the  indignations 
and  the  terrors  of  ver.  17  (16). 

19  (18).  Than  hast  put  far  from  me  lover  and  friend ;  my  acquaintances 
(are)  darkness  (or  a  dark  place).  The  fu"st  clause  is  a  repetition  of  ver.  9  (8). 
The  other  is  obscure,  and  is  supposed  by  some  to  mean,  my  acquaintances 
vanish,  disappear  in  darkness  ;  by  others,  my  acquaintances  give  way  to 
darkness,  are  succeeded  by  it ;  my  only  friend  is  now  the  dark  place,  i.  e. 
the  grave  or  death.  Thus  understood,  the  sentiment  is  not  unlike  that  in 
Job  xvii.  14. 


Psalm  89 

1.  Maschil.  By  Ethan  the  Ezrahite.  From  the  fact  that  Ethan  and 
Jeduthun  are  both  named  with  Asaph  and  Heman,  but  never  named  together, 
it  has  been  inferred  that  they  are  two  names  of  the  same  person,  or  rather 
that  Ethan  is  the  personal  name,  and  Jeduthun  (derived  from  a  verb  which 
means  to  praise)  the  official  title.  Heman  and  Ethan  are  both  described  as 
Ezrahites,  i.  e.  adopted  sons  of  Zerah,  1  Chron.  ii.  5,  but  by  birth  were  no 
doubt  both  Sons  of  Korah,  1  Chron.  vi.  18,  22  (33,  37).  To  the  lamenta- 
tions and  complaints  of  Heman  in  the  first  part  of  this  double  psalm  (Ps. 
Ixxxviii.)  is  now  added  an  appeal  to  the  divine  promise  by  Ethan  in  the 
psalm  before  us.  The  particular  promise  here  insisted  on  is  that  in  2  Sam. 
vii.,  which  constitutes  the  basis  of  all  the  Messianic  psalms.  The  hypothesis 
of  Hengstenberg  and  others,  that  the  psalm  was  composed  in  the  interval 
between  the  death  of  Josiah  and  the  Babylonish  exile,  by  the  Korhites  of 
that  period,  who  merely  assumed  the  name  and  breathed  the  spirit  of  their 
great  progenitors,  could  be  justified  only  by  extreme  exegetical  necessity, 
which  does  not  here  exist,  since  nothing  is  more  natural  than  to  assume, 
that  these  psalms  were  nearly  contemporaneous  with  the  promise  itself,  and 
intended  to  anticipate  misgivings  and  repinings,  which,  although  they  existed 
even  then  in  germ,  were  not  developed  till  the  period  of  dechne  began,  or 
rather  till  it  was  approaching  its  catastrophe.  By  far  the  larger  part  of  this 
psalm  is  occupied  in  amplifying  and  expounding  the  great  Messianic  promise, 
ver.  2-38  (1-37),  while  the  remainder,  like  Ps.  Ixxxviii.,  teaches  the  chosen 
people  how  to  apply  it,  in  their  times  of  sufiering  and  despondency,  ver. 
39-53  (38-52),  a  feature  of  the  composition  which  fully  warrants  its  descrip- 
tion in  the  title  as  a  maschil  or  didactic  psalm. 

2  (1).  The  mercies  of  Jehovah  for  ever  will  I  sing ;  to  generation  and 
generation  will  I  make  known  thy  faithfulness  with  my  mouth.  The  mercies 
particularly  meant  are  the  favours  promised  to  David  as  the  progenitor  and 
type  of  the  Messiah.  The  faithfulness  mentioned  in  the  other  clause  is  that 
of  God  in  the  fulfilment  of  these  promises.  Compare  my  note  on  Isa.  Iv.  3, 
where  the  same  idea  is  expressed  by  the  sure  mercies  of  David.  For  e\',er, 
literally  eternity ^  the  noun  being  used  adverbially,  as  its  plural  is  in  Ps.  Ixi. 
5  (4).  The  promise  of  perpetual  commemoration  shews  that  the  Psalmist 
speaks  not  only  for  himself,  but  for  the  church  of  which  he  is  the  mouth  or 
spokesman. 

8  (2).  For  I  have  said,  For  ever  shall  mercy  he  built  up.    The  heavens^ 


378  Psalm  89:3  -  6 

thou  wilt  fix  thy  faithfulness  in  them.  The  church  will  celebrate  God's 
mercy  and  faithfulness  for  ever,  because  they  will  endure  for  ever,  /  have 
said,  i.  e.  this  is  the  view  of  the  matter  I  have  taken  and  expressed  already. 
The  scheme  of  God's  gracious  dispensations  is  conceived  of  as  a  building, 
already  founded  and  hereafter  to  be  carried  up  to  its  completion.  The 
emphatic  construction  of  the  heavens  as  an  absolute  nominative  [as  to  the 
heavens,  thou  vxilt  fix,  &c.)  is  inadequately  represented  in  the  common 
version  [shalt  thou  establish  in  the  very  heavens).  For  the  proverbial  use 
of  the  heavens  and  the  heavenly  bodies  as  a  standard  of  permanence  and 
immutability,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxii.  5.  The  idea  here  is,  thou  shalt 
make  thy  faithfulness  as  £xed  and  stable  as  the  frame  of  nature. 

4  (3).  /  have  ratified  a  covenant  with  my  chosen  [one)  ;  I  have  sivorn  unto 
David  my  servant.  These  are  the  words  of  God  himself,  though  not  ex- 
pressly so  described,  as  in  ver.  20  (19)  below.  We  have  here  a  summary 
statement  of  the  substance  of  the  promise  in  2  Sam.  vii.,  upon  which  this 
and  the  other  Messianic  psalms  are  founded.  Ratified  a  covenant,  see 
above,  on  Ps.  1.  5.  With  my  chosen,  literally  to  my  chosen,  as  in  the 
parallel  expression,  because  what  is  here  called  a  covenant  was  really  a 
conditional  promise  or  engagement  upon  God's  part.  My  servant,  i.  e.  my 
chosen  and  appointed  instrument  in  executing  my  designs.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xviii.  1,  and  compare  Ps.  Ixxxvi.  16. 

5  (4).  Unto  eternity  will  I  confirm  thy  seed,  and  huild,  to  generation  and 
generation,  thy  throne.  Selah.  Confirm  thy  seed,  establish  thy  descendants 
in  the  permanent  possession  of  the  royal  dignity.  The  same  two  verbs 
which,  in  the  foregoing  verse,  are  applied  to  the  divine  grace  and  fidehty, 
are  here  applied  directly  to  their  objects,  the  throne  and  family  of  David. 

6  (5).  And  the  heavens  acknowledge  thy  wonders,  Jehovah,  likewise  thy 
faithfulness  (is  acknowledged)  in  the  assembly  of  holy  {ones).  The  promise 
just  cited  is  entitled  to  men's  confidence,  because  the  omnipotence  and 
faithfulness  of  Him  who  uttered  it  are  thankfully  acknowledged  by  superior 
beings.  The  parallelism  of  heavens  and  holy  ones  shews  that  the  former 
are  here  put  for  their  inhabitants.  For  the  true  meaning  of  the  first  verb, 
see  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5),  and  for  that  of  the  following  noun,  on  Ps. 
Ixxvii.  12  (11),  Ixxxviii.  11  (10.)  Wonders  or  miracles  are  here  referred 
to,  as  proofs  of  a  mighty  power.  The  and,  also,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
clauses,  have  the  force  of  even,  yea,  in  our  idiom.  The  word  translated 
holy  ones  is  entirely  different  from  that  usually  rendered  saints.  The  latter 
is  always  applied  to  men,  the  former  usually  to  superior  beings,  i.  e.  angels. 
See  Deut.  xxxiii.  2,  3,  Dan.  viii.  13,  Zech.  xiv.  5,  Job.  iv.  18,  xv.  15. 

7  (6).  For  who,  in  the  sky,  can  compare  to  Jehovah?  (Who)  is  like  and 
Jehovah  among  the  Sons  of  the  Mighty  9  The  question  involves  a  strong 
negation,  or  an  affirmation  that  there  is  none  like  him,  even  in  the  orders  of 
existence  superior  to  man.  This  is  given  as  a  reason  for  the  adoring  re- 
cognition of  his  power  and  veracity  in  ver.  6  (5).  The  word  translated  sky 
is  elsewhere  used  in  the  plural  to  denote  the  clouds  collectively.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Ixviii.  35  (34),  Ixxvii.  18  (17),  Ixxviii.  23.  The  singular  form,  in 
this  sense,  is  peculiar  to  the  psahn  before  us.  See  below,  ver.  38  (37). 
The  twofold  usage  of  the  EngHsh  verb  compare,  as  active  and  neuter,  cor- 
responds exactly  to  that  of  the  original  expression,  for  the  primary  and 
proper  sense  of  which,  see  above  on  Ps.  v.  4  (3),  xl.  6  (5),  1.  21.  The 
Sons  of  the  Mighty  or  Almighty  are  the  angels.  As  to  the  pecuhar  form 
of  the  description,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxix.  1,  from  which  it  seems  to  be 
directly  borrowed  in  the  case  before  us. 


Psalm  89:7 -9  379 

8  (7).  A  God  to  be  dreaded  in  the  secret  council  of  (his)  holy  (ones) 
greatly,  and  to  be/eared  above  all  [those)  about  him.  This  is  not  a  distinct 
proposition,  but  a  further  description  of  the  Being  pronounced  in  the  fore- 
going verse  to  be  incomparable.     The  divine  name  (71^)  here  used  implies 

that  what  makes  him  so  terrible  is  his  infinite  power.  The  angels  are 
again  called  holy  ones,  but  furthermore  described  as  the  privy  council,  the 
confidential  intimates,  of  God  himself.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  14.  Iv.  15 
(14),  Ixxxiii.  4  (3).  Yet  even  to  these,  as  being  endlessly  superior,  he  is 
and  ought  to  be  an  object  of  adoring  fear.  The  intensive  adverb  greatly  is 
the  same  with  that  in  Ps.  Ixii.  3,  and  like  it  is  placed  emphatically  at  the 
end  of  the  clause.  Compare  Ps.  xlviii.  2  (1),  Ixv.  10  (9).  Above  may 
either  mean  more  than,  or  by,  with  an  implication  of  his  vast  superiority  as 
the  cause  or  reason.  Those  about  him,  i.  e.  those  immediately  surroimding 
him,  his  heavenly  attendants,  the  angels.  See  the  same  expression,  in  a 
somewhat  different  application,  Ps.  lxx\'i.  12  (11). 

9  (8.)  Jehovah,  God  of  Hosts,  who  (is)  like  thee,  mighty,  Jah,  and  thy 
faithfulness  (is)  round  about  thee.  Th6  infinite  superiority  of  God  to  men 
and  angels  is  here  expressed,  or  rather  indicated,  by  an  accumulation  of 
descriptive  titles.  We  have  here  the  full  phrase,  Jehovah  God  of  Hosts, 
which  occurs  so  frequently  in  an  abbreviated  form.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xxiv.  10.  The  word  translated  mighty  is  used  only  here  ;  but  its  sense  is 
clear  from  the  analogy  of  cognate  forms,  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  the 
ancient  versions.  As  to  Jah,  the  pregnant  abbreviation  or  concentration  of 
Jehovah,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixviii.  5  (4).  It  may  here  be  in  apposition  either 
with  Jehovah,  as  a  vocative,  or  with  Jah,  as  a  descriptive  title.  "  Who  is 
like  thee,  a  mighty  one,  0  Jah?"  Or,  "who  like  thee  is  mighty,  who 
like  thee  is  Jah?"  Faithfulness,  as  elsewhere,  is  veracity  or  truth  in  the 
fulfilment  of  a  promise.  The  word  translated  round  about  is  the  feminine 
or  neuter  form  of  that  used  in  the  preceding  verse,  and  there  appUed  to 
persons.  The  meaning  of  the  whole  clause  is  that  God's  fidelity  is  never 
absent  from  him,  but  appears  wherever  he  does,  the  proofs  of  its  existence 
being  visible  on  all  hands.  The  English  Bible  supplies  a  preposition  and 
assumes  a  second  question,  "  who  is  hke  thy  faithfulness  round  about  thee?" 
But  the  other  construction,  which  is  that  adopted  in  the  ancient  versions, 
is  much  simpler  and  more  natural,  the  elUpsis  of  the  preposition  in  such 
cases  being  rare,  whereas  that  of  the  substantive  verb  is  the  general  rule  of 
Hebrew  syntax,  to  which  its  insertion  is  a  mere  exception. 

10  (9).  Thou  rulest  the  sicell  of  the  sea  ;  in  the  rise  of  its  toaves  thou 
stillest  them.  The  general  declaration  of  God's  power  is  now  rendered  more 
distinct  by  specifying  one  of  the  most  striking  forms  in  which  it  manifests 
itself.  At  the  same  time,  there  is  no  doubt  an  allusion  to  the  scriptural 
usage  of  the  sea  as  an  emblem  of  the  world  and  its  conflicting  powers.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xlvi.  3,  4  (2,  3),  Ixv.  8  (7).  The  appropriateness  of  the 
words  both  to  physical  and  moral  changes  affords  an  easy  and  beautiful 
transition  to  the  latter  in  the  next  verse.  The  verbal  form  at  the  beginning 
is  a  participle,  thou  (art)  ruling,  i.  e.  habitually,  constantly.  The  connec- 
tive particle  may  be  retained  by  rendering  it  rulest  over.  The  first  noun  is 
applied  elsewhere  (Ps.  xvii.  10)  to  the  swelHng  or  elation  of  the  heart  with 
pride ;  but  that  this  is  only  a  derived  and  secondary  meaning  may  be 
gathered  from  the  use  of  the  same  word  to  denote  the  loftiness  or  majesty 
of  God  (Ps.  xciii.  1),  and  also  from  the  appUcationof  the  verbal  root  to  the 
rise  of  water  in  an  inundation  (Ezek.  xlvii.  5).     The  parallel  term  is  an 


380  Psalm  89:10  - 14 

abbreviated  infinitive  used  as  a  noun,  and  therefore  well  represented  by  the 
English  rise,  which  is  also  both  noun  and  verb. 

11  (10).  Thou  didst  crush,  like  the  slain,  Rahah ;  with  thine  arm  of 
strength  thou  didst  scatter  thy  foes.  This  relates  wholly  to  the  sea  of  nations, 
in  which  Egypt  stands  first,  as  the  earliest  national  enemy  of  Israel,  and 
also  perhaps  because  the  power  of  Pharaoh,  at  the  exodus,  was  literally 
broken  in  the  sea.  The  first  verb  means  to  shatter,  crush,  or  break  in 
pieces.  See  above,  Ps.  Ixxii.  4.  The  pronoun  is  emphatic ;  (it  was)  thou 
?and  none  other  that)  didst  crush,  &c.  The  significant  name  Rahah,  mean- 
ing pride  or  insolence,  corresponds  to  the  swelling  of  the  sea,  in  the  foregoing 
verse.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxvii.  4.  Like  the  slain,  like  one  mortally 
wounded,  especially  in  battle.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  6  (5).  The 
point  of  comparison  is  the  sudden  change  from  overbearing  arrogance  to 
helplessness  and  weakness.  Thine  arm  of  strength,  or  strong  arm,  tjje  active 
exertion  of  thy  power.  See  above,  on  Ps.  x.  15,  xxxvii.  17,  xliv.  4  ^3), 
Ixxxiii.  9  (8).  The  last  verb  belongs  to  the  dialect  of  poetry,  and  occurs 
above,  in  Ps.  liii.  6  (5).  See  below,  Ps.  cxii.  9,  cxli.  7.  This  verse  relates 
only  indirectly  to  the  enemies  of  God  in  general.  Even  the  last  clause  has 
specific  reference  to  the  enemies  who  perished  in  the  Red  Sea. 

12  (11).  To  thee  (belongs)  heaven,  also  to  thee  earth,  the  world  and  its 
fulness,  thou  didst  found  them.  The  power  of  God  is  now  described  as 
universal  and  creative.  Heaven  and  earth  is  the  usual  comprehensive  phrase 
for  the  whole  frame  of  nature  or  material  universe.  The  last  clause  is  evi- 
dently borrowed  from  Ps.  xxiv.  1.  Its  fulness,  that  which  occupies  and 
fills  it,  its  contents  and  its  inhabitants.  The  verb  to  found  suggests  the 
two  ideas  of  creation  and  sustentation.  He  not  only  called  them  into  being, 
but  made  them  permanent  or  lasting.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  69,  and 
below,  on  Ps.  civ.  5.  The  world,  the  cultivated  and  productive  earth,  as 
opposed  to  the  desolate  and  barren  sea.  The  EngUsh  Bible,  following  the 
masoretic  accents,  construes  the  world  and  its  fulness  as  absolute  nomina- 
tives. A  simpler  construction  is  to  put  them  in  apposition  with  heaven  and 
earth,  and  refer  the  pronoun  at  the  end  to  all  these  antecedents. 

13  (12).  North  and  south,  thou  didst  create  them  ;  Tabor  and  Hermonin 
thy  name  rejoice.  The  pronoun  at  the  end  of  the  first  clause  is  superfluous 
in  English  ;  the  original  construction  requires  north  and  south  to  be  taken 
absolutely,  {as  for)  the  north  and  south,  thou  hast  created  them.  The  word 
for  north  originally  means  concealment ;  that  for  south  the  right  hand.  The 
east  and  west  are  represented  by  two  mountains  on  either  side  of  Jordan. 
As  to  Hermon,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  7  (6).  The  points  of  the  compass 
are  here  put,  like  heaven  and  earth  in  the  preceding  context,  for  the  whole 
world,  and  described  as  rejoicing  in  God's  name,  i.  e.  praising  his  perfections 
by  their  very  existence. 

14  (13).  To  thee  (is)  an  arm  with  strength  ;  strong  is  thy  hand,  high  is 
thy  right  hand.  This  is  simply  another  declaration  of  the  divine  omnipo- 
tence, under  the  usual  emblems,  arms,  hand,  and  right  hand.  See  above, 
on  ver.  11  (10). 

15  (14).  Justice  and  judgment  {are)  the  place  of  thy  throne  ;  mercy  and 
truth  shall  go  before  thy  face.  The  word  translated  place  may  also  have  the 
more  specific  sense  of  dwelling-place.  The  meaning  is  that  God  reigns  in  the 
midst  of  perfect  righteousness.  See  above,  on  ver.  9  (8).  The  verb  in  the 
last  clause  always  means  to  go  or  come  before,  sometimes  in  the  sense  of  coming 
into  one's  presence,  sometimes  in  that  of  meeting  or  encountering,  sometimes 
(as  here)  in  that  of  being  a  forerunner.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxv.  14  (13). 


Psalm89:15-22  381 

16  (15).  Happy  the  people  hnovnng  joyful  noise  ;  Jehovah,  in  the  light  of 
thy  face  they  shall  walk.  The  unusual  expression  in  the  first  clause  seems 
to  mean  those  who  know  how  and  have  occasion  to  rejoice  in  the  experience 
of  God's  favour.  The  last  noun  in  Hebrew  denotes  any  loud  expression  sf 
exultation,  either  by  voice  or  instrument.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  6.  The 
light  of  God's  face  is  the  cheering  expression  of  his  countenance  as  indicating 
favour  or  benignity.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  7  (6),  xliii.*  3,  xliv.  4  (3).  To 
walk  in  this  Hght  is  to  live  in  the  habitual  enjoyment  of  it.  This  last  clause 
gives  the  reason  for  their  being  pronounced  happy  in  the  first. 

17  (16).  In  thy  name  they  shall  rejoice  all  the  day,  and  in  thy  righteous- 
ness shall  be  exalted.  In  thy  name,  in  the  display  of  thy  perfections.  In  thy 
righteousness,  i.  e.  in  the  exercise  of  that  essential  rectitude  which  secures 
the  performance  of  God's  promise  and  thereby  the  salvation  of  his  people. 

18  (17).  For  the  beauty  of  their  strength  (art)  thou,  and  in  thy  favour  thou 
wilt  lift  up  our  horn.  God  is  at  once  their  mighty  ornament  and  their 
glorious  protection.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  61.  In  thy  favour,  at  the 
time,  and  by  the  means,  of  thy  experienced  favour.  Lift  our  horn,  enable 
us  to  triumph  in  security.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxv.  11  (10),  and  below,  on 
Ps.  xcii.  11  (10). 

19  (18).  For  unto  Jehovah  (belongs)  our  shield,  and  to  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel  our  king.  Our  protectors  are  themselves  protected  by  Jehovah. 
This  construction  is  much  simpler  and  more  natural  than  that  adopted  in 
the  English  versions,  which  entirely  overlooks  the  preposition  in  both  clauses, 
or  arbitrarily  regards  it  as  a  sign  of  the  nominative  case.  A  better  con- 
struction, although  not  precisely  the  true  sense,  is  given  in  the  margin  of 
the  English  Bible. 

20  (19).  Then  thou  spakest  in  vision  to  thy  gracious  one  and  saidst,  I  have 
laid  help  on  a  Mighty  [Man)  ;  I  have  raised  one  chosen  from  (among)  the 
people.  The  Psalmist  here  returns  to  the  vocation  by  David  and  the  pro- 
mise made  to  him.  See  2  Sam.  vii.  17  (compare  1  Chron.  xvii.  9),  where 
the  divine  communication  made  through  Nathan  to  David  is  called  a  vision. 
Thy  saint  or  gracious  one  may  signify  either  of  these  persons.  The  ancient 
versions,  followed  by  the  Prayer-Book  and  some  eminent  interpreters,  have 
the  plural  form  instead  of  the  singular,  thy  saints,  meaning  Israel  at  large, 
to  whom  the  promise  was  truly  addressed.  See  2  Sam.  vii.  10,  1  Chron. 
xvii.  9.  To  lay  help  upon  one  is  to  impart  it  to  him,  with  a  strong  impli- 
cation of  descent  from  above.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxi.  8  (5).  The  gift  in 
this  case  was  not  merely  for  himself,  but  for  others  through  his  agency. 
God  helped  him  to  help  the  people.  Chosen  has  here  its  strict  sense,  but 
not  without  allusion  to  its  specific  use  as  signifying  a  young  warrior.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  31,  68. 

21  (20).  /  have  found  David  my  servant;  with  my  holy  oil  have  I 
anointed  him.  This  verse  removes  all  doubt  as  to  the  person  primarily 
intended  in  the  following  verse,  but  without  excluding  his  successors,  and 
especially  the  last  and  greatest  of  them,  to  whom  the  royal  dignity  was 
given  in  the  unction  of  Da^^d.  See  1  Sam.  xvi.  13.  This  act  denoted  not 
only  consecration  to  the  divine  service,  but  the  spiritual  gifts  required  in 
order  to  its  right  performance.     See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  2. 

22  (21).  With  whom  my  hand  shall  be  ever  present;  also  my  arm  shall 
strengthen  him.  Ever  present,  literally  established,  permanently  fixed. 
See  below,  ver.  38  (37),  and  above,  Ps.  Ixxviii.  37.  The  hand  and  arm, 
as  usual,  are  emblems  of  strength.     See  above,  on  ver.  11,  14  (10,  13). 

23  (22).  The  enemy  shall  not  vex  him,  and  the  son  of  iniquity  shall  not 


382  Psalm  89:23  -  33 

afflict  htm.  The  verb  in  tlie  first  clause  means  specifically  to  annoy  or  per- 
secute as  a  creditor  his  debtor.  The  second  clause  is  copied  almost  word 
for  word,  from  2  Sam.  vii.  10.     Compare  1  Chron.  xvii,  9, 

24  (23).  And  I  will  crush  before  him  his  foes,  and  his  haters  I  will  smite. 
The  last  verb  is  especially  applied  to  strokes  inflicted  by  the  hand  of  God. 

25  (24).  Jnd  my  faithfulness  and  my  mercy  (shall  be)  with  him,  and  in 
my  name  shall  his  horn  be  high.  See  above,  on  ver.  17, 18  (16,  17).  Faith- 
fulness and  mercy  are  combined,  as  in  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  12  (11). 

26  (25).  And  I  will  set  in  the  sea  his  hand,  and  in  the  floods  his  right 
hand.  I  will  cause  him  to  lay  hands  upon  them,  and  exercise  authority 
over  them,  as  his  own  possession  and  domain.  Hand  and  right  hand,  as 
in  ver.  14  (13).  Sea  and  floods,  streams,  or  rivers,  as  in  Ps.  xxiv.  2.  The 
watery  parts  of  the  earth  are  here  put  for  the  whole.  Compare  1  Chron.  xiv.  17. 

27  (26).  He  shall  call  me  (or  cry  unto  me),  Thou  art  my  Father,  my  God, 
and  the  rock  of  my  salvation.  The  emphatic  pronouns  in  the  original  bring 
out  more  clearly  the  mutual  relation  and  reciprocal  action  of  the  parties. 
With  the  first  clause  compare  2  Sam.  vii.  14,  1  Chron.  xxii.  10,  Job. 
xvii.  14.  With  the  second  compare  Ps.  xviii.  3  (2),  xxxi.  3  (2).  The  rock 
of  my  salvation,  the  rock  that  saves  me,  the  hiding-place  and  stronghold 
where  my  safety  hes. 

28  (27).  Also  I  (as  mj)  first-horn  will  give  him,  higher  than  kings  of  the 
earth.  He  shall  be  treated  not  only  as  the  son  but  as  the  eldest  son  of  God 
himself.  The  same  description  is  applied  elsewhere  to  Israel  (Exod.  iv.  22), 
to  Ephraim  (Jer.  xxxi.  9),  and  to  Christ  (Heb.  i.  6).  The  last  clause  is 
borrowed,  both  in  form  and  substance,  from  Deut.  xxviii.  1  (compare 
xxix.  16);  but  instead  of  high  above,  we  have  here  high  as  to,  in  reference 
to  (or  in  comparison  with)  the  kings  of  the  earth. 

29  (28).  For  ever  will  I  keep  for  him  my  mercy,  and  my  covenant  is  sure 
to  him.  For  ever,  literally  to  eternity.  Keep,  i.  e.  keep  it  in  reserve  for 
him.  My  covenant,  or  conditional  promise.  See  above,  on  ver.  4  (3). 
Sure,  or  more  exactly,  made  sure,  ratified,  confirmed.  Compare  Isa.  Iv.  3. 
30  (29).  And  I  will  establish  for  ever  his  seed,  and  his  throne  as  the  days 
of  heaven.  See  2  Sam.  vii.  12.  The  promise  is  now  extended  from  David 
to  his  posterity.  Establish,  Hterally  set  or  place.  The  pronoun  in  the 
second  clause  may  refer  either  to  David  or  his  seed.  In  the  latter  case,  it 
might  be  rendered  its  or  their  throne.  The  question,  however,  is  purely 
grammatical,  since  the  throne  of  David  and  the  throne  of  his  descendants 
are  identical.  In  the  last  clause  the  idea  of  duration  is  again  expressed  by 
a  reference  to  the  stability  of  nature.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxii.  5,  7,  17, 
and  compare  Deut.  xi.  21. 

81-33  (30—32).  If  his  sons  forsake  my  law,  and  in  my  judgments  will 
not  walk;  if  my  statutes  they  profane,  and  my  commandments  will  not  keep  ; 
then  will  I  visit  with  a  rod  their  transgressions,  and  with  stripes  their  guilt. 
The  promise  of  perpetual  favour  to  the  house  of  David  was  not  intended  to 
insure  impunity  to  its  unfaithful  members.  To  profane  God's  statutes  is 
to  deny  in  theory  or  practice  their  sacred  obligation  and  divine  authority. 
The  and  at  the  commencement  of  the  last  verse  is  equivalent  to  then  in 
English  after  a  conditional  clause.  The  whole  passage  is  an  amplification 
of  2  Sam.  vii.  14. 

34  (33).  And  my  mercy  I  will  not  withdraio  from  him,  and  will  not 
prove  false  (or  deal  falsely)  in  my  faith.  Our  idiom  requires  a  but  to  render 
clear  the  relation  of  this  sentence  to  the  foregoing  context.  The  verb  in 
the  first  clause  means  to  break  or  violate,  but  construed,  as  it  here  is,  with 


Psalm  89:34  -  38  383 

the  preposition  from,  suggests  the  idea  of  breaking  an  engagement  by  with- 
drawing what  was  stipulated  to  be  given  and  secured.  Faith  in  the  last 
clause  means  fidelity  or  truth,  as  in  the  phrases,  good  faith,  keep  faith,  &c. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xliv.  18  (17).  The  promise  in  this  verse  is  not  to  them 
but  him,  not  to  the  sinning  individuals  mentioned  just  before,  but  to  the 
family  or  race  as  such,  to  David  as  still  living  in  his  natural  descendants. 
Compare  1  Kings  xi.  36,  2  Kings  viii.  19,  2  Chron.  vi.  42,  Isa.  xxxvii.  35. 

35  (34).  1  will  not  profane  my  covenant,  and  the  utterance  of  my  lips  1 
will  not  change.  In  the  first  clause  there  is  obvious  allusion  to  ver. 
32  (31).  What  God  requires  of  them  he  renders  to  them.  The  engage- 
ment is  reciprocal.  As  they  are  not  to  profane  his  covenant  by  breaking 
it,  neither  will  He.  The  obligation  is  a  sacred  one  on  both  sides.  See 
below,  on  the  next  verse,  and  above,  on  Ps.  Iv.  21  (20).  The  utterance  or 
outgoing  of  the  lips  is  a  technical  expression  of  the  Law,  in  reference  to 
oral  vows  and  other  engagements.  See  Num.  xxx.  13  (12),  Deut.  xxiii. 
24  (23).  It  is  a  stronger  expression  than  that  which  I  have  said  or  pro- 
mised, although  this  is  really  the  meaning  here.  /  will  not  change,  evade 
the  execution  of  my  promise  by  altering  its  terms  or  its  conditions.  Com- 
pai"e  the  form  of  expression  in  Ps.  xv.  4. 

36  (35).  One  (thing)  have  I  sworn  in  my  holiness,  I  will  not  lie  unto 
David.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew  is  not  an  adverb  of  time  {a^ra^,  semel, 
once),  but  a  numeral  adjective  in  the  feminine  form,  used  as  the  neuter  is 
in  Greek  and  Latin.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  4.  "  Whatever  else  may  fail, 
there  is  one  thing  that  cannot,  for  I  have  sworn  that  it  shall  come  to  pass." 
In  my  holiness,  as  a  holy  God,  including  all  divine  perfection,  but  with 
special  reference  to  moral  rectitude.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ix.  8  (6).  The 
last  verb  might  be  rendered,  1  cannot  lie.  See  Num.  xxiii.  19,  1  Sam. 
xv.  29,  and  compare  Heb.  vi.  18,  vii.  20,  21.  The  form  of  the  original  is 
highly  idiomatic,  if  I  lie  unto  David.  Compare  the  Hebrew  of  1  Sam. 
xxiv.  7  (6),  2  Sam.  iii.  35. 

37  (36).  His  seed  to  eternity  shall  be  ;  and  his  throne  as  the  sun  before 
me.  See  above,  on  ver.  30  (29),  and  compare  Ps.  xlv.  7  (6).  Shall  be, 
shall  continue  to  exist.  Or  the  whole  phrase  may  mean,  shall  be  eternal. 
As  the  sun,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxii.  5,  17.  Before  me,  in  my  sight  and 
under  my  protection. 

38  (37.)  As  the  moon  is  fixed  eternally,  and  the  witness  in  the  sky  is  sure. 
The  verse  thus  translated,  does  not  repeat  the  promise  in  the  one  before 
it,  but  merely  confirms  it  by  a  further  reference  to  the  course  of  nature,  as 
the  customaiy  standard  of  duration.  It  is  equally  grammatical,  however, 
to  translate,  rts  the  moon  it  (the  throne)  shall  be  fixed  for  ever,  and  (as)  the 
witness  in  heaven  is  sure.  In  either  case  the  witness  is  the  moon.  See 
above,  on  ver.  7  (6),  29  (28),  and  compare  Ps.  Ixxii.  5. 

39  (38).  And  (yet)  thou  hast  cast  off  and  rejected  ;  thou  art  loroth  with 
thine  Anointed.  Having  fully  recited  and  expounded  the  great  promise  to 
the  house  of  David,  the  psalm  now  contrasts  it  with  the  present  reality, 
and  seems  to  complain  that  it  had  not  been  verified.  For  a  similar  transi- 
tion, see  above,  Ps.  xliv.  10  (9).  There  is  no  need  of  confining  this  de- 
scription to  the  last  days  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  or  to  any  other 
period  of  its  history  exclusively.  If  the  psalm  was  really  composed  by 
Ethan,  as  we  have  no  sufficient  ground  for  doubting  that  it  was,  he 
may  have  designedly  so  framed  it  as  to  suit  any  season  of  distress  and 
danger,  in  which  the  theocratic  sovereign  seemed  to  be  forsaken  of  Jeho- 
vah.    Both  verbs  in  the  first  clause  signify  abhorrent  and  contemptuous 


384  Psalm  89 .39-44 

rejection.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xv.  4,  xliii.  2,  xliv.  10  (9),  Ixxviii.  59,  67, 
Ixxxviii.  15  (14). 

40  (39.)  Thou  hast  broken  the  covenant  of  thy  servant ;  thou  hast  pro- 
faned to  the  earth  his  crown.     The  first  verb  in  Hebrew  occurs  only  here 

and  Lam.  ii.  7.  The  usual  explanation  is  conjectural,  or  founded  on  the 
ancient  versions.  A  cognate  verb  in  Arabic  means  to  abhor,  which  would 
be  appropriate  in  this  place.  The  covenant  of  thj  servant,  i.  e.  thy  covenant 
with  thy  servant.  See  above,  on  ver.  29,  35  (28,  34).  The  pregnant 
construction,  profaned  to  the  ground,  i.e.  profaned  by  casting  to  the  ground, 
occurs  above,  Ps.  Ixxiv.  7.  The  theocratical  crown  was  a  sacred  or  reli- 
gious dignity,  any  contempt  of  which  might  therefore  well  be  called  a  pro- 
fanation. Compare  what  is  said  of  the  priestly  diadem.  Exod.  xxviii.  86, 
xxix.  6. 

41  (40.)  Thou  hast  broken   down  all  his  walls ;  thou  hast  made  his  de- 
fences a  ruin.     As  the  word  translated  walls  is  commonly  used  to  denote 

the  enclosures  of  vineyards,  whether  walls  or  hedges,  this  may  be  the 
figure  here  intended,  which  is  then  exchanged,  in  the  last  clause,  for  that 
of  a  walled  town,  with  its  defences  or  defensive  works,  its  fortifications. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxx.  13  (12).  Some  interpreters  allege  that  the  last 
word  always  has  the  sense  of  terror ;  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  it  ever 
has,  whereas  that  of  ruin  often  occurs,  particularly  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs. 

42  (41).  All  spoil  him  that  pass  by  the  way;  he  has  become  a  contempt  to 
his  neighbours.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  Ixxx.  13  (12) ;  with  the 
last,  Ps.  Ixxx.  7  (6).  These  resemblances  prove  nothing  as  to  the  rela- 
tive antiquity  of  the  two  psalms,  or  the  date  of  either.  The  figure  is  more 
fully  carried  out  in  Ps.  Ixxx,  but  this  no  more  proves  that  to  be  the  original 
than  it  proves  it  to  be  the  copy.  If  any  such  conclusion  were  legitimate, 
it  would  be  easier  to  account  for  the  amplification  of  the  hint  here  thrown 
out  by  a  later  writer,  than  for  the  omission,  in  the  case  before  us,  of  so 
many  fine  strokes  in  that  admirable  apologue.  A  contempt,  an  object  of 
supercihous  pity  and  disdainful  wonder. 

43  (42).  Thou  hast  lifled  the  right  hand  of  his  foes,  hcLst  caused  to  triumph 
all  his  enemies.  As  the  hand,  and  especially  the  right  hand,  is  the  sjTnbol 
of  exerted  strength,  and  a  high  hand  that  of  triumphant  superiority,  espe- 
cially in  war,  so  to  raise  the  right  hand  in  the  first  clause  of  the  verse  be- 
fore us,  really  means  nothing  more  than  the  literal  expression  (caused  to 
triumph)  in  the  other.  This  seemed  to  be  in  direct  contradiction  to  the 
promise  in  ver.  23,  24  (22,  23),  as  well  as  to  the  prayer  in  Ps.  xxv.  2. 

44  (43).  Also  thou  turnest  the  edge  of  his  sword,  and  dost  not  allow  him 
to  stand  in  the  battle.     The  particle  (t)^})  at   the    beginning   indicates  a 

climax.  Not  only  was  his  enemy  superior,  but  himself  delinquent  and  dis- 
graced. Edge,  Uterally  rock,  of  his  sword.  The  idea  suggested  may  be  that 
of  hardness,  as  a  hard  edge  is  essential  to  a  serviceable  weapon.  See  my 
note  on  Isa.  xxvii.  1.  Some  interpreters,  however,  think  it  best  to  adhere 
to  the  ordinary  usage  oirock  in  Hebrew  as  an  emblem  of  strength,  and  to  un- 
derstand the  whole  phrase  as  meaning  the  strength  of  his  sword,  either  in 
the  strict  sense  or  in  that  of  strong  sword,  both  of  which  are  here  appro- 
priate. See  above,  on  ver.  27  (26).  The  construction  in  the  last  clause  is 
ambiguous,  as  the  pronoun  may  refer  to  sword  or  rock,  no  less  grammatically 
than  to  its  possessor.  The  general  sense  remains  the  same,  however,  as 
in  the  similar  case  above,  ver.  30  (29). 

45  (44).  Thou  hast  made  {him)  to  cease  from  his  brightness,  and  his 
throne  to  the  earth  cast  down.     Brightness  is  in  various  languages  a  figure 


Psalm  89:45  -  50  385 

for  distinction,  eminence,  celebrity,  or  glory.  Compare  with  the  last  clause 
what  is  said  of  the  crown  in  ver.  40  (39),  and  of  the  throne  itself  in  ver. 
5  (4). 

46  (45).  Thou  hast  shortened  the  days  of  his  youth ;  thou  hast  covered  him 
with  shame.  Selah.  His  youth,  his  youthful  energy  and  vigour.  See  Job 
xxxiii.  25.  Thou  hast  made  him  an  object  of  contempt  by  cutting  short 
his  vigorous  career  and  rendering  him  prematurely  old.  This  may  be  said 
of  certain  individual  kings,  as  well  as  of  the  kingdom  when  approaching  its 
catastrophe.  Covered  him  with  shame,  literally  covered  shame  upon  him, 
i.  e.  heaped  it  on  him  so  as  to  cover  him. 

47  (46).  How  long,  Jehovah,  wilt  thou  hide  thy  self  for  ever  7  (How  long) 
shall  burn,  like  fire,  thy  wrath?  On  the  doubtful  construction  of  the  first 
clause,  and  the  meaning  of  the  combination,  how  long  for  ever,  see  above, 
on  Ps.  xiii.  2  (1),  Ixxix.  5.  How  long,  Uterally  until  what,  i.  e.  until  what 
point  [how  far),  or  until  what  time  {hoiv  long)? 

48  (47).  Remember  what  duration  I  have  ;  why  {for)  nought  hast  thou 
created  all  the  sons  of  Man  (or  Adam)  ?  The  construction  in  the  first 
clause  is  obscure  and  broken,  as  if  it  consisted  of  incoherent  exclamations. 
0  remember — / — what — duration.  For  the  meaning  of  the  last  word,  see 
above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  14,  xxxix.  6  (5),  and  with  the  whole  clause  compare  Ps. 
Ixxviii.  89,  cxix.  84,  Jobvii.  6,  xiv.  1.  The  last  clause  is  to  be  hypotheti- 
cally  imderstood.  "  Why  hast  thou  made  all  men  in  vain,  as  must  be  the 
case  if  their  short  Hfe  is  entirely  filled  with  suffering  ?  "  Or,  "  why  dost 
thou  give  colour  and  occasion  to  the  charge  of  having  made  men  to  no  pur- 
pose ?  Why,  literally  on  what  (account)  or  for  what  reason  ?  The  next 
word  in  Hebrew  (^}1Ii^)  is  a  noun  meaning  vanity,  nonentity,  or  nothing, 

here,  and  in  Ps.  cxxvii.  1,  2,  used  adverTsially  in  the  sense  of  vainly,  to  no 
purpose,  or  for  nought. 

49  (48).  What  man  shall  live  and  not  see  death  (but)  rescue  his  soul 
from  the  hand  of  Sheol  ?  Selah.  An  indirect  assertion  of  the  melancholy 
fact  that  all  must  die,  rendered  still  more  pointed  by  the  use  of  a  word  for 
man  implying  strength.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  5  (4).  As  if  he  had 
said,  what  man  is  so  strong  as  to  live  for  ever  and  escape  the  common 
destiny  of  mortals  ?  This  allusion  cannot  be  preserved  in  any  mere  trans- 
lation. Rescue,  literally  cause  to  escape.  His  soul,  considered  as  his  Ufe 
or  vital  principle.  Hand  may  be  here,  as  often  elsewhere,  a  figure  for 
power ;  or  it  may  have  its  proper  sense  and  denote  the  hand  of  Sheol,  the 
Grave,  Mortality  or  Death,  as  an  ideal  person.  The  Selah  has  the  same 
force  as  in  Ps.  xxxix.  6,  12  (5,  11). 

50  (49).'  Where  are  thy  former  mercies,  Lord,  thou  didst  swear  unto 
David  in  thy  truth  or  {faithfulness).  The  first  or  former  mercies  of  the 
Lord  are  those  which  he  promised  of  old,  especially  to  David,  as  expressly 
mentioned  in  the  other  clause.  See  above,  on  ver.  4,  36  (3,  35).  The 
inquiry  where  they  are  implies  that  they  have  vanished,  or  that  the  fulfil- 
ment has  not  become  visible.  The  last  clause  may  be  closely  united  with 
the  first  by  supplying  a  relative  between  them,  as  in  the  common  version, 
which  thou  swearest  unto  David.  A  simpler  and  more  emphatic  syntax  is 
to  make  it  a  distinct  proposition  :  thou  didst  swear  unto  David,  and  thy  oath 
cannot  be  broken.  See  above,  on  ver.  36  (35).  This  last  idea  is  involved 
in  the  concluding  words,  in  thy  veracity  or  faithfulness.  "What  God,  as  a 
God  of  truth,  has  sworn,  not  only  will  but  must  be  executed. 

51  (50).  Remember,  Lord,  the  reproach  of  thy  servants,  my  heanng  in  my 
bosom  all  the  many  nations.     The  form  of  address  is  the  same  as  in  ver.  48 


386  Psalm  89:5  J,  52 

(47).  The  reproach  of  thy  servants,  the  contempt  and  disgrace  to  which 
they  are  subjected.  Thy  servants,  of  whom  I  am  one.  Or  the  sudden 
transition  to  the  first  person  singular  may  shew  that  the  petitioner,  in  this 
whole  context,  is  not  an  individual  believer,  but  the  Church  at  large.  In 
my  hosom  may  denote  good  measure  or  abundance.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixxix.  12.  Or  hearing  in  my  hosom  may  mean  feeling  in  my  heart,  i.  e. 
intensely,  exquisitely,  in  which  case  nations  must  be  put  for  the  contempt 
of  nations.  More  probable  than  either  is  the  figure  of  gestation,  according 
to  which  Zion,  although  now  despised  or  hated  by  the  nations,  is  one  day 
to  be  their  spiritual  mother  or  their  spiritual  birth-place.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  Ixxxvii.  4,  6.     The  Hebrew  adjective  (D^2I1)  may  mean  either  great  or 

many ;  but  the  latter  sense  is  more  agreeable  to  usage  and  the  collocation 
of  the  words  in  this  case.  The  idiomatic  plirase,  all  many  nations,  is  equi- 
valent to  saying,  all  the  nations  who  are  many  in  number.  The  word  all 
might  be  used,  however  small  the  number  of  the  nations.  To  express  the 
whole  idea,  therefore,  both  words  were  required. 

52  (51).  Wherewith  thine  enemies  have  reproached,  Jehovah,  wherewith  they 
have  reproached  the  footsteps  of  thine  Anointed.  The  connection  indicated 
by  the  relative  at  the  beginning  is  by  no  means  clear.  The  common  ver- 
sion, above  given,  makes  reproach  in  ver.  51  (50)  the  antecedent.  Some 
interpreters  connect  the  relative  with  the  verb  at  the  beginning  of  that 
verse,  and  give  it  the  force  of  a  conjunction,  "remember  that  (or  how) 
thine  enemies  have  reproached."  Its  proper  meaning  as  a  relative  pro- 
noun may  be  retained  by  referring  it  to  difi"erent  antecedents.  "  (I)  whom 
thine  enemies  have  reproached,  (thine  enemies)  who  have  reproached  the 
steps  of  thine  Anointed."  This  last  expression  seems  to  mean  that  they 
had  tracked  or  followed  him,  wherever  he  went,  with  calumny  and  insult. 

53(52).  Blessed  (he)  Jehovah  to  eternity.  Amen,  and  Amen.  This  is 
commonly  regarded  as  no  part  of  the  psalm,  but  a  doxology,  marking  the 
conclusion  of  the  third  book.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xli.  14  (13),  Ixxii.  18-20, 
and  compare  the  Preface,  p.  5. 

Psalm  90 

The  Fourth  Book,  according  to  the  ancient  traditional  division  of  the 
Psalter,  opens  with  the  oldest  Psalm  in  the  collection.  Or  rather  the  author 
of  the  present  arrangement,  who  was  probably  no  other  than  Ezra,  placed 
this  sublime  composition  by  itself,  between  the  two  great  divisions  of  the 
book,  containing  respectively  the  Earlier  and  Later  Psalms.  See  the 
Preface,  p.  6.  It  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  the  heart  or  centre  of 
the  whole  collection,  and  indeed  as  the  model  upon  which  even  David,  "the 
sweet  psalmist  of  Israel  "  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  1),  formed  that  glorious  body  of 
psalmodic  literature  or  hymnology,  which,  with  its  later  but  inspired  and 
authoritative  imitations,  constitutes  the  present  Book  of  Psalms.  The  date 
of  the  composition,  though  uncertain  because  not  recorded,  may  with  most 
probability  be  fixed  near  the  close  of  the  Error  in  the  Wilderness,  when 
the  dying  out  of  the  older  generation  on  account  of  their  transgressions,  and 
the  threatened  exclusion  of  Moses  himself  from  the  Promised  Land,  were 
exactly  suited  to  produce  such  views  of  man's  mortality  and  sinfulness  as  are 
here  presented,  but  without  destroying  the  anticipation  of  a  bright  futurity, 
such  as  really  ensued  upon  the  death  of  Moses,  and  is  prospectively  dis- 
closed in  the  conclusion  of  this  psalm.     Its  great  theme  is  the  frailty  and 


Psalm  90:1, 2  387 

brevity  of  human  life,  considered  as  the  consequence  of  sin,  and  as  a  motive 
to  repentance  and  obedience.  He  first  contrasts  the  eternity  of  God  with 
the  mortality  of  man,  ver.  1-6,  which  is  then  described  as  the  effect  of  the 
divine  wrath  on  account  of  sin,  ver.  7-11,  and  made  the  ground  of  apr-yer, 
with  which  the  psalm  concludes,  for  the  speedy  restoration  of  the  divine 
favour,  ver.  12-17. 

1.  A  Prayer.  By  Hosts,  the  Man  of  God.  Lord,  a  home  hast  thou 
heen  to  us,  in  generation  and  generation.  The  psalm  is  called  a  prayer, 
because  the  petition  at  the  close  (ver.  12-17)  contains  the  essence  of  the 
composition,  to  which  the  rest  is  merely  preparatory.  For  another  case 
precisely  similar,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxvi.  1.  The  correctness  of  the  title, 
which  ascribes  the  psalm  to  Moses,  is  confirmed  by  its  unique  simplicity 
and  grandeur ;  its  appropriateness  to  his  times  and  circumstances,  as 
ah-eady  stated ;  its  resemblance  to  the  law  in  urging  the  connection  between 
sin  and  death ;  its  similarity  of  diction  to  the  poetical  portions  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch, without  the  slightest  trace  of  imitation  or  quotation  ;  its  marked 
unUkeness  to  the  psalms  of  David,  and  still  more  to  those  of  later  date  ; 
and  finally,  the  proved  impossibility  of  plausibly  assigning  it  to  any  other 
age  or  author.  The  arguments  against  its  authenticity  have  com- 
monly been  framed  by  a  preposterous  inversion  of  the  evidence,  con- 
verting into  proofs  of  later  date  the  very  points  of  similarity  which  prove 
that  this  was  the  original  and  model  psahn,  the  primeval  basis  upon  which 
even  David  reared  a  noble  superstructure  of  his  own.  The  title  Man  of 
God  is  given  to  Moses,  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  1,  Josh.  xiv.  6,  Ezra  iii.  2.  and  is 
often  appHed  to  later  prophets,  especially  Elijah  and  EUsha.  See  1  Sam. 
ii.  27,  1  Kings  xvii.  18,  24,  xx.  28,  2  Kings  i.  13,  iv.  9,  21,  27,  42.  It 
is  here  significant,  implying  that  Moses  wrote  the  psalm  in  this  capacity. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  1,  xxxvi.  1,  where  David  is  in  like  manner  called 
the  Servant  of  Jehovah,  a  title  given  to  Moses  himself  in  the  account  of  his 
death,  Deut.  xxxiv.  5,  as  David,  on  the  other  hand,  is  called  the  Man  oj 
God,  2  Chron.  viii.  14.  Instead  of  hast  heen  some  read  art ;  but  though 
the  preterite  of  other  verbs  may  be  used  to  express  general  truths,  the  pre- 
sent of  the  substantive  verb  is  so  commonly  suppressed,  that  its  form,  when 
inserted,  must  have  some  significance.  The  truth  seems  to  be,  that  the 
verse  expresses  only  what  God  had  been,  but  implies  what  he  still  was 
and  still  would  be.  A  home,  a  fixed  or  settled  dwelling,  even  while  they 
wandered  in  the  desert.  The  same  noun  is  used  by  Moses,  Deut.  xxvi.  15, 
and  a  kindred  form,  Deut.  xxxiii.  27.  In  generation  and  generation,  in  all 
successive  generations.  See  above,  on  Ps.  x.  6,  xxxiii.  11,  xlv.  18  (17), 
xlix.  12  (11),  Ixi.  7  (6). 

2.  Before  mountains  were  hom^  and  (before)  thou  hadst  brought  forth 
earth  and  land,  and  (indeed)  yVom  eternity  to  eternity,  thou  (art)  God.  The 
mountains  are  first  mentioned,  according  to  a  scriptural  usage  which  de- 
scribes them  as  the  oldest  portions  of  the  earth.  See  Gen.  xlix.  26,  Num. 
xxiii.  7,  Deut.  xxxiii.  15,  Hab.  iii.  6.  By  a  strong  but  common  and  intel- 
ligible figure,  creation  is  here  described  as  generation.  This  is  true  not 
only  of  the  first  verb  but  of  the  second,  which  is  too  vaguely  rendered  in 
the  common  version  {thou  hadst  formed).  Earth,  as  opposed  to  heaven  ; 
land,  as  opposed  to  sea.  These  are  separately  mentioned,  as  in  the  account 
of  the  creation.  See  Gen.  i.  1,9.  The  last  clause  may  also  be  translated, 
thou  art,  0  God  !  It  then  simply  asserts  his  existence  from  eternity.  Ac- 
cording to  the  other  and  more  usual  construction,  it  likewise  asserts  his 
omnipotence,  the  attribute  denoted  by  the  dinne  name  here  employed. 


388  Psalm  90:3  -  6 

This  is  the  fuller  and  more  comprehensive  sense ;  bnt  in  favour  of  the  other 
may  be  urged,  that  it  is  simpler  and  agrees  best  with  the  proximate  design 
of  the  Psalmist  to  contrast  the  eternal  God  with  short-Uved  man. 

3.  Thou  turnest  man  even  to  dust,  and  sayest,  Return,  sons  of  Man  (or 
Adam) !  The  evident  allusion  to  Gen.  iii.  19,  which  is  also  found  in  Job 
X.  9,  xxxiv.  15,  and  reappears  in  Ps.  civ.  29  (compare  Ps.  ciii.  14),  may 
serve  to  determine  the  meaning  of  the  word  translated  dust  in  the  first 
clause,  but  which  is  properly  an  adjective  signifying  crushed,  broken  to 
pieces,  ground  to  powder,  and  is  figuratively  applied,  in  Ps.  xxxiv.  19  (18), 
to  brokenness  of  heart.  Compare  Isa.  Ivii.  15.  The  Hebrew  preposition 
("7^)  is  stronger  than  our  to,  and  means  as  far  as,  even  to.     The  full  sense 

of  the  whole  phrase  is,  even  to  the  state  of  one  completely  crushed  or 
ground  to  powder,  even  to  a  pulverised  condition.  The  shortness  and 
fragility  of  human  life  is  thus  brought  into  the  strongest  contrast  with  the 
eternity  of  God. 

4.  For  a  thousand  years  in  thine  eyes  {are)  as  yesterday  when  it  is  past 
and  a  watch  in  the  night.  However  long  human  life  may  appear  to  man 
himself,  it  is  in  God's  sight  evanescent  and  contemptible.  Even  the  patri- 
archal measure,  which  so  often  approximated  to  a  thousand  years,  was  in 
God's  sight  like  a  single  day  in  man's,  or  rather  like  a  mere  subdivision  of 
it,  a  third  part  of  the  night,  which  was  divided  by  the  ancient  Hebrews  into 
three  watches.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixiii.  7  (6).  That  this  division  was  as 
old  as  Moses,  may  be  seen  from  Exod.  xiv.  24.  When  it  is  past,  or  passing. 
It  might  also  be  translated,  for  it  passes,  i.  e.  no  less  hastily  and  swiftly. 
This  verse  is  quoted  and  amplified,  but  without  any  change  of  meaning, 
2  Pet.  iii.  8. 

5.  Thou  sweepest  them  away — a  sleep  are  they — in  the  morning,  like  the 
grass,  they  pass  away.  The  first  Hebrew  verb  has  no  equivalent  in  Eng- 
hsh  ;  it  means  to  sweep  away  or  carry  off,  as  by  a  di'iving  rain.  The  sup- 
position of  a  reference  to  the  flood  is  not  necessary,  though  admissible.  A 
derivative  form  of  the  same  verb  occurs  above,  Ps.  Ixxvii.  18  (17).  The 
comparison  of  human  life  to  a  sleep  or  dream  is  common  in  all  languages. 
The  morning  is  mentioned  as  the  time  of  waking,  the  time  when  we  are 
most  impressed  with  the  unsubstantial  nature  of  our  dreams.  See  above, 
Ps.  Ixxiii.  20,  and  compare  Ps.  xxxix.  7  (6).  The  grass  is  an  additional 
but  obvious  emblem  of  caducity.  The  last  verb  is  not  a  plural  form  in 
Hebrew,  but  agrees  with  sleep,  or  rather  with  man,  in  the  generic  sense, 
whose  life  is  here  compared  to  sleep. 

6.  In  the  morning  it  blooms  and  (then)  passes  away,  (for)  at  evening  he 
mows  and  it  withers.  The  mention  of  the  morning,  in  ver.  5,  as  following 
the  night,  suggests  the  mention  of  the  morning  here,  as  followed  by  the 
evening.  The  first  verb  means  not  merely  to  flomish  in  the  wide  sense, 
but  to  bloom,  as  plants  do.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxii.  16,  and  compare 
Num.  xvii.  23  (8),  which  proves  it  to  be  a  Mosaic  expression.  The  verbs 
may  agree  with  grass,  or  with  man,  whom  the  grass  represents,  more  pro- 
bably the  latter.  The  idea  conveyed  by  supplying  then  is  really  involved 
in  the  grammatical  relation  of  the  Hebrew  verbs,  the  second  of  which  never 
means  to  grow  or  sprout,  but  always  to  pass  or  undergo  a  change.  The 
third  verb  is  active,  but  may  be  construed  with  an  indefinite  subject,  and  is 
then  equivalent  in  meaning  to  a  passive,  he  is  mourn  and  withers.  The 
withering  is  not  here  referred  to  as  the  effect  of  natural  decay  but  of 
violent  excision.  With  the  whole  verse  compare  Ps.  xxxvii.  2,  ciii.  15, 
Job  xiv.  2. 


Psalm90:7-10  389 

7.  For  we  fail  in  thine  anger,  and  in  thy  wrath  are  we  affrighted.  The 
natural  decay  or  violent  interruption  of  man's  life  is  the  effect  of  God's 
displeasure.  The  first  verb  means  to  waste  away,  decay,  wear  out,  cease 
to  exist.  Compare  its  use  in  Ps.  Ixxi.  9,  Ixxiii.  26.  The  other  verb  is 
very  inadequately  represented  by  the  English  troubled.  It  means  shocked, 
confounded,  agitated,  terror-stricken.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  5,  vi.  3,  4 
(2,  3),  xlviii.  6  (5),  Ixxviii.  33,  Ixxxiii.  16  (15),  and  below,  on  Ps.  civ.  29, 
and  compare  my  note  on  Isa.  Ixv.  23.  It  here  denotes  the  natural  instinc- 
tive dread  of  death.  There  is  here  a  very  sensible  progression  in  the 
thought.  Thus  far  the  Psalmist  had  insisted  merely  on  the  frailty  and  bre- 
vity of  human  life  ;  but  now  he  proceeds  further  and  propounds  the  fearful 
doctrine,  that  this  sorrowful  mortality  is  not  an  accident  but  an  infliction, 
the  direct  effect  of  the  divine  wrath.  Whatever  instrumental  agencies  may 
be  employed  to  kill  us,  our  real  destroyer  is  the  anger  of  our  Maker. 

8.  Thou  hast  set  our  iniquities  before  thee,  our  secret  [sins)  in  the  light 
of  thy  countenance.  As  man's  mortality  is  the  effect  of  God's  wrath,  so 
this  wrath  itself  is  the  efl!"ect  of  sin.  And  this  sin  becomes  the  cause  of 
death.  See  Gen.  ii.  17,  and  compare  Rom.  v.  12.  The  verse  before  us 
represents  God  in  the  act  of  shortening  man's  life,  and  gives  the  necessary 
explanation  of  what  might  otherwise  have  seemed  at  variance  with  his  in- 
finite benevolence.  The  Bible,  as  an  eminent  interpreter  has  well  said, 
throws  the  blame  of  death  entirely  on  man  himself.  When  God  slays  man, 
he  puts  his  sins  before  him,  looks  directly  at  them  ;  not  only  those  which 
are  notorious,  but  those  which  are  concealed  from  every  eye  but  that  of 
omniscience.  See  Jer.  xvi.  17,  Heb.  iv.  14,  and  compare  Ps.  xix.  15  (14), 
1  Cor.  iv.  4,  5.  Another  reading  in  the  last  clause,  and  most  probably  the 
true  one,  makes  secret  or  concealed  a  singular  and  not  a  plural  form,  our 
secret ;  but  the  reference  is  still  to  sin.  The  word  translated  light  does  not 
properly  denote  the  element  itself,  but  that  from  which  it  is  derived,  a 
luminary,  just  as  we  call  a  candle  or  a  lamp  a  light.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixxiv.  16.  The  precise  sense  seems  to  be,  that  God  holds  our  sins  to  the 
light  of  his  own  countenance,  and  therefore  cannot  fail  to  see  them. 

9.  For  all  our  days  are  gone  in  thine  anger  ;  we  spend  our  years  like  a 
thought.  The  all  in  the  first  clause  is  emphatic.  What  he  says  is  true  of 
our  whole  Ufe.  Are  gone,  literally  turned  away,  as  an  act  preparatory  to 
departure.  The  word  translated  anger,  though  6}Tionymous,  is  not  identi- 
cal with  either  of  those  used  above  in  ver.  7.  It  occurs,  however,  in  Ps. 
vii.  7  (6),  and  according  to  its  derivation  properly  denotes  an  outbreak  of 
angry  feeling.  Spend,  not  as  a  mere  synonyme  of  pass,  but  in  the  strong 
sense  of  consuming,  wasting,  as  in  Job  xxxvi.  11  (compare  xxi.  13).  The 
Hebrew  verb  is  the  causative  of  that  translated  fail  in  ver.  7.  The  use  of 
years  as  a  parallel  to  days  gives  the  sentence  a  climacteric  effect.  The  word 
translated  thought  is  elsewhere  applied  to  audible  sound  (Ezek.  ii.  10,  Job 
xxxvii.  2),  but  only  as  the  natural  spontaneous  expression  of  the  thoughts 
and  feelings,  not  to  others  but  one's  self.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixiii.  7  (6), 
Ixxvii.  13  (12).  By  some  strange  misapprehension  the  Septuagint  and 
Vulgate  make  it  mean  a  spider,  and  the  English  versions  have  the  singular 
periphrasis,  a  tale  that  is  told. 

10.  The  days  of  our  years  !  In  them  (are  contained)  seventy  years,  and 
if  with  strength  eighty  years,  and  their  pride  (is)  trouble  and  mischief,  for 
he  drives  (us)  fast  and  we  fly  away.  The  parallelism  of  days  and  years  in 
the  preceding  verse  suggests  their  combination  here,  a  combination  used  by 
Moses  elsewhere  in  describing  the  long  lives  of  the  patriarchal  history.     See 


390  Psalm90:ll-13 

Gen.  XXV,  7,  xlvii.  8  (9).  The  words  may  here  be  taken  simply  as  an 
absolute  nominative,  {as  for)  the  days  of  our  years,  in  them,  &c.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxix.  3  (2).  But  it  adds  to  their  significance,  as  well  as  to 
the  beauty  of  the  sentence,  to  explain  them  as  a  kind  of  wondering  excla- 
mation, as  if  such  a  term  scarcely  deserved  to  be  computed.  In  them  are 
seventy  years,  this  is  what  they  comprise  or  comprehend,  it  is  to  this  that 
they  amount.  The  hfe  of  Moses  was  much  longer  (Deut.  xxxiv.  7),  but 
even  in  the  history  appears  to  be  recorded  as  a  signal  exception  to  the 
general  rule.  If  with  strength,  if  accompanied  with  strength,  or,  as  some 
prefer  to  construe  it,  if  (the  person  be  endued)  with  (more  than  usual) 
strength.  The  plural  {strengths)  may  be  an  idiomatic  form  of  speech, 
simply  equivalent  to  the  singular,  or  an  intensive  term  denoting  extraordi- 
nary strength.  See  above  on  Ps.  xviii.  51  (50).  Their  pride,  the  best 
part  of  our  days  or  years,  the  part  in  which  we  are  most  confident 
or  most  contented.  The  words  translated  trouble  and  mischief  are  in 
usage  both  applied  to  suffering  at  the  hands  or  through  the  fault  of  others. 
The  common  version  of  the  next  verb  {it  is  cut  off)  rests  upon  a  doubtful 
etymology.  In  the  only  other  place  where  the  Hebrew  verb  certainly 
occurs  (Num.  xi.  31),  it  is  appUed  to  the  driving  of  the  quails  by  a  strong 
wind  over  the  camp  of  Israel.  It  may  here  agree  with  God  himself,  or  with 
a  subject  undefined,  one  drives  (us),  which  is  tantamount  to  saying,  we  are 
driven.  Fast,  literally  {in)  haste  or  hastily.  And,  as  a  necessary  conse- 
quence we  fly  before  the  propellent  power. 

11.  Who  knows  the  power  of  thine  anger  and,  according  to  thy  fear,  thy 
wrath  f  The  separation  of  the  clauses  as  distinct  propositions  makes  the 
last  unmeaning.  The  whole  is  one  interrogation,  implying  strong  negation, 
as  if  he  had  said,  no  one  knows  the  power  of  thine  anger.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xiv.  4,  Hii.  5  (4).  The  sense  is  no"t  that  no  one  can,  but  that  no  one 
wiU  know  it,  as  he  might  and  ought.  Knows,  literally  knowing,  i.  e.  habi- 
tually. See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  6.  The  power  of  thine  anger,  its  degree  and 
the  extent  to  which  it  operates.  According  to  thy  fear,  as  true  piety  or 
reverence  for  God  demands.  21iy  wrath,  the  same  word  that  is  used  in 
the  first  clause  of  ver.  9  above. 

12.  To  number  our  days  thus  make  us  know,  and  we  will  bring  a  heart 
of  wisdom.  The  verb  translated  make  us  know  is  the  causative  of  that  in 
the  preceding  verse,  to  which  there  is  an  obvious  allusion.  It  is  therefore 
probable  that  they  were  meant  to  govern  the  same  object.  "  "Who  knows  the 
power  of  thine  anger  ?"  "  So  make  us  know  (the  power  of  thine  anger)." 
The  first  words  of  the  verse  before  us  are  then  not  immediately  dependent 
on  the  phrase  make  {us)  know,  but  merely  indicate  the  end  for  which  the 
knowledge  was  desired.  "In  order  that  we  may  number  our  days,  i.e. 
know  and  feel  how  few  they  are,  thus  make  us  know,  i.  e.  give  us  this  know- 
ledge of  the  connection  between  God's  wrath  and  our  own  mortality."  The 
common  version  of  the  last  clause  {that  we  may  apply  our  hearts  unto  wisdom) 
is  forced  and  ungi-ammatical,  without  an  arbitrary  change  of  pointing.  The 
only  admissible  construction  of  the  masoretic  text  is  that  first  given,  which 
may  either  mean,  as  some  of  the  rabbinical  interpreters  suppose,  "  we  will 
bring  into  ourselves  {i.  e.  acquire)  a  heart  of  wisdom,"  or  "we  will  bring 
(as  an  ofi"ering  to  thee)  a  heart  of  -wisdom,"  with  allusion  to  Gen.  iv.  3,  4, 
where  the  same  verb  is  absolutely  used  of  Cain  and  Abel's  ofierings. 

13.  Return,  Jehovah  !  How  long  (wilt  thou  forsake  us)  ? — And  repent 
as  to  thy  servants.  To  the  prayer  that  the  people  may  understand  the 
causes  of  God's  wrath  is  now  added  a  prayer  for  its  removal.     The  loss  of 


Psalm90:14-17  391 

God's  favour  is,  as  usual,  represented  as  his  absence.  The  aposiopesis  in 
the  question  {hoio  long  ?)  is  hke  that  in  Ps.  vi.  4  (3),  xiii.  2  (1).  This 
clause  being  parenthetical,  what  follows  is  connected  by  the  copulative 
particle  with  the  imperative  at  the  beginning.  The  meaning  of  the  last 
clause  is,  so  change  thy  dealing  with  thy  servants  as  if  thou  hadst  repented 
of  afflicting  them.  The  same  bold  form  of  speech  is  used  by  Moses  else- 
where. See  Exod.  xxxii.  12,  Deut.  xxxii.  36,  and  compare  the  imitations 
in  Judges  ii.  18,  Jer.  xv.  6,  Joel  ii.  13,  Jonah  iv.  2,  Ps.  cxxxv.  14, 

14.  Satisfy  us,  in  the  morning,  with  thy  mercy,  and  (then)  we  shall 
rejoice  and  be  glad  through  all  our  days.  God's  gi-ace  is  here  presented  as 
the  food  required  for  the  sustenance  of  his  people.  Satisfy  or  sate  us,  i.  e. 
fill  us,  abundantly  supply  us.  In  the  morning,  early,  speedily,  perhaps 
with  an  allusion  to  the  night  as  a  common  figure  for  affliction.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  v,  4  (3),  xlvi,  6  (5),  xlix,  15  (14),  lix,  17  (16),  Ixxxviii,  14  (13). 
The  oblique  construction  of  the  last  clause,  that  we  may  rejoice,  dec,  is 
really  involved  in  the  direct  one,  which  is  much  more  pointed  and  emphatic. 
In  or  through  all  our  days,  i.  e.  throughout  the  remainder  of  our  Uves. 
The  English  idiom  allows  the  suppression  of  the  particle,  as  in  the  common 
version. 

15.  Make  us  glad  according  to  the  days  thou  hast  afflicted  us,  the  years  we 
have  seen  evil.  According  to,  literally  as  or  like.  The  meaning  is,  com- 
pensate all  our  sufferings  by  proportionate  enjoyments.  The  ellipsis  of  the 
relative  is  common  in  both  idioms.  The  EngHsh  Bible,  by  supplying  it, 
enfeebles  the  expression  without  making  the  sense  clearer.  Days  and 
years,  as  in  ver.  9.  The  plui-al  forms  in  the  Hebrew  are  unusual  and  bor- 
rowed from  Deut.  xxxii.  7,  a  Mosaic  feature  of  the  psalm  which  cannot 
possibly  be  reproduced  in  any  version. 

16.  Let  appear  unto  thy  servants  thy  doing,  and  thy  glory  on  their  sorts 
(or  children).  He  prays  that  even  to  the  elder  generation  there  may  be 
vouchsafed  a  token  for  good  (Ps.  Ixxxvi.  17),  i.  e.  some  assurance  of  the 
favours  to  be  actually  bestowed  upon  their  children.  Thus  understood,  the 
use  of  the  two  prepositions,  to  and  on,  is  not  unmeaning  or  fortuitous. 
God's  work  or  doing  is  the  course  of  his  providential  dealings,  as  in  Ps. 
xcii.  5  (4)  below;  his  glory,  the  manifestation  of  his  divine  perfections  in 
external  act.  See  above,  on  Ps.  viii.  6  (5)  xlv.  4  (3).  This  was  to  appear 
not  only  to  but  on  the  younger  race>  i.  e.  in  their  ovra  experience. 

17.  And  let  the  beauty  of  Jehovah  our  God  be  upon  us,  and  the  ivork  of 
our  hands  establish  upon  us,  and  the  work  of  our  hands,  establish  thou  it. 
While  the  glory  of  Jehovah  is  expected  to  be  fully  revealed  only  in  his  deal- 
ings with  the  next  generation,  he  is  still  besought  to  grant  their  fathers  the 
experimental  knowledge  of  his  beauty,  loveliness,  or  all  that  renders  him  an 
object  of  affection.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  4.  The  work  of  our  hands  is 
a  favourite  Mosaic  phrase  for  all  that  we  do  or  undertake,  all  our  affairs 
and  interests.  See  Deut.  xiv.  29,  xvi.  15,  xxiv.  19,  xxviii.  12,  xxx.  9. 
To  establish  or  confirm  it  is  to  prosper  and  succeed  it,  to  bring  it  to  a 
favourable  issue.  The  expression  on  m,  as  before,  suggests  the  idea  of  an 
influence  exerted  and  a  favour  granted  from  above.  The  yea  of  the  com- 
mon version  is  substituted  for  the  idiomatic  repetition  of  the  copulative  and 
in  the  original. 


392  Psalm  9 1:1 -4 


Psalm  91 

An  amplification  of  the  theme,  that  God  is  the  dwelling-place  and  refuge 
of  his  people.  This  and  other  points  of  contact  with  the  Prayer  of  Moses 
seem  to  mark  it  as  an  imitation  of  that  psalm,  and  thereby  account  for  its 
position  in  the  Psalter.  The  most  remarkable  peculiarity  of  form  in  the 
psalm  before  us  is  the  frequent  change  and  alternation  of  the  persons.  The 
only  division  which  can  well  be  made  is  that  into  two  stanzas  or  strophes, 
supposed  to  be  marked  by  the  recurrence  in  ver.  9  to  the  theine  propounded 
in  ver.  1. 

1.  Sitting  (or  dwelling)  in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  in  the  shadow 
of  the  A  Imighty  he  is  lodged.  The  common  version  seems  to  make  this  an 
identical  proposition,  amounting  really  to  this,  that  he  whom  God  protects 
is  protected  by  him.  To  avoid  this,  some  make  the  whole  verse  a  mere 
description  of  the  person  speaking  in  the  next  verse,  and  as  this  seems  to 
be  forbidden  by  the  use  of  the  first  person  there,  they  either  make  an  arbi- 
trary change  of  pointing  OQ>i)  for  (IQ^),  or  suppose  a  sudden  change  of 

person,  as  in  other  parts  of  this  same  psalm.  Better  than  either  of  these 
constructions  is  a  third,  which  makes  the  parallel  clauses  of  this  first  verse 
descriptive  of  an  ideal  person,  with  whom  the  speaker  is  then  tacitly  iden- 
tified. As  if  he  had  said,  "  happy  the  man  who  dwells,"  &c.,  and  then 
added,  "  such  is  my  condition  ;  I  can  say,"  &c.  For  the  figure  of  a  secret 
place  or  covert,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  5,  xxxi.  21  (20),  xxxii.  7 ;  for  that 
of  a  shadow,  on  Ps.  xvii.  8,  xxxvi.  8  (7),  Ivii.  2  (1).  The  divine  titles, 
Highest  and  Almighty,  suggest  the  reason  of  this  perfect  safety.  The  latter 
is  the  patriarchal  title  mentioned  in  Exod.  vi.  3,  where  it  is  combined  with 
(7l«^)  a  more  familiar  name  denoting  the  same  attribute.     The  last  verb  is 

strictly  a  reflective,  and  as  such  means  to  take  up  one's  lodgings,  to  domes- 
ticate one's  self,  implying  a  voluntary  choice  more  clearly  than  the  primitive 
verb,  as  used  above,  in  Ps.  xxv.  13,  xxx.  6  (5),  xhx.  13  (12). 

2.  1  vnll  say  to  Jehovah,  My  refuge  and  my  fortress,  my  God,  1  uill  trust 
in  him.  The  first  verb,  while  it  expresses  purpose  or  determination,  includes 
both  a  present  and  potential  meaning.  /  can  say,  I  have  reason  and  a 
right  to  say  ;  and  I  do  (habitually)  say.  In  order  to  avoid  another  change 
of  person,  the  common  version  and  some  others  read  of  the  Lord,  which  is 
admissible  but  needless.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  3  (2).  Compare  the  other 
figures  here  used  to  denote  divine  protection  with  those  in  Ps.  xviii.  3  (2), 
Ixxi.  7.  In  the  last  clause,  I  will  trust  in  him,  there  may  seem  to  be 
another  sudden  change  of  person  ;  but  these  words  are  really  equivalent  to 
a  relative  construction,  in  whom  I  trust,  and  may  therefore  be  used  even  in 
a  direct  address. 

3.  For  lo,  he  will  free  thee  from  the  foider' s  snare,  from  the  plague  of  mis- 
chiefs. The  confiding  soul  is  now  addressed  directly  in  the  tone  of  promise. 
The  supposition  of  responsive  choirs  is  a   gratuitous   refinement.     The 

fowler  s  snare  is  a  figure  for  insidious  and  complicated  dangers.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xviii.  6  (5),  and  below,  on  Ps.  cxxiv.  7,  and  compare  2  Tim.  ii.  26. 
The  parallelism  requires  plague  or  ptestilence  to  be  taken  as  a  metaphor,  no 
less  than  snare.  Both  probably  denote  dangers  arising  from  the  craft  of 
wicked  enemies,  to  which  the  word  translated  mischiefs  is  peculiarly  appro- 
priate.    See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  10  (9),  Iii.  4,  9  (2,  7),  Ivii.  2  (1). 

4.  With  his  pinion  he  ivill  cover  thee,  and  under  his  wings  thou  shaltfind 


Psalm91:5-ll  393 

shelter ;  shield  and  buckler  (is)  his  truth.  Compare  the  figure  of  an  eagle, 
Deut.  xxxii.  11.  For  the  meaning  of  the  first  noun,  see  above,  onPs.  Ixviii. 
14  (13).  Cover  thee,  hterally  cover  [or  provide  a  coverinrf)  for  thee.  Find 
shelter  or  take  refuge,  see  above  on  Ps.  ii.  12.  The  word  translated  buckler 
is  properly  a  participle,  and  means  surrounding.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  2. 
6.  Thou  shalt  not  be  afraid  for  the  terror  by  night,  for  the  arrow  (that) 
files  by  day.  Shalt  not  fear,  i.  e.  shalt  have  no  reason  for  alarm.  Terror 
by  night,  literally  of  night,  i.  e.  nightly  or  noctm^nal  terror.  There  is  no 
need  of  restricting  this  expression  to  any  particular  form  of  danger  or  distress, 
since  all  are  usually  aggravated  by  their  occurrence  in  the  night.  Should 
any  specific  sense  be  put  upon  the  figure  of  an  arrow,  fi'om  analogy  and 
usage,  it  would  be  that  of  human  enmity.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Iviii.  8  (7). 
The  Hebrew  preposition,  in  both  clauses,  properly  means /rowi,  i.e.  arising 
or  proceeding  from,  occasioned  by,  in  consequence  of,  something  else. 

6.  For  the  plague  (that)  in  darkness  walks,  for  the  pestilence  (that)  wastes  at 
noon.  Here  the  words  are  to  be  taken  in  their  proper  sense,  and  not  as  in 
ver.  3,  where  they  are  figures  for  a  different  kind  of  danger,  or  for  danger 
in  the  general. 

7.  There  shall  fall  at  thy  side  a  thousand,  and  a  myriad  at  thy  right  hand ; 
to  thee  it  shall  not  come  nigh.  This  is  equivalent  to  saying  in  our  idiom, 
though  a  thousand  fall,  dc,  which,  however,  would  not  be  an  exact  transla- 
tion, as  it  substitutes  a  hypothetical  for  an  affirmative  proposition,  For 
the  double  sense  and  usage  of  the  word  translated  myriad,  see  above,  on 
Ps.  iii.  7  (6),  and  compare  the  cognate  form,  Ps.  Ixviii.  18  (17).  Myriad 
represents  the  original  term  better  than  ten  thousand,  because  it  is  wholly 
ditferent,  in  form  and  etymology,  from  that  translated  thousand. 

8.  Only  with  thine  eyes  shalt  thou  behold,  and  the  recompence  of  wicked 
(men)  see.  The  only  puts  mere  sight  in  opposition  to  experience  or  partici- 
pation. Compare  Deut.  xxxii.  85,  41.  As  usual  in  such  cases,  it  is  implied 
that  the  destruction  of  the  wicked  and  deliverance  of  the  righteous  will  be 
coincident  and  simultaneous.     See  below,  on  Ps.  xcii.  12  (11). 

9.  For  thou,  Jehovah,  (art)  my  refuge.  The  Most  High  hast  thou  made 
thy  home  (or  habitation).  The  construction  adopted  in  the  EngHsh  Bible  is 
a  forced  one,  only  assumed  in  order  to  avoid  the  enallage  or  sudden  change 
of  person,  which,  however,  is  characteristic  of  this  psalm.  Equally  needless 
and  objectionable  is  the  supposition  of  responsive  choirs. 

10.  There  shall  not  happen  to  thee  (any)  evil,  and  a  stroke  shall  not 
approach  into  thy  tent.  The  first  verb  is  a  causative  passive,  and  strictly 
means,  shall  not  be  suffered  or  allowed  to  happen.  Evil,  i.  e.  natural  evil, 
suffering  or  distress.  The  word  translated  stroke  is  very  commonly  appHed 
to  God's  strokes  or  afflictive  judgments.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxviii.  12  (11), 
xxxix.  11  (10).  Into  thy  tent  is  an  expression  apparently  intended  to  qualify 
the  promise,  which  might  otherwise  have  seemed  too  absolute  and  incon- 
sistent with  the  context,  from  which  we  learn  that  danger  was  to  draw  nigh, 
even  to  the  righteous,  but  not  so  as  actually  to  enter  his  tent,  and  take  up 
its  abode  with  him. 

11.  For  his  angels  he  will  charge  concerning  thee,  to  keep  thee  in  all  thy 
ways.  The  plural  angels  shews  that  there  is  no  allusion  to  a  guardian  spirit 
attending  the  individual  believer,  but  merely  to  the  angels  collectively,  as 
ministering  spirits,  the  instrumental  agents  of  God's  providential  care  over 
his  people.  See  Heb.  i.  14.  The  promise  here  given  does  not  extend  to 
dangers  rashly  incurred  or  presumptuously  sought,  and  was  therefore  no 
justification  of  the  act  to  which  our  Lord  was  tempted  by  the  devil,  Mat. 


394  Psalm  91 :12-]6 

iv.  6.  That  the  mere  omission  of  the  phrase  in  all  thy  ways  was  a  part  of 
the  temptation,  seems  to  be  a  gratuitous  refinement,  as  our  Lord  himself 
makes  no  such  charge  ;  as  the  first  words  of  the  sentence  would  of  course 
suggest  the  rest ;  and  as  ways,  in  the  usage  of  the  Psalms,  does  not  mean 
ways  of  duty,  but  the  ways  in  which  a  man  is  led  by  providence.  Neither 
the  tempter's  argument  nor  our  Lord's  reply  to  it  would  be  at  all  afiected 
by  the  introduction  of  the  words  suppressed. 

12.  Upon  (their)  hands  shall  they  bear  thee,  lest  thoustnke  ayainst  the  stone 
thy  foot.  The  dual  form,  denoting  both  hands,  might  be  regarded  as  emphatic 
and  suggestive  of  peculiar  care  ;  but  the  Hebrew  noun  has  no  other  plural 
form  in  common  use.  A  smooth  path  and  unimpeded  walk  is  a  common 
figure  for  prosperity  and  safety.     Compare  Prov.  iii.  23. 

13.  On  lion  and  adder  thou  shall  tread ;  thou  shalt  trample  youny  lion  and 
drayon.  These  are  commonly  supposed  to  be  strong  figures  for  the  two 
kinds  of  danger  from  which  men  need  protection,  open  violence  and  secret 
treachery.  The  last  word  denotes  a  serpent,  as  in  Exod.  vii.  9.  The 
specific  meaning  of  the  parallel  term  is  unimportant.  The  young  lion 
(not  the  lion's  whelp)  is  mentioned  as  peculiarly  fierce  and  greedy.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  12,  xxxiv.  11,  xxxv.  17.  From  this  verse  our  Lord 
derived  the  terms  in  which  he  promised  protection  to  his  followers,  Luke 
X.  19. 

14.  For  he  has  set  his  love  v])on  me,  and  I  u'ill  rescue  him.;  I  xvill  set  him 
on  hiyh  because  he  knows  my  name.  The  first  verb  is  a  very  strong  expres- 
sion for  the  warmest  and  most  violent  attachment,  corresponding  in  part 
with  our  idiomatic  phrase  to  fall  in  love,  and  followed  by  a  kindred  preposi- 
tion. It  seems  to  be  here  used  to  describe  God  as  an  object  of  supreme 
devotion  to  the  true  beUever.  Rescue  him,  cause  him  to  escape.  Set  him 
on  hiyh,  i.  e.  beyond  the  reach  of  danger.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  3  (2), 
49  (48),  XX.  2  (1),  Hx.  2  (1),  Ixix.  80  (29).  Knows  my  name,  has  aheady 
experienced  my  goodness  and  seen  the  evidence  of  my  perfections.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11),  ix.  11  (10). 

15.  He  shall  call  me  and  I  will  answer  him.  With  him  (am)  I  in  trouble. 
I  will  deliver  him  and  honour  him.  The  meaning  of  the  first  clause  is  essen- 
tially the  same  as  if  he  had  said,  ivhen  he  calls  1  will  answer,  but  with  much 
more  directness  and  force  in  the  expression.  Calls  vie  to  his  aid,  invokes 
me,  prays  to  me.  Ansiver  him  by  granting  his  request,  the  idea  commonly 
conveyed  by  the  Hebrew  verb  here  used.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  5  (4).  The 
futures  have  their  proper  sense,  as  this  is  a  direct  and  formal  promise.  I 
will  be  with  him  would  have  been  expressed  in  the  same  manner  ;  but  /  am 
with  him  is  still  stronger,  for  it  describes  God  as  already  present  for  the 
protection  and  deliverance  of  his  people.  Deliver  him,  extricate  him  from 
his  embaiTassments  and  dangers  ;  and  lest  the  promise  should  be  thought 
to  ensure  mere  safety,  it  is  added,  I  will  honour  him,  procure  for  him  the 
respect  of  others  by  shewing  that  I  favour  him  myself. 

16.  (With)  lenyth  of  days  will  I  satisfy  him,  and  will  shew  him  my  salva- 
tion. With  the  first  clause  compare  Exod.  xx.  12,  Deut.  v.  16,  Ps.  xxiii.  6. 
Satisfy  or  satiate,  i.e.  abundantly  supply  and  fully  gratify  his  largest  wishes. 
With  the  last  clause  compare  Ps.  1.  23,  where  we  have  the  same  idiomatic 
construction  of  the  verb  to  see  with  the  preposition  in,  meaning  to  behold 
with  strong  emotion,  and  especially,  emotion  of  a  pleasurable  kind.  For  a 
difierent  application  of  the  same  phrase,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  34.  In 
the  last  three  verses,  God  is  himself  the  speaker,  although  not  expressly  so 
announced.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xlvi.  11  (10),  Ixxv.  3,  4  (2,  3),  Ixxxvii.  4. 


Psalm  92:1 -8  395 

Psalm  92 

1,  A  Psalm.  A  Sonfjf.  For  the  Sabbath-Day.  The  second  title  desig- 
nates the  psalm  as  one  of  praise,  in  strict  conformity  to  its  contents.  The 
immediate  subject  of  the  praise  is  the  exhibition  of  God's  power  and  wisdom 
in  his  providential  dealings,  both  with  the  wicked  and  the  righteous.  As 
one  main  design  of  the  Sabbath  was  to  afford  an  opportunity  for  the  admiring 
contemplation  of  God's  works  or  doings,  the  psalm  before  us  was  peculiarly 
appropriate  at  such  a  time,  and  the  third  clause  of  the  inscription  is  evidently 
correct. 

2  (1).  Good  (is  it)  to  give  thanks  unto  Jehovah,  and  to  make  music  to  thy 
name,  Most  High  I  The  duty  about  to  be  performed  is  here  described  as 
not  only  right  but  pleasant.  For  the  meaning  of  the  two  verbs,  see  above, 
on  Ps.  vii.  18  (17). 

3  (2).  To  declare  in  the  morning  thy  mercy,  and  thy  faithfulness  in  the 
nights.  The  sentence  is  continued  from  the  preceding  verse,  the  infinitive 
with  which  this  opens  being  governed  by  the  phrase  it  is  good.  In  the 
morning,  taken  by  itself,  implies  eagerness  and  promptness,  and  with  the 
parallel  phrase  (in  the  nights)  unremitting  diligence  and  constancy.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  7,  xlii.  9  (8),  Ixxvii.  7  (6),  Ixxxviii.  14  (13),  xc.  14  (13). 
Faithfulness  in  the  fulfilment  of  promises.  Faithfulness  and  mercy  are 
here  combined  like  truth  and  mercy  in  Ps.  Ixxxix.  15  (14). 

4  (3).  On  decachord  and  on  lyre,  on  meditation  luith  a  harp.  The  first 
word  in  Hebrew  means  a  decade,  a  group  or  set  of  ten,  and  then  an  instru- 
ment of  ten  strings.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiii.  2.  In  the  last  clause,  by  a 
bold  but  intelligible  figure,  meditation  is  referred  to  as  an  instrument,  pre- 
cisely as  the  lyre  and  harp  are,  the  latter  being  joined  with  it  as  a  mere 
accompaniment. 

5  (4).  For  thou  hast  gladdened  me,  Jehovah,  ivith  thy  work  ;  in  the  doings 
of  thy  hands  I  will  rejoice.  This  verse  introduces  the  theme  or  subject  of 
the  praise  proposed,  to  wit,  the  work  and  doings  of  the  Lord,  i.  e.  his  pro- 
vidential dealings.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xc.  16,  17.  The  last  verb  denotes 
properly  the  vocal  expression  of  an  inward  joy. 

6  (5).  Hoiv  great  are  thy  doings,  Jehovah,  (how)  exceedingly  deep  thy 
thoughts  !  Thoughts  and  doings  are  correlative  expressions,  signifying  plan 
and  execution.  Deep,  not  mysterious,  but  vast,  immense,  and  inexhaus- 
tible, corresponding  to  great  in  the  othir  clause.  With  this  verse,  compare 
Ps.  xl.  G  (5),  Isa.  Iv.  9,  Rom.  xi.  23. 

7  (6).  A  man-brute  will  not  know,  and  a  fool  will  not  understand  this. 
The  compound  term  at  the  beginning  means  a  man  who  is  no  better  than 
a  brute,  i.  e.  equally  irrational.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xl.  21  (20),  Ixxiii.  22, 
and  below,  on  Ps.  xciv.  8.  Will  not,  cannot,  or  does  not  know.  2'his, 
i.  e.  what  has  just  been  said  as  to  the  depth  of  God's  providential  plans  and 
purposes. 

8  (7).  In  the  springing  up  of  wicked  (men)  like  grass,  and  (when)  all  the 
doers  of  iniquity  bloom,  (it  is)  that  they  may  be  destroyed  for  ever.  The  infi- 
nitive, as  well  as  the  future,  indicates  the  time  of  action.  The  literal 
translation  of  the  last  words  is,  for  them  to  be  destroyed  until  eternity. 

9  (8).  And  thou  (art)  Most  High  to  eternity,  Jehovah  !  This  brief  but 
pregnant  proposition  is  the  centre  of  the  -psalm,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
summary  of  its  contents.  The  superlative  expression  Most  High  is  here 
used  to  translate  a  single  Hebrew   word  whicli  strictly  means  a  height  or 


396  Psalm  92:9 -15 

high  place,  but  here  denotes  that  which  holds  the  highest  place  in  the  scale 
of  being.  For  other  applications  of  the  same  word,  see  above,  on  Ps.  vii. 
8  (7),  X.  5,  xviii.  17  (16). 

10  (9).  For  lo,  thine  enemies,  Jehovah — -for  la,  thine  enemies  shall  perish  ; 
dispersed  shall  be  all  the  doers  of  iniquity.  Jehovah  must  be  the  Most  High, 
because  his  enemies  not  only  yield  to  him,  but  perish  in  his  presence.  Here, 
as  in  Ps.  Ixxxix.  11,  52  (10,  51),  the  enemies  of  God  and  of  his  people  are 
identified.  The  last  verb  is  properly  a  reflective,  and  may  be  translated, 
they  shall  scatter  (or  disperse)  themselves,  implying  more  activity  and  eager- 
ness than  the  simple  passive,  shall  he  scattered.     Compare  Job  iv.  11. 

11  (10).  And  thou  hast  raised,  like  the  unicorn's,  my  horn  ;  I  am  anointed 
with  fresh  oil.  He  now  contiasts  his  own  experience  with  that  of  his  ene- 
mies and  God's.  With  the  figure  of  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xviii. 
3  (2),  Ixxv.  5,  6,  11  (4,  5,  10),  Ixxxix.  18,  25  (17,  24).  I  am  anointed 
or  /  anoint  (my  head),  the  Hebrew  verb  being  elsewhere  always  active. 
The  figure  is  borrowed  from  the  ancient  custom  of  anointing  the  head  on 
festive  occasions.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiii.  5.  Fresh  oil,  literally  green, 
i.  e.  verdant,  a  quality  properly  belonging  to  the  tree  being  here  transferred 
to  its  most  valuable  product. 

12  (11).  And  my  eye  has  looked  upon  mj/  enemies  ;  of  those  rising  up 
against  w?,  evil-doers,  my  ears  shall  hear.  The  sense  is  that  he  sees  and 
hears  what  is  become  of  them.  Their  destruction  is  implied,  though  not 
expressed.  The  word  translated  enemies  occurs  only  here.  According  to 
the  most  probable  etymology  it  means  tuatchers,  Hers  in  wait  or  ambush. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  11,  liv.  7  (5),  Ivi.  3  (2),  lix.  11  (10),  where  a  cog- 
nate form  occurs.  My  insurgents,  or  those  rising  up  against  me,  expresses 
the  accessor}'  idea  of  rebellion  against  rightful  authority.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  iii.  2  (1),  liv.  5  (3),  Ixxxvi.  14.  The  addition  of  ma/t/ac^ors,  evil-doers, 
shews  that  it  is  not  merely  as  his  enemies,  but  on  account  of  their  trans- 
gressions against  God,  that  he  expects  his  foes  to  perish. 

13  (12).  A  righteous  (man)  like  a  palm-tree  shall  sprotd,  like  a  cedar  in 
Lebanon  shall  grow.  Some  suppose  an  allusion  to  the  fact  that  these  trees 
thrive  even  in  the  most  unfavourable  situations.  All  that  it  is  necessary  to 
assume,  however,  is  that  as  trees  in  general  are  natural  and  common  em- 
blems of  a  prosperous  existence,  so  the  same  idea  is  conveyed  with  still 
more  emphasis  by  the  noblest  species.  The  supposition  of  a  reference  to 
the  decorations  of  the  temple  is  gratuitous  and  far-fetched. 

14  (13).  Planted  in  the  house  of  Jehovah,  in  the  courts  of  our  God  they 
shall  bloom  (or  flourish).  See  above,  on  Ps.  Hi.  10  (8),  where  the  same 
image  is  presented,  in  a  still  more  specific  form,  the  olive-tree  being  there 
particularly  mentioned. 

15  (14.)  Still  shall  tMy  bear  fruit  in  old  age  ;  fat  and  green  shall  they  be. 
In  old  age,  Hterally  in  grey  or  hoary  hair.  Of  the  epithets  in  the  last  clause 
one  properly  denotes  an  animal,  the  other  a  vegetable  quality.  The  essen- 
tial idea  is  that  of  the  foregoing  verse  carried  out  into  detail. 

16  (15).  To  declare  that  Jehovah  is  just — my  Hock — and  no  unrighteous- 
ness in  Him.  See  above  on  Ps.  xviii.  3  (2),  and  compare  Deut.  xxxii.  4. 
The  epithet  jtist  denotes  the  essential  rectitude  of  God,  including  his  vera- 
city and  faithfulness  to  his  engagements.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  8.  My 
Bock  may  be  simply  in  apposition  with  Jehovah,  Jehovah  my  Rock  is  just, 
or  a  second  predicate,  Jehovah  is  just  (and)  my  Rock. 


Psalm  93:1 -5  397 

Psalm  93 

The  theme  of  this  psalm  is  God's  superiority  to  all  opposing  powers,  and 
the  consequent  safety  of  his  church  and  people.  There  are  strong  reasons 
for  beUeving  that  it  was  designed,  with  the  one  before  it,  to  form  a  pair  or 
double  psalm.  Besides  those  drawn  from  the  number  of  verses  and  of  the 
divine  names,  this  whole  psalm  may  be  described  as  an  amplification  of  the 
laconic  dictum  in  Ps.  xcii.  9  (8).  There  is  nothing  to  determine  its  precise 
date  ;  but  there  seem  to  be  expressions  in  it,  which  imply  the  existence  of 
imminent  danger  to  the  theocracy  from  some  great  hostile  power. 

1.  Jehovah  reigns;  (with)  majesty  he  clothes  himself;  Jehovah  clothes 
himself  with  strength  (and)  girds  himself;  also  established  is  the  world,  it 
shall  not  be  moved.  The  first  clause  does  not  simply  affirm  Jehovah's  sove- 
reignty as  a  general  truth,  but  announces  the  fact  that  he  has  just  become 
king  or  begun  to  reign,  {.  e.  manifested  himself  anew  in  his  regal  character. 
The  same  form  of  the  verb  is  used  in  reference  to  the  accession  of  earthly 
monarchs,  2  Sam.  xv.  10,  1  Kings  i.  11,  13,  2  Kings  ix.  13.  The  word 
translated  majesty  is  the  one  applied  in  Ps.  Ixxxix.  11  (10)  to  the  swelling 
of  the  sea.  Its  use  here  may  be  intended  to  suggest  the  superiority  of  God 
to  the  powers  of  this  world.  Clothes  himself  with^  literally  puts  on,  wears. 
The  other  verb  is  reflective  in  form.  The  also  introduces  the  consequence 
of  this  exaltation.  See  below,  Ps.  xcvi.  10,  xcvii.  1,  xcix.  1,  and  com- 
pare Isa.  xxiv.  23,  Obad.  21,  Zech.  xiv.  9,  Rev.  xi.  17,  xix.  6. 

2.  Fixed  [is)  thy  throne  of  old;  from  eternity  [art)  thou.  Fixed,  firmly 
established,  permanently  settled.  Compare  2  Sam.  vii.  13,  16,  1  Kings 
ii.  45.  Of  old,  Hterally /rom  then,  as  in  the  margin  of  the  English  Bible. 
Compare  Prov.  viii.  22,  Isa.  xlviii.  3,  v.  7.  With  the  last  clause  compare 
Ps.  xc.  2,  and  with  the  whole  verse  Rev.  i.  17. 

3.  The  floods  have  raised,  Jehovah,  the  floods  have  raised  their  voice;  the 
floods  will  raise  their  crash,  or  crashing  noise.  The  last  Hebrew  word 
occurs  only  here,  but  its  etymology  is  obvious  and  perfectly  analogous  to 
that  of  waves  or  breakers  in  the  next  verse.  The  idea  here  conveyed  is  that 
of  the  noise  made  by  the  dashing  of  waves  against  each  other  or  upon  the 
shore.  The  preterite  and  future  forms  include  the  present,  but  suggest  the 
additional  idea  of  what  has  been  heretofore  and  may  be  expected  to  continue 
hereafter.  The  emphatic  repetition  of  the  verb  is  like  that  in  ver.  1,  and 
reappears  in  this  whole  series  (Ps.  xci.-c.)  as  a  characteristic  feature. 

4.  More  than  the  voices  of  waters — many — mighty — sea-billows — mighty 
in  the  high-place  [is)  Jehovah.  More  than,  hterally /rom,  away  from,  the 
particle  by  which  comparison  is  commonly  expressed  in  Hebrew.  The 
common  version  of  the  next  clause,  mighty  waves  of  the  sea,  is  scarcely 
grammatical,  as  the  adjective,  according  to  analogy  and  usage,  cannot  agree 
with  the  noun  following,  but  must  be  in  apposition  with  the  adjective  before 
it,  and  agree  with  the  same  object.  The  word  translated  mighty  corres- 
ponds, in  part,  to  our  epithets,  sublime  and  grand.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
viii.  1.  Sea-billows,  literally  breakers  of  the  sea.  Compare  Ps.  xlii.  8  (7), 
Ixxxviii.  8  (7),  Jonah  ii.  4  (3).  That  the  comparison  was  meant  to  be  be- 
tween the  noise  of  the  sea  and  that  of  thunder  considered  as  the  voice  of 
God,  is  an  admissible  but  not  a  necessary  supposition.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxix.  5. 

5.  Thy  testimonies  are  sure,  very  [snre) ;  to  thy  house  suits  (or  is  becom- 
ing) holiness,  Jehovah,  unto  length  of  days.     The  testimonies  of  God  are  all 


398  Psalm  94:1 -3 

the  provisions  of  his  Law,  as  in  Ps.  xix.  8  (7),  xxv.  10,  but  with  special 
reference,  in  this  as  in  several  other  cases,  to  its  promises.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  \x.  1,  Ixxx.  1.  The  verb  here  used  is  a  passive,  meaning  strictly  to  be 
founded,  settled,  or  secured.  From  this  clause  is  borrowed  the  form  of 
expression  in  Rev.  xix.  9,  xxi.  5,  xxii.  6.  The  intensive  adverb  very  or 
exceedingly  has  the  same  effect  as  when  in  English  we  use  an  epithet  and 
add  extremely  so  or  very  much  so.  The  verb  translated  suits  (or  is  becom- 
ing) is  the  root  of  the  adjective  used  in  Ps.  xxxiii.  1.  Compare  my 
note  on  Isa.  Hi.  7.  Holiness  is  by  some  understood  to  mean  sacredness, 
immunity  from  profanation,  and  of  course  from  violent  intrusion.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ixxiv.  3.  The  house  of  God  is  here  referred  to,  as  the  place 
where  he  dwelt  with  his  people,  and  they  with  him.  To  length  of  days,  see 
Ps.  xxiii.  6. 

Psalm  94 

This  psalm  may  be  divided  into  two  parts,  in  the  first  of  which  the 
ancient  church  complains  of  Jehovah's  absence  and  apparent  desertion,  and 
of  the  consequent  triumph  of  his  enemies,  ver.  1-11,  while  in  the  second 
she  asks  and  confidently  looks  for  his  return  and  their  destruction,  ver. 
12-23.  There  is  nothing  to  determine  the  precise  date  of  the  composition, 
much  less  to  restrict  it  to  any  particular  historical  occasion.  Though  some 
things  in  it  seem  peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  state  of  Judah  on  the  eve  of 
the  Babylonish  conquest,  it  is  so  constructed  as  to  be  a  vehicle  of  pious 
feeling  to  the  church  in  various  emergencies. 

1.  God  of  revenges,  Jehovah,  God  of  revenges,  shine  forth  !  Some  inter- 
preters, following  the  ancient  versions,  make  the  last  Hebrew  word  a  finite 
verb,  as  it  certainly  is  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  2,  Ps.  1.  2,  Ixxx.  2  (1).  The  mean- 
ing then  is,  he  has  shined  or  shines,  and  the  psalm  opens  with  a  confident 
anticipation  of  God's  intervention,  as  in  Ps.  xciii.  1,  xcvii.  1,  xcix.  1.  In 
this  case,  however,  the  tone  of  confidence  does  not  reappear  until  ver.  12, 
and  the  imperatives  in  ver  2  make  the  similar  construction  of  the  verb  in 
this  case  much  more  natural,  though  less  agreeable  to  usage,  than  the  other. 
The  terms  of  this  verse  are  borrowed  from  Deut.  xxxii.  35,  xxxiii.  2.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  1.  2.  The  plural  form  (revenges)  denotes  fulness  and  variety. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  51  (50).  This  expression,  with  the  two  divine 
names  [El  and  Jehovah)  recognise  God  as  almighty,  eternal,  self-existent, 
bound  by  covenant  to  his  people,  and  alone  entitled  to  take  vengeance. 

2.  Raise  thyself,  Judge  of  the  Earth,  return  a  recompence  upon  the  proud. 
The  first  verb  is  equivalent  in  meaning  to  the  more  familiar  term,  arise,  i.  e. 
arouse  thyself  from  inactivity,  address  thyself  to  action.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
iii.  8  (7).  The  specific  sense,  which  some  interpreters  assume,  "  Ascend 
the  judgment-seat,"  is  not  expressed  by  this  verb,  but  suggested  by  the 
context.  The  word  translated  recompence  strictly  means  the  treatment  of 
one  person  by  another,  to  return  which  is  to  retaliate  or  recompense  it. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  5  (4),  and  compare  Ps.  Ixxix.  12.  The  use  of  the 
particle  upon  implies  the  inequality  of  the  parties  or  the  superiority  of  the 
avenger,  from  whom  the  recompence,  as  it  were,  comes  down  upon  the  guilty. 

3.  How  long  shall  wicked  [men),  Jehovah,  how  long  shall  wicked  (men) 
triumph?  The  question,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  implies  that  they  have 
already  triumphed  long  enough  or  too  long,  and  therefore  really  involves  a 
prayer  that  they  may  triumph  no  longer.  The  interruption  and  resumption 
of  the  sentence  is  like  that  in  ver.  1,  and  in  Ps.  xcii.  9  (8),  xciii.  1,  3. 


Psalm94:4-10  399 

4.  (How  long)  shall  they  pour  forth,  utter  insolence,  talk  of  themselves — 
all  the  workers  of  iniquity  f  This  is  usually  taken  as  an  independent  pro- 
position, they  pour  forth,  &c.  But  it  seems  a  more  natural  construction  to 
continue  the  interrogation  from  the  other  sentence.  Four  forth  is  a  figure 
for  excessive  and  unad\ised  speech.  See  above,  on  Ps.  lix.  8  (7),  and  com- 
pare Ps.  xix.  3  (2).  TJtter  in  words,  speak,  talk.  Insolence,  arrogance,  as 
in  Ps.  Ixxv.  6  (5).  The  last  verb  is  a  reflexive  form  of  the  verb  (1DJ<)  to 
say,  occurring  only  here.  According  to  the  general  analogy  of  those  forms, 
it  may  mean  to  talk  to  one's  self,  or  of  one's  self,  or  with  each  other.  The 
second  agrees  best  with  what  is  said  just  before  of  their  insolent  or  arrogant 
discourse. 

6.  Thy  people,  Jehovah,  they  grind  (ox  crush),  and  thy  inheritance  they 
humUe  (or  afflict).  The  first  verb  means  to  bruise,  break  in  pieces,  or  re- 
duce to  powder.  The  people  and  heritage  of  God  are  synonymous  expres- 
sions, the  people  being  so  called  because  they  belonged  to  him,  and  were 
possessed  by  him,  from  generation  to  generation.  The  terms  of  this  verse 
seem  to  point  out  foreign  persecutors  or  oppressors  as  the  subject  of 
complaint. 

6.  Widoio  and  stranger  they  kill,  and  orphans  they  murder.  The  strong- 
est description  of  injustice  and  violence  is  given  by  saying,  that  they  not 
only  wrong  but  murder  the  very  classes  of  sufferers,  who  in  the  Law  are 
constantly  exhibited  as  objects  of  compassion.  See  Ex.  xxii.  20-23  (21-24), 
Deut.  X.  18. 

7.  And  t  J  ley  say,  Jah  will  not  see,  and  the  God,  of  Jacob  will  not  attend. 
The  same  impious  presumption  is  expressed  in  Ps.  x.  11, 13,  xiv.  1,  hx.  8 
(7).  The  divine  names  are,  as  usual,  significant.  That  the  self-existent 
and  eternal  God  should  not  see,  is  a  palpable  absurdity ;  and  scarcely  less 
80,  that  the  God  of  Israel  should  suffer  his  own  people  to  be  slaughtered 
without  even  observing  it.     The  last  verb  means  to  mark,  note,  notice. 

8.  Attend,  ye  brutish  among  the  people  ;  and  ye  fools,  when  will  ye  act 
wisely  ?  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxiii.  22,  xcii.  7  (6).  The  first  verb  is  the 
same  with  that  at  the  end  of  the  preceding  verse.  It  is  stronger  than  the 
EngHsh  word  attend,  implying  in  all  cases  an  intelligent  attention,  so  that 
it  may  be  rendered,  as  it  is  by  many,  understand.  The  word  translated 
brutish  is  a  participle,  denoting  habitual  conduct  or  a  permanent  condition. 
The  question  in  the  last  clause  is  a  virtual  exhortation  to  being  at  once. 
The  verb  in  this  clause  has  its  usual  active  meaning.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  ii.  10.  xiv.  2,  xH.  2  (1).  In  (or  among)  the  people  no  doubt  means 
in  Israel  itself,  as  in  Judges  v.  9,  where  the  form  of  expression  is  the 
same. 

9.  Shall  the  planter  of  the  ear — shall  he  not  hear  ?  Or  the  former  of  the 
eye,  shall  he  not  see  f  The  words  translated  planter  and  former  are  active 
participles,  and  denote  something  continually  going  on.  The  figure  of 
planting  suggests  the  two  ideas  of  formation  and  insertion.  By  a  similar 
figure  we  might  speak  in  English  of  implanting  the  faculty  or  sense  of 
hearing.  The  act  denoted  by  the  parallel  Hebrew  word  is  that  of  shaping, 
moulding.  The  participle  here  used,  when  employed  as  a  noun,  means  a 
potter.  See  above,  Ps.  ii.  9.  The  peculiar  form  of  the  translation  of  the 
first  clause  is  intended  to  represent  that  of  the  original,  in  which  the  inter- 
rogative but  not  the  negative  particle  is  repeated.  This  may  be  reckoned 
as  another  instance  of  the  reduplicated  forms  by  which  this  series  of  psalms 
is  characterised. 

10.  Shall  the  reprover  of  nations — shall  he  not  chastise — he  that  teaches 


400  Psalm  94:11  -  16 

mankind  knowledge  f  The  antithesis  is  not  between  Israel  and  the  Gen- 
tiles, but  between  whole  nations  or  all  naankind  and  individual  olFenders. 
Reprover,  the  one  reproving  or  accustomed  to  reprove,  warn,  or  admonish. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  10,  xvi.  7.  The  parallel  term  is  nearly  synonymous, 
and  means  to  correct  by  word  or  deed.  The  structure  of  the  first  clause  is 
the  same  as  in  the  verse  preceding.  In  the  last  clause,  by  an  aposiopesis 
not  uncommon  in  the  Hebrew  idiom,  the  parallelism  is  left  to  be  completed 
by  the  reader.  The  full  sense  seems  to  be,  is  he  who  teaches  all  mankind 
not  competent  to  teach  men  individually  ?  He  that  teaches,  literally  the 
{one)  teaching. 

11.  Jehovah  knows  the  thoughts  of  mankind,  that  they  (are)  vanity.  The 
verbal  form  is  still  that  of  a  participle,  knowing,  habitually  knowing,  what 
they  are  and  what  they  deserve.  Such  knowledge  carries  with  it,  as  a 
necessary  consequence,  condemnation  and  punishment.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
i.  6.  Thoughts,  purposes,  designs.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xl.  5  (4).  Instead 
of  that,  some  give  the  particle  its  usual  sense  of /or,  because,  without  a  mate- 
rial change  of  meaning.  The  pronoun  they  seems  in  English  to  relate 
necessarily  to  thoughts;  but  in  Hebrew  the  more  natural  antecedent  is  man 
as  a  generic  or  collective  term,  because  the  pronoun  is  masculine  and 
thoughts  feminine  ;  because  the  same  thing  is  predicated,  in  the  same  form, 
of  men  themselves,  Ps.  xxxix,  6, 12  (5,  11);  and  because  this  idea  is  better 
suited  to  the  context  here. 

12.  Happy  the  man  whom  thou  icarnesf,  Joh,  and  from  thy  law  teachest 
him.  This  is  the  turning  point,  at  which  the  tone  of  the  composition  be- 
comes more  encouraging.  The  word  for  man  is  the  one  implying 
strength,  and  here  suggesting  the  idea,  that  he  is  truly  fortunate  whose 
strength  arises  from  the  divine  counsel  and  control.  Wamest  and  wilt 
warn,  or  admonish,  the  same  verb  that  occurs  in  the  first  clause  of  ver.  10. 
From  thy  law  may  be  partitively  understood,  as  meaning  something  of  thy 
law,  a  part  or  portion  of  it.  But  it  more  probably  means  out  of,  from,  thy  law, 
as  the  source  of  consolation  and  instruction.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  26  (25). 

13.  To  give  him  rest  from,  days  of  evil,  until  a  pit  be  digged  for  the  wicked. 
Compare  Ps.  xlix.  6  (5),  cxii.  8.  The  first  verb  is  a  causative,  to  make 
him  rest.  From  days  of  evil  does  not  mean  merely  after  them,  but  so  as  to 
escape  them.  The  last  clause  ensures  the  safety  of  the  righteous  even 
during  the  prosperity  and  triumph  of  the  wicked. 

14.  For  Jehovah  will  not  forsake  his  people,  and  his  inheritance  he  will 
not  leave.  The  reason  why  they  are  happy  who  confide  in  and  obey  the 
divine  instructions  is  that  God  can  never  utterly  forsake  those  who  thus 
ti'ust  him,  although  he  may  leave  them  for  a  time  when  they  leave  him. 
See  Deut.  xxxii.  15,  Judges  vi.  13,  Isa.  ii.  6. 

15.  For  unto  righteousness  shall  judgment  turn,  and  after  it  (shall  go)  all 
the  upright  in  heart.  The  apparent  disturbance  of  the  divine  administration 
is  to  cease,  and  justice  to  return  to  its  accustomed  channels.  In  the  last 
clause  the  righteous  are  described  as  following  in  its  train  or  attending  its 
triumphal  march. 

16.  Who  will  arise  for  me  with  evil  doers  ?  Who  will  stand  up  for  me 
with  workers  of  iniquity  9  Arise,  address  himself  to  action.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  iii.  8  (7).  For  me,  for  my  support  in  my  defence.  V/ith,  in  conflict 
or  contention  with.  Stand  up,  take  a  stand,  assume  a  position.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  ii.  2.  Evil-doers,  as  in  Ps.  xcii.  12  (11).  Workers  of  Ini- 
quity, as  in  ver.  4  above.  The  interrogation  in  this  verse  prepares  the  way 
for  the  expression  of  confidence  in  that  which  follows. 


Psalm94:17-23  401 

17.  Unless  Jehovah  were  a  help  for  me,  soon  would  my  soul  inhabit  silence. 
The  phrase  a  help  for  me  occurs  above,  Ps.  Ixiii.  8  (7),  and  a  similar  one, 
Ps.  xliv.  27  (26).  For  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  translated  soon,  see 
above,  on  Ps.  ii.  12,  Ixxxi.  15  (14).  To  dwell  in  (or  inhabit)  silence  is  to 
be  constantly  surrounded  by  the  silence  of  the  grave  or  of  death.  See 
above,  Ps.  xxxi.  18  (17),  and  below,  Ps.  cxv.  17. 

18.  If  I  say.  My  foot  slips,  thy  wercy,  0  Jehovah,  holds  me  up.  If  at 
any  time  my  hope  of  safety  from  the  Lord's  protection  yields  to  fear,  his 
grace  sustains  and  reinvigorates  it.  The  preterites  in  the  Hebrew  of  the 
first  clause  imply  that  such  lapses  or  temptations  have  occurred  in  his  ex- 
perience, when  his  foot  seemed  to  have  swerved  or  slipped  already ;  while 
the  future  at  the  close  represents  the  act  of  sustentation  as  one  which  he 
expects  to  be  continued  or  renewed  hereafter. 

19.  In  the  multitude  of  my  cares  within  me,  thy  comforts  cheer  my  soul. 
The  second  noun,  which  is  of  rare  occurrence,  'does  not  mean  thoughts  in 
general,  but  uneasy,  anxious  thoughts,  solicitudes,  or  cares.  The  addition 
of  within  me  renders  still  more  prominent  the  idea  that  it  was  not  mere 
external  troubles  that  disturbed  his  peace.  Thy  comforts,  the  consolations 
of  thy  word.  See  above,  on  ver.  13.  Cheer  or  shall  cheer,  gladden,  or 
exhilarate.  My  soul  not  only  completes  the  parallelism,  but  suggests  the 
idea  of  a  cordial  genuine  exhilaration.     See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  3  (2). 

20.  Shall  the  throne  of  iniquity  have  fellowship  with  thee,  which  frameth 
mischief  by  a  law.  This,  which  is  the  version  in  the  English  Bible,  yields 
a  good  sense,  and  the  one  preferred  by  some  of  the  best  interpreters. 
Others  explain  the  last  clause,  framing  mischief  against  law.  In  either 
case,  framing  means  contriving,  plotting.  The  first  verb  in  Hebrew  is 
supposed  by  some  to  be  a  passive  form,  shall  it  be  associated  or  allied  (with) 
thee,  the  connective  particle  being  omitted  by  a  common  poetic  licence,  for 
another  instance  of  which  see  above,  Ps.  v.  5  (4).  Others  explain  it  as  an 
active  verb  corresponding  with  the  dubious  English  verb  to  fellowship  a 
person.  Iniquity,  or  more  exactly,  crimes.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  10  (9), 
xxxviii.  18  (12),  Iii.  4,  9  (2,  7),  Iv.  12  (11),  Ivii.  2  (1),  xci.  3.  Both  this 
word  and  its  parallel  translated  mischief  are  applied  in  usage  to  the  sufier- 
ings  brought  upon  one  person  by  the  misconduct  of  another.  With  respect 
to  the  second  term  (70^),  see  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  17  (16). 

T  T  ' 

21.  They  crowd  icpon  the  soul  of  the  righteous,  and  innocent  blood  they 
condemn.  The  first  verb  means  to  rush  in  crowds  or  troops,  and  may 
therefore  be  expressed  in  English  by  the  verbs,  to  crowd,  to  troop.  Con- 
demn, literally  make  guilty,  i.  e.  recognise  and  treat  as  such.  The  futures, 
as  usual,  suggest  the  probable  continuance  of  the  evil  in  question. 

22.  And  (yet)  Jehovah  has  been  to  me  for  a  high  place,  and  my  God  for 
the  rock  of  my  refuge.  Our  idiom  would  require  but  at  the  beginning  of 
this  sentence.  The  verb  to  be  followed  by  for,  is  sometimes  used  in  He- 
brew to  express  the  meaning  of  our  verb  become,  which  may  here  be  consi- 
dered as  at  least  included.  A  high  place,  beyond  the  reach  of  danger. 
My  rock  of  refuge,  the  rock  where  I  take  refuge  from  my  enemies.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  ix.  10  (9),  xviii.  3  (2),  xlvi.  8,  12  (7,  11),  xlviii.  4  (3), 
lix.  10,  18  (9,  17). 

23.  And  he  returns  upon  them  their  iniquity,  and  in  their  wickediiess  he 
loill  destroy  them,  (yes)  destroy  them  will  Jehovah  our  God.  The  first  verb 
denotes  retaliation  or  requital.  The  preposition  upon  suggests  the  idea  of 
infliction  by  a  superior  power.    Iniquity  expresses  their  misconduct  towards 


402  Psalm  95:] -5 

others,  wickedness  the  general  depravity  which  prompted  it.  In  their 
wickedness,  i.  e.  in  the  midst  of  it,  and  by  implication  on  account  of  it. 
The  verb  destroy  is  the  one  used  in  Ps.  liv.  7  (5),  Ixix.  5  (4),  ci.  5.  The 
repetition  of  the  last  verb  with  its  object  is  like  that  in  Ps.  xc.  17.  Com- 
pare Ps.  xcii.  8  (7),  xciii.  4,  xciv.  1.  The  force  of  this  emphatic  repe- 
tition may  be  partially  secured  in  English  by  a  particle  of  affirmation, 
yea  or  yes. 


Psalm  95 

This  psalm  contains,  first,  an  exhortation  from  the  Psalmist  to  praise 
God  as  the  creator  and  the  sovereign  of  the  earth,  ver.  1-8,  and  then,  a 
warning  from  God  himself  to  his  people  not  to  imitate  the  obstinate  unbe- 
lief of  their  fathers  in  the  wilderness,  ver.  9-11.  The  psalm  is  quoted  in 
the  New  Testament  (Heb.  iv.  7)  as  what  God  said  in  David,  which  may 
either  mean  the  Book  of  Psalms,  so  called  from  its  chief  author,  or  this 
particular  psalm,  as  actually  written  by  him.  The  latter  supposition, 
although  not  necessary,  is  entirely  admissible,  because,  however  suitable 
the  psalm  may  seem  to  particular  junctures  long  posterior  to  David,  the 
very  generality  of  its  expressions  makes  it  probable  that  it  was  not  com- 
posed in  the  midst  of  the  events,  but  long  beforehand. 

1.  Come,  let  us  sing  unto  Jehovah,  let  us  shout  unto  the  roch  of  our  salva- 
tion. The  first  verb  properly  means  go,  but  is  constantly  used  like  come  in 
other  languages,  as  a  formula  of  invitation,  in  summoning  others  to  partici- 
pate in  some  act  of  the  speaker.  The  two  verbs  in  this  verse  are  those 
commonly  applied  to  the  vocal  expression  of  joy  and  triumph.  The  rock  of 
our  salvation,  the  strong  ground  of  our  confidence,  the  basis  upon  which 
our  hope  of  safety  rests.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  3  (2),  and  compare  Ps. 
bdi.  8  (7),  xcii.  16  (15),  xciv.  22. 

2.  Let  us  come  before  his  face  with  thanksgiving,  and  in  songs  let  us  shout 
unto  him.  The  first  verb  is  here  used  in  its  primary  and  proper  sense. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  x\'ii.  13.  That  of  surprising,  or  taking  by  surprise, 
upon  which  some  interpreters  insist,  is  neither  intelhgible  in  itself,  nor 
suited  to  the  context,  nor  justified  by  usage.  To  shout  in  songs  is  to  sing 
aloud  and  with  a  voice  of  triumph, 

3.  For  a  great  God  [is)  Jehovah,  and  a  great  King  above  all  gods.  This 
is  not  inconsistent  with  the  doctrine  elsewhere  taught,  that  other  gods  have 
no  real  existence.  See  below,  Ps.  xcvi.  4,  5,  where  both  truths  are  asserted 
together.  The  very  name  of  God  used  in  the  first  clause  is  expressive  of 
omnipotence. 

4.  In  ivhose  hand  are  the  depths  of  the  earth,  and  the  strength  of  the  hills 
(belongs)  to  him.  God's  possession  of  the  whole  earth  is  so  asserted  as  to 
leave  no  room  for  other  gods.  The  word  translated  depths  means,  accord- 
ing to  its  etymology,  places  to  be  searched  into,  i.  e.  requiring  search  to  find 
them,  inmost  recesses.  The  word  translated  strength  is  plural  in  Hebrew, 
and  seems  properly  to  mean  fatiguing  exertions,  from  which  some  derive  the 
idea  of  strength,  others  that  of  extreme  height,  which  can  only  be  reached 
by  exhausting  eflbrt. 

5.  To  whom  (belongs)  the  sea,  and  he  made  it,  and  the  dry  land  his  hands 
did  form.  The  land  and  water  are  here  put  together,  as  the  depths  and 
heights  are  in  ver.  4,  to  describe  the  earth  in  its  whole  extent  as  subject  to 
Jehovah,  by  virtue  of  his  right  as  its  creator. 


Psalm  95:6 -10  403 

6.  Come,  let  us  how  dawn  and  bend,  let  us  Jcneel  before  Jehovah  our  Maker 
The  come  at  the  beginning  of  this  verse  is  not  a  mere  particle  of  exhortation, 
as  in  ver.  1,  but  an  invitation  to  God's  presence.  The  Hebrew  verb  is  one 
that  strictly  means  to  come,  and  sometimes  to  enter.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixxi.  16.  This  verse  requires  the  external  indication  of  devout  emotion, 
and  not  the  mere  internal  feeUng,  although  the  latter  is  the  most  essential, 
as  appears  from  what  follows. 

7.  For  He  (is)  our  God,  and  we  {are)  the  people  of  his  pasture,  and  the 
sheep  of  his  hand,  to-day,  if  to  his  voice  ye  will  hearken.  The  people  of  his 
pasture  are  those  fed  and  nurtured  by  him.  The  sheep  of  his  hand  are 
those  led  and  guarded  by  him.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiii.  3,  4,  Ixxiv.  1, 
Ixxx.  13  (12).  We  not  only  have  been  so,  but  are  so  now,  to-day,  provided 
we  obey  him.  The  last  clause  contains  the  condition  of  the  first,  precisely 
as  in  Ps.  Ixxxi.  9  (8),  In  both  cases  this  construction  is  more  natural  and 
satisfactory  than  either  of  the  others  among  which  interpreters  have  been 
divided  ;  some  making  if  an  optative  particle,  "  if  ye  would  only  hear  !" — 
some  supplying  an  apodosis,  as  in  Exod.  xxiii.  21,  22,  to  which  there 
seems  to  be  an  obvious  allusion  ; — some  continuing  the  sentence  into  the 
next  verse,  which  is  forbidden  by  the  change  of  person  there.  This  last 
construction  is  adopted  in  the  Septuagint,  as  quoted  in  Heb.  iii.  9  ;  but 
this  decides  nothing  as  to  the  Hebrew  syntax.  To  hear  (or  hearken  to) 
God's  voice  is  a  common  Hebrew  phrase  for  obeying  his  commands. 

8.  Harden  not  your  heart  like  Meribah,  like  the  day  of  Massah  in  the 
wilderness.  Be  not  wilfully  and  obstinately  insensible.  Your  heart,  in  the 
singlar  number,  because  the  people  are  addressed  as  an  ideal  person.  Like 
Meribah,  i.  c.  as  your  fathers  did  at  Meribah.  Like  the  day  of  Massah,  as 
they  did  at  that  period  of  your  national  history  associated  with  the  name 
of  Massah.  The  reference  is  to  Exod.  xvii.  7.  The  incident  there  recorded 
is  here  specified,  for  the  sake  of  the  significant  names  given  to  the  place, 
Meribah  (strife)  and  Massah  (temptation).  God  himself  is  here  abruptly 
introduced  as  speaking.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlvi.  11  (10),  Ixxv.  3,  4  (2,  3), 
Ixxxvii.  4,  xci.  14. 

9.  When  (or  where)  your  fathers  tempted  me  ;  they  proved  me  (and)  also 
saw  my  work.  The  fii-st  word  in  Hebrew  is  the  relative  pronoun,  which  for 
in  which,  as  in  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  4  (3).  This  may  either  mean  in  which  place 
(where),  or  at  which  time  (when),  more  probably  the  former,  as  the  pre- 
ceding verse  is  full  of  local  nouns.  Tempted  me,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii. 
18,  41.  Proved  me,  put  me  to  the  proof  of  my  existence,  presence,  and 
power,  by  requiring  me  to  work,  i.  e.  to  act  in  an  extraordinary  manner. 
And  this  desire,  unreasonable  as  it  was,  I  gratified.  They  not  only  de- 
manded but  they  likewise  (DJl)  saw  my  work,  i.  e.  what  I  could  do.     Some 

restrict  these  last  words  to  the  previous  displays  of  God's  almighty  power, 
especially  the  plagues  of  Egypt.  "  They  proved  me,  or  put  me  to  the 
proof,  although  they  had  seen  my  work."  But  neither  the  sense  thus  put 
upon  the  likewise,  nor  the  pluperfect  meaning  of  the  verb,  should  be  as- 
sumed without  a  greater  necessity  than  here  exists. 

10.  Forty  years  I  am  vexed  with  a  (wicked)  generation,  and  say,  A  people 
of  wanderers  in  heart  (are)  they,  and  they  do  not  knoio  my  ways.  The  first 
verb  strictly  means  to  be  sick  of,  or  disgusted  with,  a  thing  or  person. 
The  future  form  expresses  more  distinctly  the  idea  of  protracted  trial  and 
annoyance.  A  generation,  or  contemporary  race,  as  distinguished  from 
mere  individuals.  This  expression  is  the  more  appropriate  because  the 
threatening  was  fulfilled,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  in  the  whole  genera 


404  Psalm  96: 1,2 

tion  that  came  out  of  'Egypt.  The  qualifying  epithet  suppHed  in  the  trans- 
lation is  derived  from  Deut  i.  35  (compare  Deut.  ii.  14).  I  say  or  said, 
i.  e.  I  had  occasion  or  good  cause  to  say,  I  could  have  said  with  truth,  or 
I  was  compelled  to  say.  The  next  clause  contains  an  allusion  to  their 
twofold  wandering  or  error.  They  were  not  only  wanderers  in  body  but  in 
heart,  i.  e.  they  erred  from  the  path  of  duty,  truth,  and  safety.  This 
allusion  seems  to  be  continued  in  the  last  clause.  They  were  not  more 
bewildered  in  the  mazes  of  the  trackless  waste,  than  ignorant  of  God's  ways, 
i.e.  of  the  meaning  and  design  of  his  providential  deahngs  with  them. 
Compare  Deut.  xxix.  3. 

11.  Unto  whom  I  sware  in  my  wrath,  If  they  shall  come  into  my  rest  (or 
resting-place).  Here  again  the  fii'st  word  is  a  relative  pronoun,  and  may 
either  be  a  dative,  as  in  the  common  version  of  the  first  clause  above  given  ; 
or  an  adverb  of  time  or  place  {when  or  uhere),  as  in  ver.  9  above  ;  or  a  con- 
junction (so  that),  as  the  latest  interpreters  prefer.  The  conditional  clause, 
with  which  the  sentence  closes,  is  the  strongest  form  of  negation,  being 
that  employed  in  the  most  solemn  oaths.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxix.  36  (35). 
It  is  here  equivalent  to  saying,  they  shall  not  come,  &c.  The  form  of  speech 
is  that  actually  used  in  the  original  threatening,  as  recorded  by  Moses, 
Num.  xiv.  23,  30,  Deut.  i.  35.  The  word  for  rest  is  not  an  abstract  but  a 
local  term,  as  indicated  by  its  form.  It  is  here  applied  to  the  Promised 
Land,  as  in  Deut.  xii.  9.  There  is  something  unusual  and  abrupt  in  the 
conclusion  of  this  psalm,  without  any  cheering  prospect  to  relieve  the 
threatening.  This  may  be  best  explained  by  assuming,  that  it  was  not 
meant  to  stand  alone,  but  to  form  one  of  a  series. 

Psalm  96 

A  JOYOUS  celebration  of  the  universal  spread  of  the  true  religion  and 
conversion  of  the  Gentiles.  The  structure  of  the  psalm  is  perfectly  simple, 
and  all  attempts  at  artificial  subdivision  and  aiTangement  are  either  wholly 
arbitrary  or  founded  upon  dubious  hypotheses.  The  marked  resemblance 
of  the  diction  to  that  of  Isaiah  in  his  later  prophecies,  has  been  thought  to  fix 
the  date  of  the  composition  as  posterior  to  that  prophet.  This  seems  in- 
deed to  be  forbidden  by  the  fact  that  in  1  Chron.  xvi.,  as  commonly  inter- 
preted, this  psalm,  with  portions  of  others,  is  said  to  have  been  sung  at  the 
dedication  of  the  tabernacle  on  mount  Zion  in  the  time  of  David.  But 
according  to  Hengstenberg,  the  true  sense  of  that  passage  is,  that  David 
instituted  the  musical  service  of  the  sanctuary,  of  which  samples  are  then 
given,  taken  not  from  the  most  ancient  psalms,  but  from  those  most  fami- 
liar to  the  people  when  the  history  was  written.  See  below,  the  prefatory 
note  to  Ps.  cv.  and  cvi.  The  psalm  before  us  seem  to  form  a  pair  or  double 
psalm  with  that  preceding,  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  being  then  successively 
addressed,  as  in  Isa.  ii.  3-5,  but  in  an  inverted  order. 

1.  Sing  unto  Jehovah  a  new  song  ;  sing  unto  Jehovah  all  the  earth.  A 
new  song  implies  fresh  occasion  to  praise  God,  not  for  the  mere  repetition 
of  his  former  favours,  but  for  some  new  dispensation  of  his  grace.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxxiii.  3,  xl.  3  (2).  The  one  here  meant  is  the  extension  of 
his  favour  to  the  nations,  who  are  therefore  summoned  in  the  last  clause  to 
celebrate  his  praise  themselves.     Compare  Isa.  xlii.  10,  Rev.  v.  9,  10. 

2.  Sing  unto  Jehovah,  bless  his  name,  proclaim  from  day  to  day  his  sal- 
vation.    To  bless  his  name  is  to  praise  him  for  the  manifestation  of  his 


Psalm  96:3  -  9  405 

attributes.  The  verb  translated  proclaim  is  constantly  applied  to  joyful 
tidings.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xl.  10  (9),  Ixviii.  12  (11),  and  compare  Isa. 
Ix.  9,  lii.  7,  Ix,  6.  The  phrase/rom  day  to  day  implies  that  the  occasion 
of  the  praise  required  is  not  a  transient  one  but  permanent  and  perpetual. 
Bis  salvation,  that  which  he  hast  wrought,  provided  and  revealed,  not  for 
the  Jews  only  but  for  the  Gentiles  also.  With  this  and  the  preceding  verse 
compare  1  Chron.  xvi.  23. 

3.  Recount  among  the  nations  his  glory,  among  all  the  peoples  his  wonders. 
The  use  of  glory,  to  denote  the  special  manifestation  of  God's  attributes,  is 
a  characteristic  feature  of  Isaiah's  later  prophecies.  To  preclude  all  doubt 
as  to  the  extent  of  the  invitation,  the  ambiguous  expression  all  the  earth,  in 
ver.  1,  is  here  explained  to  mean  the  nations,  and  then  still  more  absolutely 
all  the  peoples.  The  only  variation  of  the  parallel  passage  (1  Chron,  xvi.  24) 
is  the  insertion  of  the  objective  particle  if\i^)  in  the  first  clause. 

4.  For  great  [is)  Jehovah,  and  to  be  praised  exceedingly  ;  to  he  feared  [is) 
He  above  all  gods.  He  is  not  a  mere  local  deity,  as  the  heathen  were 
disposed  to  imagine,  even  in  reference  to  their  own  divinities.  With  this 
verse  compare  Ps.  xlvii.  3  (2),  xlviii.  2  (1),  Ixxvii.  14  (13),  Ixxxvi.  8,  xcv.  3, 
xcvii.  8,  xcix.  2. 

5.  For  all  the  gods  of  ike  nations  are  nothings,  and  Jehovah  the  heavens 
did  make.  Nothings,  nonentities,  a  favourite  description  of  idols  in  Isaiah's 
later  prophecies.  See  e.g.  Isa.  xli.  24,  and  compare  Lev.  xix.  4,  xxvi.  1, 
1  Cor.  viii.  4-6,  x.  19.  A  less  probable  etymology  of  the  Hebrew  word 
makes  it  a  diminutive  of  (bhJ)  El,  analogous  to  godlings,  as  an  expression 

of  contempt.  The  contrast  intended  is  extreme  and  absolute.  He  called 
the  world  into  existence  ;  they  do  not  even  exist  themselves.  See  above, 
Ps.  xcv.  4. 

6.  Honour  and  majesty  [are]  before  him,  strength  and  beauty  in  his  holy 
place.  The  first  combination  occurs  above,  Ps.  xlv.  4  (3).  Before  him, 
as  his  constant  attendants  or  forerunners.  Beauty,  all  that  is  lovely  and 
admirable.  See  above,  on  Ps,  Ixxi.  8,  His  holy  place,  his  earthly  resi- 
dence, regarded  as  a  radiating  centre  even  to  the  Gentiles ;  or  the  place 
where  God  reveals  himself,  whatever  it  may  be, 

7.  Give  to  Jehovah,  ye  famiUes  of  nations,  give  to  Jehovah  glory  and 
strength.  Compare  Ps.  xxix.  1.  Here,  as  there,  to  give  is  to  ascribe  or 
recognise  as  belonging  to  him.  The  expression /am<7/>s  of  nations  is  Mo- 
saic. See  Gen.  xii.  3.  The  parallel  passage  (1  Chron.  xvi.  27)  has, 
strength  and  joy  {are)  in  his  place. 

8.  Give  unto  Jehovah  the  glory  of  his  name  ■;  take  an  offering  and  come 
to  his  courts.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xxix.  2.  The  verb  trans- 
lated take  includes  the  ideas  of  taking  up  and  carrj'ing.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  Ixviii,  30  (29),  Ixxii.  10,  Ixxvi,  12,  and  compare  2  Sam.  viii.  2.  The 
word  offering  is  the  one  used  to  denote  the  bloodless  or  vegetable  oblation 
of  the  Mosaic  ritual.  His  courts,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixv.  5  (4),  Ixxxiv.  3  (2), 
xcii.  14  (13).     The  parallel  passage  (1  Chron,  xvi,  29)  has  before  him. 

9.  Bow  down  to  Jehovah  in  beauty  of  holiness ;  tremble  before  him,  all  the 
earth  ?  The  first  verb  denotes  the  act  of  bowing  to  the  ground,  as  prac- 
tised in  the  East.  For  the  meaning  of  the  next  phrase,  beauty  of  holiness, 
see  above,  on  Ps.  xxix.  2,  from  which  place  it  is  borrowed  here.  The  last 
clause  enjoins  the  reverential  awe  due  to  the  exhibition  of  the  di\nne  ma- 
jesty. Compare  Ps.  ii.  11.  The  plural  form  of  the  verb  {tremble  ye)  shews 
that  the  earth  is  put  for  its  inhabitants.  Before  him,  Uterally/rowi  his  face. 
The  parallel  passage  (1  Chron.  xvi.  80)  has  a  double  preposition,  a  He- 


406  Psalm  96:10  -  13 

brew  idiom  which  cannot  be  reproduced  in  English,  and  which  does  not  in 
the  least  affect  the  sense.  We  also  find  there  added  to  the  verse  before  us 
the  middle  clause  or  member  of  the  next  verse. 

10.  Say  ye  among  the  nations,  Jehovah  reigns ;  likewise  fixed  is  the 
world,  it  shall  not  he  moved  ;  Be  will  judge  the  peoples  in  rectitmle.  The 
object  of  address  can  only  be  the  nations  themselves,  as  in  the  foregoing 
context.  They  are  therefore  summoned  to  announce  the  joyful  news  to  one 
another.  Jehovah  reigns,  has  begun  to  reign,  i.  e.  visibly.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xciii.  1,  and  compare  Isa.  xxiv.  23,  lii.  7.  As  in  Ps.  xciii,  1,  the  con- 
servation of  the  world  is  ascribed  to  God's  power,  so  here  to  his  justice. 
Compare  Ps.  Ixxv.  4  (3).  He  will  judge  the  nations  ;  see  above,  on  Ps. 
vii.  9  (8),  Ixxii.  2,  4,  and  compare  Isa.  xi.  4.  In  equities,  see  above,  on 
Ps.  Ixxv.  3  (2).  It  may  here  mean  impartiality,  without  distinction  be- 
tween Jew  and  Gentile.  This  last  clause  is  omitted  in  the  parallel  passage 
(1  Chron.  xvi.  31)  which  also  has  instead  of  say  ye,  they  shall  say,  and 
joins  it  to  what  is  here  the  next  verse. 

11.  Let  the  heavens  rejoice  and  the  earth  exult ;  let  the  sea  roar  and  its 
fulness.     The  optative  form  of  the  second  verb  determines  the  meaning  of 

the  other  futures,  which,  however,  really  include  a  prediction,  or  what  here 
amounts  to  the  same  thing,  a  confident  anticipation.  Its  fulness,  that  which 
fills  it,  its  contents.  This  verse  does  not  necessarily  imply  a  participation 
of  inferior  creatures  in  God's  favour  to  his  people  (Rom.  viii.  21),  but  may 
be  understood  as  a  strong  poetical  description  of  events  so  joyous  that  even 
the  inanimate  creation  breaks  forth  into  singing.  Compare  Isa.  xliv.  23, 
Iv.  12.  The  verb  translated  roar  is  a  cognate  form  of  that  which  means  to 
thunder,  Ps.  xxix.  3. 

12.  Let  the  field  exult,  and  all  that  {is)  in  it ;  then  shall  sing  for  joy  all 
trees  of  the  loood  {or  forest).  The  strict  sense  of  the  future,  which  was 
latent  in  the  preceding  verse,  here,  by  a  beautiful  transition,  reasserts 
itself.  See  below,  on  Ps.  cxxvi.  2,  and  compare  Isa.  xxxv.  5,  6.  The 
field  is  the  cultivated  and  productive  portion  of  the  earth.  All  that  is  in  it, 
with  particular  reference  to  its  productions.  Sing  for  joy  is  the  transla- 
tion of  a  single  verb  in  Hebrew.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xcv.  1.  The  parallel 
passage  (1  Chron.  xvi.  32,  33)  has  precisely  the  same  sense,  but  with  two 
sHght  variations  in  the  words,  a  less  familiar  form  being  substituted  in  one 
case,  and  a  more  famiUar  form  in  the  other. 

13.  Before  Jehovah,  for  he  cometh,for  he  cometh  to  judge  the  earth  ;  he  shall 
judge  the  world  in  righteousness,  and  nations  in  his  truth  {or  faithfulness). 
The  rejoicing  described  in  the  preceding  verse  is  to  take  place  in  the  pre- 
sence (literally  to  the  face)  of  God  when  he  assumes  his  universal  sove- 
reignty, the  judicial  function  of  which  is  here  made  prominent,  in  order  to 
suggest  the  moral  perfection  of  his  reign.  In  righteousness,  not  merely  in 
a  righteous  manner,  but  in  the  exercise  of  his  inherent  and  essential  justice. 
The  use  of  the  word  people,  in  the  common  version  of  the  last  clause,  ob- 
scures the  sense,  by  seeming  to  apply  the  verse  to  Israel,  whereas  it  is 
expressly  applied  in  the  original  to  the  nations  generally.  Even  the  truth 
or  faithfulness  of  God,  which  commonly  denotes  his  veracity  in  fulfilling 
his  promises  to  the  chosen  people,  has  here  a  wider  sense,  as  opposed  to 
the  dishonesty  or  partiality  of  human  judges.  In  the  parallel  passage 
(1  Chron.  xvi.  33)  the  emphatic  repetition  in  the  first  clause,  and  the 
whole  of  the  last  clause,  are  omitted,  perhaps  because  so  striking  and  sono- 
rous a  conclusion  would  not  have  been  appropriate,  when  another  psalm 
was  to  be  added. 


Psalm  97:1  -  6  407 


Psalm  97 

Another  exhibition  of  Jehovah's  universal  sovereignty,  in  which  his 
judicial  functions  are  again  made  prominent,  but  with  special  reference  to 
the  condemnation  and  destruction  of  the  unbelieving  nations.  The  struc- 
ture of  the  psalm  is  remarkably  like  that  of  the  second,  consisting  of  four 
stanzas  of  three  verses  each.  The  first  describes  the  Lord's  appearing 
as  the  Judge  of  the  Nations,  ver.  1-3.  The  second,  its  effects  upon  inani- 
mate creation,  ver.  4-6.  The  third,  its  effects  upon  idolaters  and  Israel 
respectively,  ver.  7-9.  The  fourth  applies  it  as  a  present  warning  and 
encouragement  to  true  believers,  ver.  10-12.  The  characteristic  feature 
of  the  psalm  is  its  frequent  citation  of  older  scriptures,  all  anterior  to  the 
Babylonish  exile,  from  which  Hengstenberg  infers,  not  only  the  date  of  this 
composition,  but  the  fact  that  all  the  sacred  writings  of  the  ancient  He- 
brews are  now  extant  in  the  Bible. 

1.  Jehovah  reigneth,  let  the  earth  exult  ;  glad  he  the  many  islands  !  For 
the  meaning  of  the  first  clause,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xciii.  1,  xcvi.  10;  for 
that  of  the  second,  on  Ps.  xcvi.  11.  The  manifestation  of  the  divine 
royalty  is  often  represented  as  a  cause  for  universal  jo}',  even  when  attended 
by  direct  advantage  only  to  the  chosen  people,  and  by  fearful  judgments  to 
mankind  at  large.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  50  (49),  xl\'ii.  2  (1),  and  com- 
pare Deut.  xxxii.  43.  The  last  clause  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  Isa. 
xlii.  10,  12,  the  use  of  the  word  isles  in  both,  to  designate  the  Gentiles, 
being  founded  upon  Gen.  x.  5.  See  also  Ps.  Ixxii.  10.  The  many  islands, 
see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxix.  51  (50). 

2.  Vapour  and  gloom  [are)  round  him  ;  righteousness  and  judgment  (are) 
the  place  of  his  throne.  The  images  and  terms  in  the  first  clause  are  bor- 
rowed from  Deut.  v.  22.  Compare  Exod.  xix.  16,  18,  and  see  above,  on 
Ps.  xviii.  10,  12  (9,  11).  With  the  last  clause  compare  Ps.  Ixxxix.  15  (14). 
Righteousness  and  judgment  seem  to  be  here  related  as  the  attribute  and 
act.  The  word  translated  place  has,  from  its  very  derivation,  the  specific 
sense  of  a  permanent  or  fixed  place,  and  especially  a  dwelling-place.  Com- 
pare 1  Kings  viii.  13.  The  figures  in  the  first  clause  are  expressive  of 
concealment  or  mystery,  but  only  as  a  source  of  solemn  awe,  as  in  the 
great  theophany  on  Sinai. 

3.  Fire  before  him  goes,  and  hums  up  around  {him)  his  foes.  With  the 
first  clause  compare  Ps.  1.  3  ;  with  the  last,  Isa.  xHi.  25.  See  also  Ps. 
Ixxxiii.  15  (14).  The  future  form  is  used  because  the  verb  describes  not 
what  the  wrath  of  God  is  doing  or  has  actually  done,  but  what  it  will  do 
when  provoked  by  obstinate  resistance. 

4.  His  lightnings  made  the  world  shine  ;  (then)  saxv  and  trembled  the  earth. 
Compare  Ps.  Ixxvii.  17,  19  (16,  18).  Here  begins  the  second  stanza,  in 
which,  as  in  most  cases  of  the  same  sort,  inanimate  creation  is  described  as 
sharing  in  the  powerful  effects  of  the  divine  epiphany.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
x\'iii.  8  (7),  xcri.  11,  12,  and  compare  Judges  v.  4,  Nahum  i.  5,  Hab.  iii.  6. 
Isa.  Ixiv.  1. 

5.  Mountains  like  wax  are  melted  from  before  Jehovah,  from  before  the 
Lord  of  all  the  earth.  Compare  Micah  i.  4,  iv.  13.  As  in  all  such  cases, 
while  mountains  are  mentioned  as  the  salient  points  of  the  earth,  they  sug- 
gest, at  the  same  time,  the  idea  of  great  states  and  kingdoms,  of  which  they 
are  a  standing  symbol.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  8  (7),  xlvi.  3  (2). 

6.  The  heavens  declare  his  righteousness,  and  all  the  nations  see  his  glory. 


408  Psalm97:7-12 

With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  1.  6,  and  with  the  lastlsa.  xl.  5,  kvi,  18. 
See  also  Isa.  xxxv.  2,  lix.  19.  The  manifestation  of  Jehovah's  glory  to  the 
Gentiles  is  a  favourite  conception  of  Isaiah,  and  particularly  frequent  in  his 
later  prophecies. 

7.  Shamed  shall  he  all  serving  a  graven  image  and  boasting  themselves  of 
idols.  Bow  down  to  him,  all  ye  gods !  The  first  word  means  not  merely 
ashamed,  but  disappointed,  defeated,  and  confounded.  All  serving  or  all 
servers  (i.  e.  worshippers)  oj  a  graven  image.  Boasting  themselves,  exulting 
in  the  knowledge  and  possession  and  imagined  favour  of  material  images. 
Idoh,  nothings  or  nonentities,  as  in  Ps.  xcvi.  5.  The  use  of  this  word  shews 
that  in  the  following  clause  the  false  gods  are  invested  with  existence  only 
to  be  treated  with  the  more  contempt.  Compare  Exod.  xii.  12,  Num. 
xxxiii.  4,  Isa.  xix.  1,  xhi.  17,  xliv.  9.  The  verb  in  this  clause  might  be 
taken  as  a  preterite,  worship  or  have  worshipiied ;  but  the  imperative  construc- 
tion seems  to  be  required  by  the  analogy  of  Ps.  xcvi.  9.  These  words  are 
not  applied  to  Christ  directly  in  Heb.  i,  6.  It  is  merely  said  that  when 
God  sends  his  Son  into  the  world,  he  may  be  understood  as  saying  again 
{iraXiv)  of  him,  what  is  here  said  of  himself,  to  wit,  that  even  the  false  gods 
are  required  to  worship  him,  much  more  the  angels  who  have  real  existence. 
The  passage  was  no  doubt  suggested  to  the  mind  of  the  New  Testament 
writer  by  the  fact  that  the  Septuagint  renders  gods  by  angels,  though  he 
does  not  copy  this  erroneous  version. 

8.  Zion  hears  and  rejoices,  and  glad  are  the  daughters  of  Judah,  because 
of  thy  judgments,  Jehovah  !  While  the  heathen  are  confounded,  the  people 
of  God  rejoice.  The  terms  of  the  verse  are  borrowed  from  Ps.  xlviii. 
12  (11),  iu  the  note  upon  which  the  ambiguous  phrase,  daughters  of  Judah, 
is  explained.  The  judgments  here  particularly  meant  are  those  inflicted  on 
the  unbelieving  Gentiles. 

9.  For  thou,  Jehovah,  (art)  Most  High  above  all  the  eavth  ;  greatly  art 
thou  exalted  above  all  gods.  Jehovah's  infinite  superiority  to  idols  and  their 
worshippers  is  once  more  solemnly  asserted.  With  the  first  clause  compare 
Ps.  Ixxxiii.  19  (18) ;  with  the  second,  Ps.  xlvii.  10  (9).  It  is  remarkable 
that  two  psalms  are  here  put  together  in  quotation,  which  there  is  strong 
internal  reason  for  supposing  to  have  been  occasioned  by  a  victory  of 
Jehoshaphat. 

10.  Lovers  of  Jehovah,  hate  evil  I  He  keeps  the  souls  of  his  gracious  ones  ; 
from  the  hand  of  wicked  [men)  he  will  set  them  free.     The  people  of  God  are 

now  exhorted  not  to  do  evil  in  the  hope  of  thereby  being  safer.  Evil,  in 
the  moral  sense  of  wickedness,  and  more  especially  injustice.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  vii.  10  (9),  xxxiv.  14,  15.  With  the  first  words  of  the  verse  com- 
pare Ps.  V.  12  (11).  He  keeps,  or  rather,  he  (is)  keeping,  i.e.  habitually, 
constantly  preserving.  The  danger,  against  which  they  particularly  need 
protection,  is  distinctly  mentioned  in  the  last  clause,  namely,  that  arising 
from  the  enmity  of  wicked  men.  Gracious  ones,  objects  of  God's  mercy, 
subjects  of  his  grace,  a  favourite  description  of  the  righteous  or  true  believers, 
as  a  class.     See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  4  (3). 

11.  Light  (is)  sown  for  the  just  (jnan),  and  for  right-hearted  (men)  joy. 
The  figurative  term  light  is  explained  by  the  literal  one  joy  or  gladness.  Its 
being  sown  suggests  the  two  ideas  of  diffusion  and  productiveness.  Com- 
pare the  similar  and  parallel  expression,  Ps.  cxii.  4.  The  alternation  of 
the  singular  and  plural  number  shews  that  the  just  man  of  the  first  clause 
is  an  ideal  person,  representing  a  whole  class. 

12.  Rejoice,  ye  righteous,  in  Jehovah,  and  give  thanks  to  the  memo )'y  of  his 


Psalm  98:1 -4  409 

holiness.  Since  joy  is  the  portion  of  the  righteous,  let  them  accept  it  and 
make  use  of  it,  but  only  in  the  Lord,  i.  e.  in  reference  to  the  possession  and 
enjoyment  of  his  favour,  as  the  reason  and  the  warrant  for  rejoicing.  At 
the  same  time  let  them  testify  their  gratitude  to  that  divine  perfection  which 
is  treasured  in  their  memory  and  suggested  by  the  name  of  God.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  5  (4),  xxxii.  11,  from  which  the  language  of  this  verse 
is  borrowed. 


Psalm  98 

This  psalm  is  similar,  in  tone  and  structure,  to  the  one  before  it,  con- 
taining three  stanzas  of  three  verses  each.  The  first  propounds  the  subject 
of  the  praise  to  which  the  whole  world  is  exhorted,  ver.  1-3.  The  second 
prescribes  the  form  in  which  it  shall  be  rendered,  ver.  4-6.  The  third  de- 
termines its  extent,  or  in  other  words,  requires  it  to  be  universal,  ver.  7-9. 

1.  A  Psalm  Sing  ye  to  Jehovah  a  new  song,  for  wonders  he  has  done  ; 
his  right  hand  has  wrought  salvation  for  him,  and  his  holy  arm.  This  is 
the  only  case  in  which  the  word  psalm  ("^tolD)  stands  by  itseK  as  a  com- 
plete inscription.  This  fact  has  been  ingeniously  explained  by  supposing 
that  the  word  was  intended  to  distinguish  this,  as  a  purely  lyrical  composi- 
tion, from  the  one  before  it,  which  has  more  of  the  prophetic  character  and 
style.  The  first  clause  after  this  inscription  is  like  Ps.  xcvi.  1,  where  the 
words  have  been  explained  already.  Wonders,  or  wondrous  deeds,  things 
wonderfully  done,  as  in  Ps.  xcvi.  3.  Wrought  salvation,  literally  saved  for 
him,  i.  e.  enabled  him  to  save  his  people.  The  idea  and  expression  are  both 
found  in  Isa.  lix.  16,  Ixiii.  5,  as  the  expression  arm  of  holiness  (or  holy  arm) 
is  in  Isa.  lii.  10.  This  is  one  of  the  cases  in  which  holiness  has  the  wide 
sense  of  divine  perfection,  as  opposed  to  what  is  finite  or  belongs  to  the 
creature.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  4  (3).  With  the  whole  verse  compare 
Judges  vii.  2.  The  allusion  to  Isaiah,  or  quotations  from  him,  shew  that 
the  wonders  to  be  celebrated  are  like  those  which  constitute  the  theme  of 
his  later  prophecies,  namely,  Jehovah's  interpositions  for  the  deliverance 
and  protection  of  his  people. 

2.  Jehovah  hath  made  known  his  salvation,  to  the  eyes  of  the  nations  he  hath 
revealed  his  righteousness.  He  hath  shewn  the  world  his  power  and  his 
willingness  to  save  his  own  people  according  to  his  promise,  with  respect  to 
which  his  righteousness  and  his  salvation  are  related  to  each  other  as  cause 
and  effect.     With  this  verse  compare  Isa.  Hi.  10. 

3.  He  hath  remembered  his  mercy  and  his  truth  for  the  house  of  Israel ; 
all  the  ends  of  the  earth  have  seen  the  salvation  of  our  God.  The  common 
version  connects  to  the  house  of  Israel  with  what  immediately  precedes,  the 
mercy  and  truth  which  he  formerly  exercised  towards  the  house  of  Israel. 
But  according  to  the  Hebrew  idiom  and  the  usage  of  the  psalms,  the  pre- 
position is  dependent  on  the  leading  verb:  "He  has  called  to  mind  his 
mercy  and  truth  for  the  present  benefit  of  the  house  of  Israel."  Truth, 
fidehty  to  his  engagements.  See  the  saine  combination  in  Ps,  xcii.  8.  The 
last  clause  is  another  citation  from  Isa.  hi.  10,  which  shews  that  the  salva- 
tion  primarily  meant  is  that  of  Israel.  This,  however,  is  closely  connected 
in  prophecy  with  that  of  the  Gentiles. 

4.  Shout  to  Jehovah,  all  the  earth  1  Burst  forth,  and  sing,  and  play  I 
The  second  stanza  prescribes  the  form  or  manner  of  the  praise.     This  verse 


410  Psalm  98:5 -9 

accumulates  the  verbs  denoting  joyful  noise,  whether  inarticulate,  or  instru- 
mental. The  first  clause  differs  from  Ps.  xcvi.  1,  only  by  substituting  one 
divine  name  for  another.  See  also  Ps.  xlvii.  2  (1).  The  verb  (TOE))  to 
burst  forth  (into  praise  or  singing)  is  almost  peculiar  to  Isaiah  (xiv.  7, 
xliv.  23,  xlix.  12,  liv.  1).  This  very  combination  with  the  verb  to  sing 
occurs  in  Isa.  lii.  9. 

5.  Make  music  to  Jehovah  with  a  harp,  ivith  a  harp  and  a  musical  voice! 
The  first  verb  is  the  one  translated  play  in  the  preceding  verse.  Its  repeti- 
tion is  like  that  in  Ps.  xlvii.  2  (1).  It  is  strictly  apphed  to  instrumental 
music,  but  often  extended  to  any  musical  expression,  especially  of  praise  to 
God.  A  musical  voice,  or  a  voice  of  singing,  as  distinguished  from  the  voice 
of  speech.  The  phrase  occurs  in  Isa.  li.  3.  The  repeated  introduction  of 
the  verb  10T  or  its  derivatives  is  supposed  by  some  to  be  the  reason  of  the 
title  TIDTD-     See  above,  on  ver.  1. 

6.  With  trumpets  and  sound  of  comet,  shout  before  the  King,  Jehovah ! 
The  first  noun  is  supposed  to  denote  the  long  straight  trumpet,  the  other 
the  cornet  or  curved  horn  of  ancient  music.  These  are  named  as  the  ac- 
companiments of  the  act  described  in  the  other  clause,  where  the  verb  may 
therefore  have  the  sense  of  shouting,  which  it  has  most  generally  in  these 
psalms.  The  act  described  is  the  jo}'ful  acclamation  at  the  accession  or 
public  recognition  of  a  sovereign.  King  Jehovah  is  a  combination  found  in 
Isa.  vi.  5.  Compare  Ps.  xcv.  3,  xcvi.  10,  xcvii.  1.  The  whole  is  equiva- 
lent to  saying,  hail  him  who  has  now  become  your  king ! 

7.  Let  the  sea  thunder  and  ichat  fills  it — the  land  and  those  duelling  on  it. 
The  last  stanza  represents  the  praise  as  universal.  For  the  meaning  of  the 
first  clause  see  above,  on  Ps.  xcvi.  11 ;  for  that  of  the  second,  on  Ps. 
xxiv.  1.  The  word  there  translated  world  is  here  used  in  opposition  to  sea, 
and  therefore  rendered  land.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xc.  2. 

8.  Let  rivers  clap  the  hand;  together  let  mountains  sing  (or  shout  for  joy) ! 
This  bold  but  beautiful  personification  is  also  found  in  Isa.  Iv.  12,  the  only 
other  place  where  the  clapping  of  the  hands  is  ascribed  to  lifeless  objects. 
This  was  a  customary  sign  of  joy,  especially  when  joined  with  acclamation 
in  honour  of  a  sovereign,  as  it  is  not  only  here,  and  in  Ps.  xlvii.  2  (1),  in 
highly  figm-ative  poetry,  but  also  in  historical  prose,  e.  g.  the  account  of  the 
coronation  of  Joash,  2  Kings  xi.  12.  Together,  not  merely  with  each  other, 
but  at  the  same  time  and  in  concert  with  the  applauses  of  the  floods  or 
rivers. 

9.  Before  Jehovah,  for  he  cometh  to  judge  the  earth;  he  will  judge  the 
world  in  righteousness  and  nations  in  equity.  The  acclamations  must  be 
uttered  to  Jehovah,  not  only  as  a  sovereign  king,  but  as  a  righteous  judge. 
The  first  clause  is  like  Ps.  xcvi.  13,  except  that  it  omits  the  emphatic  re- 
petition, which  is  also  the  case  in  1  Chron.  xvi.  33.  The  first  verb  might, 
in  all  these  case^,  bo  more  exactly  and  emphatically  rendered,  he  is  come. 
In  equity,  Hterally  equities  or  rectitudes,  the  plural  form  denoting  fulness  and 
perfection.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xcvi.  10. 

Psalm  99 

The  theme  of  this  psalm,  as  of  those  immediately  preceding,  is  the  kingship 
of  Jehovah,  ver.  1 .  The  remainder  falls  into  two  stanzas  of  four  verses  each. 
In  the  first,  Jehovah's  goodness  to  his  people  is  propounded  as  a  subject  of 
applause  to  all  mankind,  ver.  2-5.     In  the  second,  the  same  duty  is  en- 


Psalm  99:1 -5  411 

forced  by  an  appeal  to  historical  examples,  ver.  6-9.  The  strophical 
arrangement  is  marked  by  the  resemblance  of  ver.  5  and  9.  The  psalm  is 
related  in  the  closest  manner  to  those  before  and  after  it,  as  forming  one 
connected  series.     See  below,  on  Ps.  c. 

1.  Jehovah  reigns,  the  nations  tremble;  sitting  on  (or  dwelling  between)  the 
cherubim  (he  reigns),  the  earth  quakes.  The  second  member  of  each  clause 
describes  the  effect  produced  by  the  disclosure  of  the  fact  that  God  has  be- 
gun to  reign,  is  actually  reigning.  For  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  sitting 
on  (or  dwelling  betweeii)  the  cherubim,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxx.  2  (1).  As 
used  in  history,  it  always  presupposes  the  presence  of  the  ark  as  symbolis- 
ing that  of  God  himself.  See  1  Sam.  iv.  4,  2  Sam.  vi.  2,  2  Kings  xix.  15. 
Its  use  here,  therefore,  shews  that  the  psalm  before  us,  and  by  necessary 
consequence,  the  series  to  which  it  belongs  (Ps.  xci.-c.),  and  by  parity  of 
reasoning,  the  later  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  were  aU  composed  before  the 
Babylonian  conquest,  when  the  temple  was  destroyed  and  the  ark  lost  sight 
of.  The  futures  have  their  strict  sense,  as  this  is  a  prediction.  If  they 
were  optative  {let  the  nations  tremble,  &c.)  one  of  the  verbs  at  least  would 
have  that  form. 

2.  Jehovah  in  TJion  (is)  great,  and  high  [is)  he  above  all  nations.  Com- 
pare Ps.  xlviii.  2  (1),  xcv.  3,  xcvi.  4,  xcvii.  9.  The  addition  of  the  quali- 
fying phrase  in  Zion  shews  that  the  reference  is  not  to  God's  absolute 
essential  greatness,  but  to  some  signal  manifestation  of  his  greatness  to  his 
people.  The  word  translated  high  is  originally  a  participle,  and  may  be 
likened  to  our  English  towering. 

3.  They  shall  acknowledge  thy  name,  great  and  terrible  :  Holy  {is)  He! 
The  subject  of  the  first  verb  is  the  nations  mentioned  in  ver.  2.  See  above, 
Ps.  xcvi.  9,  xcvii.  7,  xcviii.  1,  4.  The  verb  itself  means  to  acknowledge 
thankfully,  to  thank,  to  praise  for  benefits  received.  See  above,  on  Pa. 
vi.  5  (4).  TJiy  name,  the  evidence  already  furnished  of  thine  infinite  per- 
fection. Great  and  feared,  or  to  he  feared,  epithets  derived  from  Deut. 
X.  17,  xxviii.  58.  In  the  last  clause  some  would  read.  Holy  {is)  it,  i.  e.  thy 
name.  But  the  sense  is  determined  by  the  analogy  of  ver.  5,  9,  and  the 
obvious  allusion  to  Isa.  vi.  3.  This  allusion  is  by  some  supposed  to  be  the 
reason  of  the  sudden  change  of  person.  He  instead  of  2'hou.  But  this  may 
be  still  more  readily  accounted  for,  by  making  these  the  very  words  in  which 
God  is  acknowledged  by  the  nations  :  (saying)  Holy  is  he !  Holy,  in  the 
wide  sense  which  it  has  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  more  particularly  in  the 
Psalms.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  4  (3). 

4.  And  the  king's  strength  loves  judgment ;  thou  hast  established  equity  : 
judgment  and  justice  in  Jacob  thou  hast  done.  Some  continue  the  construc- 
tion from  the  preceding  sentence  ;  they  shall  acknowledge  thy  name  and  the 
king's  strength  loving  judgment.  But  as  sentences  of  this  length  are  unusual 
in  Hebrew,  and  as  HHhJ  is  not  elsewhere  a  participle  or  verbal  adjective, 

the  best  construction  is  the  old  one,  which  makes  this  an  independent  pro- 
position. The  meaning  of  the  first  clause  seems  to  be,  that  God's  power  is 
controlled  in  its  exercise  by  his  love  of  justice.  To  establish  equity  is  to 
give  it  permanence  by  a  habituall}^  pure  administration  of  justice.  The 
terms  of  the  last  clause  are  the  same  by  which  the  history  describes  the 
judicial  fidelity  of  David,  2  Sam.  viii.  15,  as  if  to  indicate  that  it  was  a  mere 
type  of  God's  more  perfect  and  infallible  administration  of  impartial  justice. 

5.  Exalt  ye  Jehovah  our  God,  and  prostrate  yourselves  to  his  footstool. 
Holy  {is)  He!  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xxx.  2  (1),  xxxiv.  4  (3); 
with  the  second,  Ps.  xcvi.  9,  xcvii.  7.     As  in  those  cases,  the  address  is  to 


412  Psalm  99:6 -9 

the  nations.  Bow  doton  (or  prostrate)  yourselves,  as  an  act  of  worship. 
Not  at  Ms  footstool,  as  the  mere  place  of  worship,  but  to  it,  as  the  object, 
this  name  being  constantly  given  to  the  ark,  1  Chron.  xxviii.  2,  Lam.  ii.  1, 
Ps.  cxxxii.  7,  Isa.  Ix.  13.  Even  in  Isa.  lx\a.  1,  there  is  allusion  to  the 
ordinary  usage  of  the  terms.  The  ark  is  here  represented  as  the  object  of 
worship,  just  as  Zion  is  in  Isa.  xlv.  14,  both  being  put  for  the  God  who 
was  present  in  them. 

6.  Moses  and  Aaron  among  his  priests,  and  Samuel  amovg  those  calling 
on  his  name — calling  to  Jehovah,  and  he  answers  them.  The  structure  of 
the  sentence  is  elliptical,  and  may  be  completed  either  by  supplying  are  or 
were  before  among,  or  by  making  the  participle  calling  mean  are  calling, 
call.  In  explaining  the  sentence  due  regard  must  be  had  to  its  parallel 
structure.  As  Moses  and  Aaron  are  evidently  meant  to  be  included  among 
those  who  called  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  so  Samuel  must  be  compre- 
hended among  his  priests.  Moses  and  Samuel  are  so  described  because 
they  were  theocratic  mediators  between  God  and  the  people,  and  as  such 
performed  occasionally  what  were  strictly  sacerdotal  functions.  See  Lev. 
"viii.  15-30,  1  Sam.  ix.  13.  The  prayers  here  referred  to  are  their  inter- 
cessions for  the  people.  See  Exod.  xviii.  19,  xxxii.  11-30,  Num.  xi.  2, 
xiv.  9,  xxi.  7,  Deut.  v.  5,  ix.  18,  19,  1  Sam.  vii.  9,  xii.  23,  Ps.  cvi.  23. 
The  connection  of  this  verse  with  the  foregoing  context  is  obscure,  but  the 
idea  seems  to  be,  that  as  even  the  chiefs  of  the  theocracy  were  under  the 
necessity  of  seeking  the  divine  favour,  such  prayer  must,  to  say  the  least, 
be  equally  necessary  in  the  case  of  others. 

7.  In  a  pillar  of  cloud  he  speaks  to  them.  They  kept  his  testimonies  and 
the  statute  he  gave  unto  them.  The  first  clause  may  be  figuratively  under- 
stood as  denoting  any  special  divine  communication,  or  what  was  literally 
time  of  Moses  and  Aaron  (Exod.  xxxiii.  9,  Num.  xii.  5,  Deut.  xxxi.  15) 
may  be  here  applied  to  all  three  indiscriminately.  The  verse  contains  a 
second  lesson  drawn  from  the  history  of  the  theocracy,  to  wit,  the  necessity 
of  obedience  no  less  than  of  prayer.  It  was  true,  God  spoke  to  these  men 
in  an  extraordinary  manner  ;  but  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  making  known 
his  will,  and  that  will  they  obeyed.  For  the  meaning  of  testimonies,  see 
above,  on  Ps.  xciii.  5.  The  last  clause  may  be  construed  as  an  independent 
proposition,  and  he  gave  a  statute  to  them,  i.  e.  he  rewarded  their  obedience 
by  revealing  to  them  new  laws.  But  the  sense  thus  obtained  is  not  so  clear 
or  natural  as  that  afforded  by  the  relative  construction,  and  the  statute 
{which)  he  gave  them. 

8.  Jehovah  our  God,  thou  didst  answerlthem  ;  a  forgiving  God  wast  thou 
to  them,  and  (a  God)  taking  vengeance  on  their  crimes.  The  apostrophe  to 
God  himself  adds  solemnity  and  tenderness  to  the  discourse.  The  pronoun 
is  emphatic,  they  called  and  thou  didst  hear  or  answer.  The  following 
description  is  borrowed  from  Exod.   xxxiv.  7.     The  divine   name  (7K), 

implies  that  he  had  infinite  power  to  destroy,  and  yet  forgave  them.  The 
last  Hebrew  word  in  the  verse  is  used  of  God  in  a  good  sense,  and  of  man 
always  in  a  bad  one.  See  above,  on  Ps,  ix.  12  (11),  xiv.  1,  Ixxvii.  13  (12). 
There  is  here  a  beautiful  transition  from  the  representatives  of  the  people 
to  the  people  themselves.  The  pronoun  in  the  first  clause  [them)  can  refer 
only  to  Moses,  Aaron,  and  Samuel ;  in  the  second,  it  is  applicable  both  to 
them  and  to  the  people  ;  in  the  third,  it  relates  to  the  latter  exclusively. 

9.  Exalt  ye  Jehovah  our  God,  and  how  down  to  his  holy  hill ;  for  holy 
{is)  Jehovah  our  God.     See  above,  on  ver.  5,  from  which  this  differs  only 


Psalm  100:1 -4  413 

in  the  substitution  of  the  holy  hill  for  the  equivalent  expression  footstool, 
and  in  the  more  distinct  assertion  of  God's  hoUness  as  a  reason  for  the 
worship  thus  required. 

Psalm  100 

This  psalm  is  related  to  the  ninety-ninth  as  the  ninety-eighth  is  to  the 
ninety-seventh.  The  prophecy  there  latent  is  here  clothed  in  a  genuine 
lyrical  form.  There  is  also  the  same  likeness  as  to  structure  and  arrange- 
ment. The  theme,  propounded  in  ver.  1,  is  ampUfied  in  two  short  stanzas, 
of  two  verses  each.  In  both  these  an  exhortation  to  praise  God  is  followed 
by  a  reason  for  so  doing.  Men  ought  to  praise  him  as  their  creator  and 
preserver,  ver.  2,  3.  They  ought  also  to  praise  him  for  his  infiaiite  good- 
ness, constancy,  and  faithfulness,  ver.  4,  5.  Besides  completing  the  fore- 
going psalm,  it  closes  the  whole  series  or  cycle  of  hannonious  addresses  to 
the  nations  or  the  world  at  large. 

1.  A  Psalm.  For  thanksgiving.  Shout  unto  Jehovah,  all  the  earth! 
The  title  resembles  that  of  Ps.  xcvii.,  but  is  rendered  more  specific  by  the 
addition  for  thanksgiving.  The  version  praise  is  too  restricted.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xcix.  3.  The  rest  of  the  verse  is  identical  with  Ps.  xcviii.  4. 
See  also  Ps.  ii.  11,  Ixvi.  1. 

2.  Serve  Jehovah  with  joy,  come  before  him  with  singing  !  Since  he  is 
the  king  of  the  nations,  they  are  his  subjects,  and  as  such  bound  to  serve 
him.  What  they  are  required  to  do  in  Ps.  ii.  11  with  fear  and  trembling, 
as  repentant  rebels,  they  are  here  invited  to  do  with  joy  and  gladness,  as 
his  willing  subjects. 

3.  Know  ye  that  Jehovah  is  God;  {it  is)  He  {that)  made  us,  and  not  we 
(ourselves),  his  people,  and  the  sheep  of  his  pasture.  This  is  the  first  reason 
given  for  acknowledging  Jehovah's  sovereignty,  to  wit,  that  he  has  made  his 
people  what  they  are.  With  the  fii'st  clause  compare  Ps.  xlvi.  11  (10). 
Instead  of  and  not  toe  ourselves,  the  keri  or  masoretic  reading  in  the  margin 
of  the  Hebrew  Bible  has,  and  his  we  are.  These  phrases,  though  so  unlike 
in  English,  difi"er  only  in  a  single  letter,  and  not  (N?)  we,  and  to  him  (17) 
we.  The  first  is  adopted  by  the  Septuagint  and  Vulgate,  the  second  by  the 
Targum  and  Jerome.  In  favour  of  the  latter  is  the  similar  construction  of 
the  pronoun  (linjJ^)  we  with  iyoyl)  his  people  in  Ps.  Ixxix.  13.  xcv.  7.  In 
favour  of  the  other  is  its  antiquity,  and  its  greater  significancy  and  appro- 
priateness to  the  context.  Some  who  adopt  it  read,  it  is  he  that  has  made 
us  (to  be)  his  people  the  sheep,  &c.  But  besides  the  violence  of  this  con- 
struction, he  made  us  has  no  doubt  the  same  sense  as  in  Ps.  xcv.  6,  and  his 
people  must  mean  us  who  are  his  people.  Sheep  (or  Jlock)  of  his  pasture,  as 
in  Ps.  Ixxiv.  1,  Ixxix.  13,  xcv.  7. 

4.  Enter  his  gates  with  thanksgiving  and  his  courts  with  praise  ;  give 
thanks  unto  him,  bless  his  name  I  Compare  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  3  (2),  xcii.  14  (13), 
xcv.  2,  xcvi.  2,  8,  xcvii.  12.  The  substance  of  the  exhortation  is,  join  in 
the  worship  of  his  people.  That  the  reference  to  the  sanctuary  at  Jerusa- 
lem is  merely  typical  or  metapljorical,  is  clear  from  the  analogy  of  Isa. 
Ixvi.  23,  where  all  mankind  are  required  to  come  up  every  sabbath,  a 
command  which,  if  Hterally  understood,  is  perfectly  impracticable.  The 
combination  of  the  verb  to  thank  (iniH)  with  its  derivative  noun  (H^ii^) 

may  throw  some  light  upon  the  title,  a  psalm  for  thanksgiving  {n'^SDT)- 


414  Psalm  101:1 

5.  For  good  (is)  Jehovah,  to  eternity  his  mercy,  and  even  to  generation 
and  generation  his  faithfulness  (or  truth).  This  verse  assigns  a  second 
reason  for  the  invitation  to  praise  Jehovah,  namely,  the  goodness,  truth, 
and  constancy  of  the  divine  nature.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xxv. 
8,  xxxiv.  9  (8),  Ixxxvi.  5 ;  with  the  second,  Isa.  liv.  8,  10 ;  with  the  third, 
Ps.  Ixxxix.  2  (1),  xcii.  3  (2). 

Here  ends  what  Hengstenberg  describes  as  a  decalogue  of  Psalms 
(xci.-c),  all  intended  to  exhibit  the  relation  between  Israel  and  the  world 
at  large  ;  all  of  a  cheering  and  triumphant  character,  without  the  slightest 
intermixture  of  complaint  or  lamentation ;  all  crowded  with  citations  from 
the  older  Scriptures,  or  allusions  to  them  ;  almost  all  pointing  to  a  glorious 
theophany  still  future  ;  and  almost  all  distinguished  by  emphatic  repetitions, 
and  the  frequent  use  of  musical  terms,  especially  the  names  of  instruments. 
That  these  psalms  are  not  thrown  together  at  random,  is  apparent  from  the 
fact  that  the  series  begins  with  a  general  assurance  of  divine  protection 
(Ps.  xci.),  and  of  God's  power  both  to  save  the  righteous  and  destroy  the 
wicked  (Ps.  xcii.),  followed  by  variations  on  the  grand  theme  that  the 
LoKD  KEiGNETH  (Ps.  xciii.-xcix.),  and  closing  with  an  earnest  exhortation  to 
the  whole  world  to  receive  him  as  their  sovereign  (Ps.  c).  The  mutual 
relation  of  the  several  psalms  has  been  already  indicated  in  the  exposition. 
According  to  Hengstenberg,  these  ten  psalms  are  in  Psalmody  what  the 
later  chapters  of  Isaiah  (xl.-lxvi.)  are  in  Prophecy ;  and  as  the  former  are 
undoubtedly  anterior  to  the  exile,  they  confirm  the  genuineness  of  the  latter. 

Psalm  101 

After  propounding  as  his  theme  the  mercy  and  justice  of  the  Lord, 
ver.  1,  the  Psalmist  announces  his  determination  to  be  blameless  in  his 
own  walk,  ver.  2-4,  and  so  to  exercise  his  power  over  others  as  to  favour 
the  godly  and  drive  out  the  wicked,  ver.  5-8. 

1.  By  David.  A  Psalm.  31  ercy  and  judgment  will  I  sing  ;  to  thee, 
Jehovah,  will  I  play  (or  make  music).  As  such  a  declaration  of  a  present 
purpose  in  the  Psalms  is  always  followed  by  its  execution,  the  older  inter- 
preters suppose  mercy  and  judgme7it  to  be  those  which  David  meant  to 
practise,  as  he  states  more  fully  in  the  remainder  of  the  psalm.  But  be- 
sides that,  he  says  nothing  in  what  follows  of  his  mercy,  there  is  no  usage 
of  the  Psalms  more  settled  than  that  mercy  and  justice  are  combined  to 
denote  divine  not  human  attributes,  and  that  to  sing  and  make  music  to 
Jehovah  never  means  to  praise  something  else  in  an  address  to  him,  but 
always  to  sing  praises  to  himself.  See  above,  Ps.  ix.  12  (11),  xiii.  6  (5), 
xviii.  50  (49),  XXX.  5  (4),  13  (12),  xxxiii.  2,  Ixviii.  5  (4),  Ixxi.  22,  23,  in 
all  which  cases  the  form  of  expression  seems  to  be  derived  from  Judges  v.  3. 
But  the  psalm  before  us  contains  no  such  celebration  of  God's  mercy  and 
justice  beyond  this  first  verse.  The  best  solution  of  this  fact  appears  to 
be  the  one  proposed  by  Hengstenberg,  according  to  which  the  execution  of 
the  purpose  here  avowed  is  contained  in  Ps.  ciii.,  which  then,  together  with 
the  one  before  us,  and  of  course  the  intervening  one,  compose  a  trilogy  or 
series  of  three  psalms,  all  by  David,  each  complete  in  itself,  and  yet  de- 
signed to  be  connected  with  the  others  and  interpreted  by  them.  Suppos- 
ing this  to  be  the  case,  we  must  regard  them  all  as  psalms  of  David,  whose 
name  is  prefixed  to  the  third  and  the  one  before  us,  in  which  he  lays  down 


Psalm  101:2 -5  415 

a  rule,  as  it  were,  for  his  own  government,  and  that  of  his  successors  in 
the  regal  office.  The  impression  made  by  these  inspired  instructions  on 
the  first  of  those  successors  may  account  for  the  remarkable  coincidences  of 
expression  between  this  psalm  and  the  Book  of  Proverbs. 

2.  I  will  act  wisely  in  a  perfect  way.  When  wilt  thou  come  to  me  ?  I 
will  walk  in  the  integrity  of  my  heart  within  my  house.  As  to  the  first 
verb,  see  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  10,  xiv.  2.  Its  form  here  is  one  expressing 
fixed  determination.  A  perfect  way,  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  31,  33  (30,  32).  This 
and  other  figurative  expressions  of  the  same  kind,  Ps.  xviii.  24,  26  (23,  25), 
XV.  2,  are  founded  upon  Gen.  xvii.  1.  When  wilt  thou  come  to  me,  and 
bless  me,  in  fulfilment  of  thy  promise?  Exod.  xx.  21,  This  interrogative 
ejaculation  implies  a  sense  of  his  dependence  on  divine  aid  for  the  execution 
of  his  purpose.  Integrity  (integritas,  completeness)  of  my  heart  is  an  ex- 
pression borrowed  from  Gen.  xx.  5,  6.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  72,  and 
compare  1  Kings  iii.  14,  Prov.  xx.  7.  Way  and  walk  are  familiar  figures 
for  habitual  conduct.  Within,  literally  in  the  midst  (or  inside)  of  my  house, 
i.e.  at  home,  in  private  life,  as  distinguished  from  the  house  of  God  and 
his  official  conduct  there,  to  which  he  afterwards  adverts. 

3.  /  urill  not  set  before  my  eyes  a  word  of  Belial  ;  the  doing  of  apostasies 
I  hate,  it  shall  not  cleave  to  me.  The  positive  terms  of  the  preceding  verse 
are  now  exchanged  for  negatives.  Having  said  what  he  will  do,  he  now 
says  what  he  will  not  do.  See  a  similar  transition,  but  in  the  inverse 
order,  Ps.  i.  1,  2.  Set  before  my  eyes,  as  a  model  to  be  copied,  or  as  an 
object  of  approving  contemplation.  A  word  of  Belial,  as  in  Ps.  xli.  9  (8), 
except  that  word,  which  there  most  probably  relates  to  slander  or  false  ac- 
cusation, may  here  denote  a  proposition,  and  the  whole  phrase  a  worthless 
(i.  e.  wicked)  plan  or  purpose.  Apostasies,  departui'es,  deviations  from  the 
right  course.  See  the  verbal  root  as  used  in  Ps.  xl.  5  (4),  and  a  cognate 
verb  in  Num.  v.  12,  19.  Some  make  the  word  here  used  a  participle  or 
verbal  noun,  as  in  the  English  Bible,  the  work  of  them  that  turn  aside. 
But  its  form  and  the  analogy  of  Hos.  v.  2,  entitle  the  other  construction  to 
the  preference.  It  shall  not  cleave  to  me,  I  will  not  be  concerned  or  impli- 
cated in  it ;  or  more  emphatically  still,  it  shall  not  cleave  to  me  as  a  re- 
proach or  stigma.  In  favour  of  the  former  sense  is  the  analogy  of  Deut. 
xiii.  18  (17),  from  which  the  expression  seems  to  have  been  borrowed. 

4.  A  crooked  heart  shall  depart  from  me;  evil  I  will  not  knoio.  Crooked, 
froward,  or  perverse,  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  27  (26).  Compare  Prov.  xi.  20, 
xvii.  20.  The  whole  phrase  might  be  understood  to  mean  a  person  having 
such  a  heart,  and  the  whole  clause  that  the  Psalmist  would  have  no  inter- 
course with  such.  The  parallel  term  evil  would  then  mean  a  wicked 
person,  as  translated  in  the  English  Bible.  On  the  ground,  however,  that 
the  person  of  the  sinner  seems  to  be  reserved  for  the  latter  part  of  the 
psalm,  the  best  interpreters  take  evil  in  the  abstract  sense  of  moral  evil, 
wickedness,  as  in  Ps.  xxxiv.  17,  Iii.  5  (3).  The  first  clause  will  then  natur- 
ally mean,  my  own  heart  shall  not  be  perverse  or  froward. 

5.  (One)  slandering  in  secret  his  fellow — him  I  will  destroy  ;  (one)  lofty 
of  eyes  and  wide  of  heart — him  I  will  not  hear.  Having  declared  what 
his  own  course  of  life  should  be,  he  now  describes  the  conduct  which  he 
should  require  in  his  confidential  servants.  Here  again  the  statement  is 
both  negative  and  positive,  but  in  this  case  beginning  with  the  former. 
See  above,  on  ver.  3.  It  is  not  an  improbable  conjecture  that  in  specify- 
ing slander,  David  had  reference  to  his  sufierings  from  that  cause  in  the 
days  of  Saul.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  1,  Iii.  4-7  (2-5),  and  compare  Ps. 


416  Psalm  101:6 -8 

XV.  3.  The  verb  translared  slandering  occurs,  in  any  of  its  forms,  only 
here  and  Prov.  xxx.  10.  Wide  of  heart  means  neither  magnanimous  nor 
greedy,  but  proud,  self-confident,  as  appears  from  Prov.  xxviii.  25.  Both 
figurative  phrases  here  used  are  combined  again  in  Prov.  xxi.  4.  The  last 
verb  in  the  sentence  usually  means  to  he  able,  but  is  here  used  absolutely, 
as  in  Isa.  i.  13, 

6.  My  eyes  (are)  on  the  faithful  of  the  land,  to  dwell  with  me.  (One) 
loalking  in  a  perfect  way — he  shall  serve  me.  On  the  faithjul,  literally  in 
ovwithihevQ..  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiv.  16,  17  (15,  16)),  and  compare Ps. 
xxxii.  8  (7).  My  eyes  are  on  them  is  equivalent  to  saying,  I  will  seek  them 
out  to  dwell  with  me  and  serve  me.  The  word  translated  faithful  is  pro- 
perly a  passive  participle  meaning  trusted,  rehed  upon,  confided  in.  Another 
passive  participle  from  the  same  root  is  commonly  supposed  to  be  used  in 
the  same  sense,  Ps.  xii.  2  (1),  xxxi.  24  (23).  In  the  first  words  of  the  last 
clause  there  is  manifest  allusion  to  the  form  of  expression  in  ver.  2  above. 
This  clause  is  to  be  understood  exclusively,  such  a  person  and  no  other. 
Shall  serve  '  iie,  be  employed  by  me,  clothed  with  responsible  and  honour- 
able offices. 

7.  Not  in  the  inside  of  my  house  shall  dwell  (one)  practising  fraud,  telling 
lies  ;  not  settled  shall  he  be  before  my  eyes.  Here  again  the  form  of  expres- 
sion corresponds  to  that  in  the  first  part  of  the  psalm.  Compare  in  the 
midst  of  my  house  with  ver.  2,  and  before  my  eyes  with  ver.  3.  Shall  not 
dwell,  or  still  more  strongly,  shall  not  (even)  sit,  which  is  the  primary 
meaning  of  the  Hebrew  verb.  The  corresponding  verb  in  the  last  clause 
means  to  be  established,  permanently  settled,  as  opposed  to  a  mere  tempo- 
rary, transient  presence.  As  if  he  had  said,  though  they  should  even  gain 
admission  to  my  house,  they  shall  not  take  up  their  abode  there. 

8.  In  the  morning  will  I  destroy  all  the  wicked  of  the  land,  (so  as)  to  cut 
off  from  the  city  of  Jehovah  all  workers  of  iniquity.  The  first  phrase  literally 
means  at  the  mornings,  and  may  be  intended  to  suggest  the  twofold  idea  of 
early  and  constantly,  in  the  morning  and  every  morniag.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  Ixxiii.  14,  and  compare  Jer.  xxi.  12.  The  last  clause  serves  to  shew, 
or  to  remind  the  reader,  that  this  rigour  was  not  simply  prudential  or  poli- 
tical, but  religious.  It  had  reference  not  merely  to  Jerusalem  as  a  city,  but 
as  the  city  of  Jehovah,  his  earthly  residence,  the  centre  of  the  theocracy, 
the  temporary  seat  of  the  true  religion.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlvi.  5  (4),  xlviii. 
2  (1),  Ixxxvii.  3.  Under  the  pecuhar  institutions  of  the  old  economy,  the 
safety  of  the  theocratic  state  required  peculiar  vigilance  and  rigour,  in  exer- 
cising even  those  powers  which  are  common  to  all  governments. 

Psalm  102 

1.  A  Prayer.  By  a  Sufferer,  when  he  is  troubled,  and  before  Jehovah  pours 
out  his  complaint.  The  psalm  is  called  a  prayer,  because  petition  constitutes 
its  substance.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xc.  1.  The  translation  for  the  sufferer 
(or  afflicted)  would  also  be  grammatical,  and  perfectly  consistent  with  the 
real  design  of  the  composition.  But  phrases  of  this  kind,  in  the  titles  of 
the  psalms,  so  constantly  indicate  the  author  or  performer,  and  when  only 
one  occurs,  the  former,  that  a  departure  from  this  usage  here  is  highly  im- 
probable, and  the  assumption  of  it  altogether  arbitrary.  At  the  same  time, 
the  indefinite  expression,  a  sufferer,  or  an  afflicted  person,  seems  to  be  inten- 
tionally used  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  psalm  an  unrestricted  appUcation, 


Psalm  102:1 -6  417 

though  the  primary  reference  is  no  doubt  to  the  suffering  kings  of  Israel,  in 
•whom  the  sufferings  of  the  people  were  concentrated  and  represented.  The 
other  terms  of  the  inscription  all  occur  in  psalms  of  David  :  troubled  (or 
overwhelmed)  in  Ps.  Ixi.  3  (2) ;  complaint  (or  moaning)  in  Ps.  Iv.  3  (2),  Ixiv. 
2  (1)  ;  and  pouring  out  the  soul  in  Ps.  Ixii.  9  (8).  This  agrees  with  the 
general  Davidic  character  of  the  composition,  and  favours  Hengstenberg's 
hypothesis,  not  otherwise  demonstrable,  nor  even  very  probable,  that  this 
psalm  forms  the  connecting  link  between  the  pious  resolutions  of  Ps.  ci.  and 
the  joyful  acknowledgments  of  Ps.  ciii.,  and  was  composed  in  prophetic 
foresight  of  the  straits  to  which  the  theocratical  state  should  be  reduced, 
and  in  which  the  sufferings  of  David,  here  immediately  described,  should, 
as  it  were,  be  reaUsed  anew.  The  psalm  may  be  divided  into  two  parts,  in 
the  first  of  which  the  tone  of  lamentation  or  complaint  predominates,  ver. 
2-12  (1-11),  while  in  the  second  it  is  tempered  and  controlled  by  the  con- 
templation of  God's  attributes,  and  confident  anticipation  of  his  favour,  ver. 
13-29  (12-28). 

2  (1).  Jehovah,  hear  my  prayer,  and  let  my  cry  (for  help)  unto  thee  come. 
With  this  verse  compare  Ps.  iv.  2  (1),  xvii.  1,  xviii.  7  (6),  liv.  4  (2).  There 
is  no  more  reason  for  regarding  these  resemblances  as  imitations  by  a  later 
writer  in  tte  case  before  us  than  in  any  of  the  others.  And  if  not  such, 
they  may  serve  to  shew,  that  David  only  asks,  for  the  future  or  for  others, 
that  favour  which  he  has  himself  sought  and  experienced  already. 

3  (2).  Hide  not  thy  face  from  me ;  in  the  day  (there  is)  distress  to  me, 
incline  to  me  thine  ear ;  in  the  day  I  call,  make  haste  (and)  answer  me  Com- 
pare Ps.  X.  1,  xiii.  1,  xvii.  6,  xviii.  7  (6),  xxvii.  9,  xxxi.  3  (2),  Ivi.  10  (9), 
Ixvi.  14  (13),  Ixxi.  2.  We  find  here  accumulated  nearly  all  the  phrases 
used  by  David  to  express  the  same  ideas  elsewhere.  This  is  not  unnatural 
if  we  suppose  him  to  have  been  preparing  a  form  of  complaint  and  suppli- 
cation for  the  use  of  his  successors  in  their  worst  distresses. 

4  (3).  For  wasted  in  smoke  are  my  days,  and  my  bones  like  a  burning  are 
kindled.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xxxvii.  20.  The  bones  are 
mentioned  as  the  seat  of  strength.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  3  (2),  xxxi.  11 
(10),  XXXV.  10,  xHi.  11  (10).  This  description,  although  strictly  applicable 
to  the  case  of  individual  sufferers,  may  also  be  appUed  to  the  decline  of  the 
theocratic  monarchy  and  the  approach  of  its  catastrophe. 

5  (4).  Smitten  like  grass  and  withered  is  my  heart,  for  I  have  forgotten 
to  eat  my  bread.  The  first  verb  is  used  to  describe  the  effect  of  the  sun  on 
plants,  Ps.  cxxi.  6,  Isa.  xlix.  10.  (Compare  Jonah  iv.  7.)  The  heart  is 
mentioned  as  the  seat  of  life.  The  common  version  of  the  last  clause  (so 
that  I  forget)  is  ungrammatical.  The  failure  of  the  strength  is  rather  de- 
scribed as  immediately  occasioned  by  the  want  of  food  (1  Sam.  xxviii.  20), 
and  this  by  loss  of  appetite  from  extreme  distress.  See  below,  on  Ps.  cvii.  18, 
and  compare  1  Sam.  i.  7,  xx.  34,  1  Kings  xxi.  4.     Forgotten  to  eat,  Uterally 

forgotten  from  eating,  so  as  not  to  eat,  a  common  idiomatic  use  of  the  pre- 
position/rom  in  Hebrew. 

6  (5).  From  the  voice  of  my  groaning,  my  hone  cleaves  to  my  flesh.  The 
word  voice  implies  an  audible  and  loud  expression  of  distress.  The  first 
clause  means,  in  consequence  of  the  agony  which  makes  me  gi'oan.  My 
bone  may  signify  each  of  my  bones,  or  be  used  collectively  for  the  whole 
skeleton  or  framework  of  the  body.  The  only  natural  explanation  of  this 
clause  is  that  it  describes  emaciation,  as  a  consequence  and  symptom  of 
extreme  distress.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  15,  18  (14,  17). 

7  (6).  /  resemble  a  pelican  of  the  wilderness ;  I  am  become  like  an  owl 


418  Psalm  102:7 -12 

(haunting)  ruins.  The  simple  idea  conveyed  by  these  figures  is  that  of 
extreme  loneliness  and  desolation.  Beyond  the  fact  that  they  inhabit 
solitudes,  the  natural  history  of  the  birds  mentioned  is  of  no  exegetical 
importance. 

8  (7).  1  have  watched,  and  have  been  like  a  sparrow  dwelling  alone  upon 
a  house-top.  The  first  words  suggest  the  idea  of  a  solitary  vigil.  As  to 
the  word  translated  sparrow,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  4  (3).  The  word 
dwelling  is  supplied  in  the  translation  of  the  last  clause,  in  order  to  retain 
the  form  of  the  original  expression,  which  is  that  of  an  active  participle. 
Some  suppose  the  idea  to  be  that  of  a  bird,  deprived  of  its  mate  or  of  its 
young. 

9  (8).  All  the  day  my  enemies  lave  taunted  me,  my  infuriated  (foes) 
swear  by  me.  The  verb  in  the  first  clause  suggests  the  ideas  of  contempt 
and  hatred,  calumny  and  insult.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  11  (10).  The 
first  word  of  the  last  clause  is  a  passive  participle,  my  enraged  (or  maddened) 
ones,  those  who  are  mad  {i.  e.  insane  with  enmity)  against  me.  The  last 
phrase  does  not  mean  swear  at  me,  i.  e.  vent  their  rage  by  oaths  and  curses, 
nor  are  sworn  against  me,  neither  of  which  is  justified  by  Hebrew  usage  ; 
but  swear  by  me.  i.  e.  use  me  as  a  formula  of  execration,  imprecating  upon 
others  misery  like  mine.  Compare  Isa.  Ixv.  15,  Jer.  xxix.  22.  The  pre- 
terite forms  imply  a  long  previous  continuance  of  this  furious  persecution, 
as  all  the  day  does  its  constant,  unremitted  raging. 

10  (9).  For  ashes  like  bread  have  I  eaten,  and  my  drink  with  weeping 
have  mixed.  The  ashes,  in  which  he  sat,  or  with  which  he  was  covered,  as 
a  sign  of  mourning,  became  mingled  with  his  food,  and  his  tears  fell  into 
his  drink.  This  last  word  is,  in  Hebrew,  of  the  plural  number,  drinks  or 
beverages,  analogous  to  victuals  as  a  simple  synonyme  of  food.  As  an 
opposite  example  of  the  same  idiomatic  difierence,  the  word  translated  ashes 
is  a  singular  in  Hebrew.  The  whole  verse  is  a  strong  poetical  description 
of  constant  and  extreme  distress. 

11  (10).  Because  of  thine  indignation  and  thy  ivrath  :  for  thou  hast  taken 
me  up  and  cast  me  away.  The  first  clause  describes  his  suffering  as  the 
fruit  of  God's  displeasure.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xc.  7.  The  antithesis  pre- 
sented in  the  common  version  of  the  last  clause  [lifted  me  up  and  cast  me 
down)  does  not  seem  to  be  the  sense  of  the  original,  in  which  there  is  pro- 
bably allusion  to  the  figure  of  a  storm  or  whirlwind  catching  things  up  and 
blowing  them  away.  The  Prayer  Book  version  of  the  first  verb  [taken  me 
up)  is  more  exact. 

12  (11).  My  days  [are)  like  a  shadow  inclined,  and  I  [myself)  like  the 
grass  wither.  An  inclined  shadow  is  an  unusual  and  obscure  expression, 
but  seems  to  mean  a  shadow  verging  towards  its  disappearance,  ready  to 
vanish  away.  The  double  or  reflexive  pronoun  (7  myself)  in  the  translation 
of  the  last  clause  is  necessary  to  convey  the  full  force  of  the  Hebrew  pro- 
noun, which  is  seldom  expressed,  except  when  it  is  meant  to  be  emphatic, 
/  ivither,  am  withering,  or  about  to  wither. 

13  (12).  And  thou  Jehovah,  to  eternity  shall  sit,  and  thy  memory  (shall 
endure)  to  generation  and  generation  Here  again  the  pronoun  is  emphatic, 
and  exhibits  a  strong  contrast  between  God's  eternity  and  human  frailty. 
While  I  wither  like  the  grass,  thou  endurest  for  ever,  and  not  only  so,  but 
reignest,  sittest  on  the  throne.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  8  (7),  xxix.  10, 
Iv.  20  (19).  The  word  memory  seems  here  to  be  employed  for  the  sake  of 
the  antithesis  which  it  implies.  While  I  perish  and  am  utterly  forgotten, 
thy  existence  and  thy  memory  shall  last  for  ever.     It  may,  however,  have 


Psalm  102:13 -18  419 

the  same  sense  as  in  Ps.  xxx.  5  (4),  namely,  the  divine  perfection,  associated 
in  our  memory  with  the  name  of  God.  Thou  shalt  not  only  reign  for  ever, 
but  be  worthy,  as  an  infinitely  perfect  being,  so  to  do. 

14  (13).  Thoiiwilt  arise,  wilt  have  mercy  upon  Zion,  when  (it  is)  time  to 
favour  her,  when  the  set  time  is  come.  The  pronoun  is  again  emphatic. 
Thou,  the  God,  thus  glorious  and  immutable,  wilt  certainly  arise  from  thig 
apparent  inaction,  and  have  mercy  or  compassion  on  thy  people,  when  the 
time  fixed  in  thy  eternal  purpose  is  arrived.  The  sense  of  when,  thus  given 
to  the  Hebrew  particle  (^3),  although  less  usual,  is  sometimes  absolutely 

necessary,  and  is  therefore  admissible  in  this  case,  where  it  suits  the  sense 
much  better  than  the  ordinary  sense  of  for.  Or  the  one  may  be  resolved 
into  the  other,  by  explaining  the  whole  thus  :  thou  wilt  certainly  arise  and 
have  compassion  upon  Zion,  at  the  proper  time,  for  there  is  a  time  fixed 
at  which  thou  dost  design  to  favour  her.  For  the  meaning  of  the  word 
translated  sei  time,  see  above  on  Ps.  Ixxv.  3  (2), 

15  (14).  IVhen  thy  servants  love  her  stones,  and  her  dust  regard  ivith  favour. 
Both  verbs  in  Hebrew  mean  to  favour,  or  more  strongly  to  delight  in,  to 
take  pleasure  in.  See  above,  Ps.  Ixii.  5  (4),  Ixxxv.  2  (1).  Stones  unddust 
are  here  put  for  ruins  or  rubbish,  as  inNeh.  iii.  34  (iv.  2),  iv.  4  (10).  The 
verse  may  be  understood  as  a  condition  or  a  premonition  of  her  restoration, 
that  before  it  takes  place,  God  will  fill  his  servants  with  affectionate  concern 
for  her  desolate  condition.  The  same  sense  may  be  obtained  without  de- 
parting from  the  usual  sense  of  the  particle.  Thou  wilt  have  mercy  upon 
Zion,  FOR  thy  servants  already  look  with  interest  and  strong  desire  on  her 
ruins,  a  sure  sign  of  the  approaching  restoration. 

16  (15).  And  nations  shall  fear  the  name  of  Jehovah,  and  all  kings  of 
the  earth  thy  glory.  The  impression  of  awe,  unavoidably  produced  by 
these  exhibitions  of  Jehovah's  attributes,  shall  not  be  limited  to  Israel,  but 
extend  to  other  nations,  and  even  kings  shall  vie  with  each  other  in  their 
reverential  admiration  of  his  regal  honours.  Compare  the  similar  expres- 
sions of  Isiah  (lix.  19). 

17  (16).  Because  Jehovah  has  built  Zion  ;  he  has  been  seen  in  his  glory. 
These  are  not  prceterita  prophetica,  describing  future  events  as  past ;  nor 
are  they  to  be  taken  as  mere  presents,  but  as  denoting  a  relative  past,  de- 
pendent on  the  futures  of  the  verse  preceding.  The  nations  and  their 
kings  are  to  fear  because  Jehovah  has  built  [i.  e.  will  then  have  built)  Zion. 
Still  another  construction  may  seem  possible,  viz.  "when  Jehovah  has 
built  Zion  he  shall  be  seen  in  his  glory."  But  in  this  case,  Hebrew  usage 
would  require  the  last  verb,  if  not  both,  to  have  the  future  form. 

18  (17).  He  has  turned  unto  the  prayer  of  the  destitide,  and  has  not 
despised  their  prayer.  This  verse  continues  to  assign  the  reason  why  the 
nations  and  their  kings  will  be  struck  with  awe,  viz.,  because  this  great  and 
glorious  God  has  turned  round,  as  it  were,  and  listened  to  the  prayer  of  the 
destitute  and  granted  their  petition.  The  word  translated  destitute  occurs 
only  here  and  in  Jer.  xvii.  6  ;  but  from  its  etymological  afiinities  and  its 
intensive  form,  appears  to  mean  stark  naked,  and  then  figuratively,  stripped 
of  everything,  impoverished,  entirely  destitute. 

19  (18).  'I'his  shall  be  written  for  an  after  generation,  and  a  people  (yet 
to  be)  created  shall  praise  Jah.  This  fulfilment  of  God's  promise  and  il- 
lustration of  his  attributes  is  left  on  record  for  the  learning  or  instruction 
of  posterity.  Compare  1  Cor.  x.  11.  An  after  generation,  as  in  Ps. 
xlviii.  14  (13),  Ixxviii.  4.  Equivalent  in  meaning,  but  abridged  in  form,  is 
the  expression  in  the  passage  upon  which  these  are  founded,  Ps.  xxii.  31 


420  Psalm  102:19 -23 

(80).  See  also  Ps.  Ixxi.  18.  Created  may  have  the  force  of  a  gerundive, 
as  the  passive  particle  often  has  in  Hebrew ;  or  it  may  mean  {then)  created 
{but  not  now).  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  32  (31).  As  the  verb  (h^")2) 
create  is  applied  only  to  divine  acts,  its  use  here  seems  to  indicate  that  what 
is  meant  is  not  merely  a  future  generation,  a  race  yet  to  come  into  existence* 
but  a  people  in  the  strict  sense,  an  organised  body  to  be  formed  hereafter 
by  sovereign  authority  and  almighty  power.  Shall  praise  Jah,  recognise 
Jehovah  as  possessing  and  as  being  all  that  is  denoted  by  his  name. 

20  (19).   For  he  has  leaned  from  the  high  place  of  his  holiness  I  Jehovah 
from  heaven  to  earth  has  looked.     The  first  word  may  also  be  translated 

that,  and  the  verse  be  understood  as  an  amplification  of  the  pronoun  this 
at  the  beginning  of  ver.  19  (18).  This  is  what  shall  be  written  for  a  future 
generation  ;  this  is  what  they  shall  praise  Jah  for  ;  viz.  that  he  has  looked, 
&c.  To  avoid  the  repetition  of  the  English  verb,  as  well  as  to  add  life  to 
the  description,  the  Hebrew  verb  is  here  represented  by  what  seems  to  be 
its  primary  meaning.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiv.  2,  Ixxxv.  12  (11),  and  com- 
pare Deut.  xxvi.  15. 

21  (20).  To  hear  the  groaning  of  the  prisoner,  to  loose  the  sons  of  mor- 
tality. The  construction  is  continued  from  the  foregoing  verse,  and  the 
design  of  God's  thus  looking  down  is  stated.  The  word  translated  groan- 
ing is  almost  peculiar  to  the  Psalms  of  David,  and  according  to  its  etymo- 
logy properly  denotes  sufi"ocation.  To  loose,  literally  to  open,  sometimes 
applied  to  the  opening  of  a  dress  for  the  purpose  of  removing  it,  as  in  Ps. 
XXX.  12  (11) ;  then  to  the  loosening  of  chains,  as  in  Ps.  cxvi.  16  ;  then  to 
the  dehverance  of  the  prisoner  himself.  Sons  of  mortality  or  death,  i.  e. 
those  doomed  to  die.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxix.  11. 

22  (21).  To  recount  in  Zion  the  name  of  Jehovah,  and  his  praise  in 
Jerusalem.  This,  according  to  the  laws  of  Hebrew  syntax,  does  not  neces- 
sarily denote  an  act  of  God  himself,  as  the  similar  construction  in  the  pre- 
ceding verse  does,  but  may  have  a  vaguer  sense  equivalent  to  saying  that 
his  name  may  be  declared  in  Zion.  To  recount  God's  name  is  to  recount 
the  mighty  deeds  which  constitute  it,  and  the  celebration  of  which  consti- 
tutes his  praise.  Zion  is  still  represented  as  the  great  scene  of  Jehovah's 
triumphs,  not,  however,  as  the  capital  of  Israel  or  Judah  merely,  but  as  the 
radiating  centre  of  religious  light  and  influence  to  all  the  earth. 

23  (22).  In  the  gatliering  of  peoples  together,  and  kingdoms  to  serve  Jeho- 
vah. This  verse  is  necessary  to  complete  and  qualify  the  sense  of  that 
before  it.  God  has  looked  down  from  heaven  to  deliver  his  people  and 
receive  their  praise,  not  in  their  secluded,  insulated  state,  but  in  their 
glorious  reunion  with  the  converted  nations.  The  first  verb  is  a  passive 
infinitive  in  Hebrew,  in  their  being  gathered.  The  preposition  in  relates  both 
to  the  time  and  to  the  act  of  convocation.  To  serve  Jehovah,  not  only  as  a 
King,  but  as  a  God,  to  be  both  his  subject  and  his  worshipper.  Compare 
Ps.  ii.  11. 

24  (23).  He  has  humbled  in  the  way  his  strength  ;  he  has.  shortened  my 
days.  The  Psalmist  here  resumes  the  tone  of  complaint,  but  only  for  a 
moment,  and  as  an  introduction  to  what  follows.  Humbled,  weakened,  or 
afflicted.  In  or  by  the  way  of  his  providential  guidance,  as  distinguished 
from  the  glorious  end  to  which  it  led.  His  strength  and  my  days  seem 
clearly  to  refer  to  the  same  person.  To  avoid  this  harsh  enallage,  the 
masoretic  critics  changed  a  single  letter,  and  for  (inD)  his  strength  read 
(^n3)  my  strength,  which,  though  adopted  in  most  versions,  is  an  obvious 


Psalm  102:24 -28  421 

evasion  of  a  supposed  difficulty.     With  the  last  clause  compare  Ps.  Ixxxix. 
46  (45).     See  also  Ps.  Iv.  24  (23). 

25  (24).  I  will  say,  0  my  God,  take  me  not  up  in  the  half  of  my  days  ; 
through  generation  of  generations  (are)  thy  years.  Take  up,  cause  to  ascend, 
i.  e.  as  some  suppose,  hke  smoke,  which  is  very  forced  and  far-fetched. 
Others  make  it  simply  mean  to  take  away,  which  gives  a  good  sense,  but  is 
not  sufficiently  sustained  by  usage.  Better  than  either  is  the  supposition 
that  death  or  removal  out  of  life  is  here  described  by  a  figure  corresponding 
to  the  actual  departure  of  Enoch  and  Elijah.  See  Gen.  v.  24,  2  Kings 
ii.  1,  3,  5,  10,  11.  In  the  half  (or  midst)  of  my  days ;  see  above,  on  Ps. 
Iv.  24  (23),  and  compare  Isa.  xxxviii.  10.  Generation  of  generations,  i.  e. 
all  generations,  as  in  Ps.  Ixxii.  5,  Isa.  li.  8.  He  prays  that  God,  whose 
years  are  endless,  would  not,  as  it  were,  grudge  the  few  days  granted  to  his 
creatures.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxix.  6  (5). 

26  (25).  At  first  thou  the  earth  didst  found,  and  the  work  of  thy  hands 
(are)  the  heavens.  The  phrase  at  the  beginning  means  originally  to  the  face 
and  then  before,  as  an  adverb  both  of  time  and  place  ;  but  this  would  be 
ambiguous  here,  since  it  might  be  understood  as  a  conjunction,  hefore  thou 
didst  found  the  earth,  expressing  the  same  idea  as  in  Ps.  xc.  2.  It  here 
means  long  ago,  of  old,  in  the  beginning.  With  the  last  clause  compare 
Ps.  viii.  4  (3),  xix.  2  (1),  xxxiii.  6.  God's  creative  power  is  here  added  to 
his  eternity,  in  order  to  enhance  the  contrast  between  his  infinity  and  man's 
littleness,  as  a  reason  for  compassion  to  the  latter. 

27  (26).  They  shall  perish  and  thou  shaJt  stand,  and  all  of  them  like  a 
garment  shall  wear  out,  like  a  dress  shalt  thou  change  them  and  they  shall 
change.  The  contrast  is  brought  out  as  pointedly  as  possible  in  Hebrew, 
by  the  insertion  of  the  pronouns  they  and  thou,  neither  of  which  is  gram- 
matically necessary  to  the  expression  of  the  meaning.  Stand,  stand  fast, 
endure,  remain,  continue.  All  of  them,  without  exception,  even  the  noblest 
of  God's  works,  shall  at  least  lose  their  present  form,  and  in  that  sense 
perish,  a  sense  which  may  be  still  more  readily  put  upon  the  parallel  verb 
pass  away  or  change.  The  twofold  usage  of  the  English  verb,  as  active  and 
neuter,  or  transitive  and  intransitive,  makes  it  an  appropriate  representative 
of  the  primitive  and  derivative  foi-ms  of  the  Hebrew  verb  (P)^n).  The  cor- 
responding verb,  in  the  second  member  of  the  sentence,  means  not  only  to 
wax  old,  but,  as  the  necessary  consequence,  to  wear  out.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxxii.  3,  and  compare  Ps.  xlix,  15  (14). 

28  (27).  And  Thou  (art)  He — and  thy  years  shall  not  he  finished.  The 
construction  of  the  first  clause  is  disputed.  Some  read  it,  Thou  thyself  and 
thy  years  shall  not  end.  Others,  Thou  art  the  same,  giving  Nin  the  same 
sense  with  the  Greek  6  auro'j,  which  is  actually  used  here  to  translate  it  in 
the  Septuagint.  In  favour  of  the  version  first  above  given,  is  its  agreement 
with  the  usage  of  the  Hebrew  words,  with  the  analogy  of  Deut.  xxxii.  39, 
and  Isa.  xliii.  10,  and  with  the  context  here.  The  meaning  then  is.  Thou 
art  the  Unchangeable  One  just  described.  Or,  it  is  Thou,  and  nothing 
else,  that  shall  thus  endure.  Be  firiished,  spent,  consumed,  as  the  Hebrew 
word  invariably  means.  What  is  elsewhere  literally  said  of  the  violent 
destruction  of  human  hfe  is  here  transferred  to  the  lapse  of  time. 

29  (28).  The  sons  of  thy  servants  shall  abide,  and  their  seed  before  thee  shall 
be  established.  This  might  also  be  translated  as  a  prayer,  let  the  sons  of  thy 
servants  continue,  which  is  really  included  even  in  the  prediction.  Before 
thee,  as  in  Gen.  xvii.  1,  Ps.  Ixxxix.  87  (36).     Be  established,  as  in  Ps. 


422  Psalm  103:1,2 

Ixxxix.  38  (37),  ci.  7.     With  this  conclusion  of  the  whole  psalm  compare 
Ps.  Ixix.  36,  37  (35,  36),  xc.  16,  17. 

Psalm  103 

The  Psalmist  calls  upon  himself  to  praise  God  for  personal  favours 
already  experienced,  ver.  1-5.  From  these  he  rises,  in  the  body  of  the 
psalm,  to  the  contemplation  of  God's  attributes,  in  themselves  considered 
and  as  manifested  in  his  dealings  vv^ith  his  people,  ver.  6-19.  He  concludes 
as  he  began,  with  an  exhortation  to  bless  God,  no  longer  addressed  merely 
to  himself,  but  to  all  creatures,  ver.  20-22.  According  to  the  exegetical 
hypothesis  already  mentioned,  this  is  the  song  of  mercy  and  judgment  pro- 
mised in  Ps.  ci.  1.  The  arguments  in  favour  of  this  theory  have  been 
already  stated.  The  principal  objection  to  it,  and  that  by  no  means  a  con- 
clusive one,  is  the  want  of  unison  and  even  concord,  as  to  tone  and  spirit, 
between  the  psalm  before  us  and  the  two  preceding  it.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
the  psalm  before  us  is  a  complete  and  finished  composition,  being  one  of 
the  most  simple  and  yet  regular  in  structure  that  the  book  contains.  This 
has  contributed,  with  other  obvious  pecuHarities,  to  make  it  a  favourite 
vehicle  of  thankful  praise  among  the  pious  of  all  ages. 

1.  By  David.  Bless,  0  my  soul,  Jehovah,  and  all  within  me  (bless)  his 
holy  name  !  The  attempts  which  have  been  made  by  modern  critics  to 
discredit  the  inscription  in  the  hi'st  clause  chiefly  consist  in  representing 
the  many  imitations  and  allusions  to  this  •  noble  composition  in  the  later 
scriptures  as  a  cento  of  citations  from  those  scriptures  by  the  writer  of  the 
psakn  itself,  a  preposterous  inversion  of  ihe  laws  of  evidence  to  which  the 
neological  critics  are  especially  addicted,  and  by  which  anything  and  every- 
thing can  be  disproved  or  proved  at  pleasure.  Bless,  when  appUed  to  God, 
means  to  praise,  but  with  a  strong  implication  of  devout  affection.  By 
calling  on  his  soul  to  do  this,  he  acknowledges  his  own  obligation,  not  only 
to  praise  God,  but  to  praise  him  cordially,  with  all  the  heart,  according  to 
the  solemn  requisition  of  the  law  (Deut.  vi.  5),  to  which  there  is  perhaps  a 
reference  in  all  such  cases.  See  above  on  Ps.  iii.  3  (2).  The  parallel 
expression,  all  within  me,  is  the  plural  form  of  one  repeatedly  used  else- 
where, and  denoting  the  inside  of  anji-hing,  and  more  especially  of  man, 
his  mind  or  heart,  as  distinguished  from  his  mere  professions  or  external 
acts.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  10  (9),  xlix.  12  (11).  The  literal  translation 
of  the  form  here  used  is  my  insides  or  inner  parts,  the  strong  and  compre- 
hensive meaning  of  the  plural  being  further  enhanced  by  the  addition  of  all, 
as  if  to  preclude  exception  and  reserve,  and  comprehend  within  the  scope 
of  the  address  all  the  powers  and  affections.  His  name  of  holiness  (or  holy 
name),  i.  e.  the  revelation  of  his  infinite  perfections.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
V.  12  (11),  xxii.  4  (3). 

2.  Bless,  0  my  soul,  Jehovah,  and  forget  not  all  his  dealings.  The 
positive  exhortation  is  repeated  as  a  kind  of  foil  to  the  negative  one  follow- 
ing, in  which  there  seems  to  be  allusion  to  the  frequent  admonition  in  the 
Law  to  Israel,  not  to  forget  the  Lord  who  brought  him  up  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt.  See  Deut.  vi.  12,  viii.  11,  14.  The  last  word  in  the  verse  before 
us  is  the  passive  participle  of  a  verb  which  means  to  treat,  and  commonly  to 
treat  well.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  5  (4).  The  idea  here  conveyed  is  that 
of  treatment,  determined  by  the  context  to  be  kind  and  gracious  treatment. 
The  latitude  of  meaning  and  the  plural  form  are  both  represented  in  the 


Psalm  103:3  -  5  423 

English  word  dealings,  which,  though  susceptible  of  either  application  can, 
in  this  connection,  only  have  a  good  one. 

3.  Forgiving  all  thy  guilt,  healing  all  thy  sicknesses.  The  participles  are  to 
be  grammatically  construed  with  Jehovah  as  the  object  of  the  praise  re- 
quired, and  assign  a  reason  for  the  requisition,  furnished  by  the  personal 
experience  of  the  soul  itself.  The  original  expression  is  still  more  definite, 
each  participle  having  the  article  prefixed,  the  [one)  forgiving,  the  {one\ 
healing.  See  a  similar  construction  carried  out  still  further  in  Ps.  xviii.  BB- 
SS (32-34),  48-51  (47-50).  The  last  word  in  the  verse  is  an  unusual  one 
borrowed  from  Deut,  xxix.  21,  Avhere  sicknesses  are  joined  with  2>l«gues  or 
strokes,  to  signify  calamities  considered  as  penal  inflictions.  The  same  idea 
is  expressed  in  other  words,  Exod.  xvi.  26.  The  relation  of  the  clauses,  in 
the  verse  before  us,  may  be  that  of  cause  and  effect.  Forgiving  all  thy 
guilt  and  thereby  removing  all  the  misery  occasioned  by  it. 

4.  Redeeming  from  the  grave  thy  life,  croicning  thee  [with)  mercy  and 
compassions.  The  combination  of  the  article  and  participle  is  the  same  as 
in  ver.  3,  the  [one]  redeeming,  the  {one)  crowning.  The  continuation  of  the 
sentence  in  this  form  keeps  the  attention  fixed  upon  the  reasons  for  which, 
or  the  characters  in  which,  the  Lord  is  to  be  praised.  As  if  he  had  said, 
Bless  him  as  the  one  forgiving  thee  and  healing  thee,  redeeming  thee  and 
crowning  thee.  Redeeming  means  delivering,  but  with  a  strong  implication 
of  cost  and  risk.     For  the  twofold  sense  of  (iin^i^)  the  word  translated  grave, 

see  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  10,  and  compare  Ps.  xxx.  10  (9).  The  peculiar 
form  of  the  possessive  pronoun,  in  this  verse  and  the  one  before  it,  has  been 
represented  as  a  proof  of  later  date,  but  really  belongs  to  the  dialect  of 
poetry,  from  which,  in  all  languages,  certain  expressions  are  continually 
passing  into  that  of  common  life,  so  that  what  in  one  age  is  poetical  is  in 
the  next  colloquial,  and  seems  therefore  to  belong  to  the  later  period  and  to 
shew  the  recent  date  of  any  composition  in  which  it  occurs.  The  familiar 
use  of  such  words  as  oftentimes,  perchance,  &c.,  in  our  own  day  may  thus 
be  used  hereafter  to  prove  the  writings  of  our  older  poets  spurious.  The 
figure  of  crowning,  which  occurs  above  in  Ps.  Ixv.  12  (11),  suggests  the  idea 
of  dignity  and  beauty,  while  the  absence  of  merit  in  the  object,  and  the 
sovereign  freeness  of  the  gift,  are  indicated  by  making  the  crown  itself  a 
crown  of  mercy  and  compassion.  The  last  word  in  Hebrew  is  expressive  of 
the  warmest  and  tenderest  afi'ections.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  2  (1), 
XXV.  6,  xl.  12  (11). 

5.  Filling  with  good  thy  soul — [then)  is  renewed,  like  the  eagle,  thy  youth. 
The  peculiar  construction  of  the  two  preceding  verses  is  continued  through 
the  first  clause  of  the  one  before  us,  and  then  suddenly  abandoned.  Fill- 
ing, the  (one)  filling,  in  the  sense  of  satisfying  or  abundantly  supplying, 
but  without  the  accessory  notion  of  satiety.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxi.  17 
(16),  xci.  16.  With  good,  literally  the  good,  by  way  of  eminence,  the  chief 
good  or  the  real  good.  Thy  soul  is  not  a  literal  translation  of  the  Hebrew 
term,  which,  in  every  other  case  where  it  occurs,  means  ornament  or  decora- 
tion. See,  for  example,  Ps.  xxxii.  9  (8).  The  translations  mouth,  life,  &c., 
are  gratuitous  conjectures  from  the  context.  The  best  explanations  is  that 
furnished  by  the  analogous  word  (li^S)  honour,  glory,  which  is  sometimes 

applied  to  the  soul  as  the  nobler  part  of  man.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  9. 
This  explanation  is  confirmed  by  the  frequent  combination  of  the  noun 
soul  and  the  verb  to  satisfy.  See  above,  Ps.  Ixiii.  6  (5),  and  below,  Ps. 
evii.  9,  and  compare  Isa.  Iviii.  11.     It  is  also  sanctioned  by  the  ancient 


424  Psalm  103:6-8 

versions ;  for  although  the  Targum  makes  it  mean  old  age,  a  palpable  con- 
jecture, the  Septuagint  and  Vulgate  have  desire  {i'^rtdvfMiav,  desiderium),  a 
frequent  sense  of  (^33)  soul  in  Hebrew,  and  Jerome  translates  it  literally, 

ornamentum.  The  word  then  is  introduced  into  the  translation  of  the  second 
clause,  in  order  to  retain  the  Hebrew  collocation,  which  is  not  without  its 
emphasis.  Is  renewed,  or  retaining  the  reflective  form  of  the  original, 
renews  itself.  The  supposed  allusion  in  this  clause  to  a  fabulous  or  real 
renovation  of  the  eagle  in  its  old  age,  rests  upon  a  misconception  of  the 
language,  as  the  only  point  of  comparison  with  the  eagle  is  its  strength  and 
vigour,  as  in  2  Sam.  i.  23,  Isa.  xl.  31,  and  the  whole  verse  may  be  para- 
phrased as  follows  :  "  So  completely  does  his  bounty  feed  thy  strength,  that 
even  in  old  age  thou  growest  young  again,  and  soarest  like  an  eagle." 

6.  Doing  righteousnesses  (is)  JehovaJi,  and  judgments  for  all  oppressed. 
Thus  far  the  reasons  urged  for  praising  God  were  personal,  i.  e.  derived 
from  individual  experience.  With  these,  from  the  very  constitution  of  our 
nature,  all  our  grateful  exercises  must  begin.  But  if  genuine  they  do  not 
stop  there,  as  the  Psalmist,  at  this  point,  ascends  from  private  causes  of 
thanksgiving  to  more  general  views  of  God's  administration,  as  a  basis  for 
the  universal  call  with  which  the  psalm  concludes.  The  connection  here 
may  thus  be  stated:  "  Such  have  been  the  Lord's  compassions  to  myself, 
but  these  are  only  samples  of  his  goodness.  He  is  not  only  merciful  to  me, 
but  to  all  who  are  oppressed,  and  to  deliver  whom  he  executes  his  judg- 
ments." There  is  no  contrast  here  intended  between  mercy  and  justice, 
with  respect  to  different  objects  of  the  Lord's  compassion.  The  meaning 
is,  that  man's  injustice  is  redressed  by  God's  mercy.  The  redemption  of 
his  people  is  often  represented  as  coincident  with  the  condign  punishment 
of  their  oppressors.  Compare  my  note  on  Isa.  i.  27.  Doing,  i.e.  practis- 
ing in  general,  and  executing  in  particular  cases.  The  participle  (doing) 
Bicnifies  habitual  and  constant  action ;  the  plural  form  (righteousnesses)  com- 
pleteness and  variety,  adapted  to  all  possible  emergencies.  Judgments,  as 
usual,  denotes  judicial  acts,  as  distinguished  from  mere  attributes  or 
principles. 

7.  He  makes  known  his  ivays  to  Mosetf,  to  the  children  of  Israel  his  (mighty) 
deeds.  The  general  statement  of  the  fact  in  the  preceding  verse  is  now  fol- 
lowed by  the  great  historical  example  furnished  in  Jehovah's  dealings  with 
his  people.  This  serves,  not  only  to  illustrate  what  was  said  before,  but  to 
shew  that  it  was  not  a  mere  vague  declaration  of  what  God  will  do  to  all 
men,  but  a  definite  assertion  of  his  purpose  and  his  practice  with  respect 
to  his  own  people.  All  the  oppressed,  to  whom  he  grants  or  promises  de- 
liverance, are  not  mankind  in  general,  without  distinction  or  excejrtion,  but 
his  own  people  when  in  that  condition.  The  first  clause  contains  an  obvi- 
ous allusion  to  the  prayer  of  Moses,  as  recorded  by  himself,  Exod.  xxxiii. 
13,  from  which  passage  it  appears  that  the  ways  of  God,  which  he  desired 
to  know,  were  his  modes  of  deaUng  with  his  people,  or  the  course  of  his 
dispensations  towards  them.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  4,  Ixvii.  3  (2).  The 
knowledge  thus  impai-ted  was  experimental  or  afforded  by  experience.  The 
parallelism  between  Moses  and  the  Children  of  Israel  shews  that  the  latter 
were  represented  by  the  former.  The  last  Hebrew  word  is  one  constantly  ap- 
pUed  to  God's  exploits  or  mighty  deeds  in  behalf  of  Israel.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  ix.  12  (11),  Ixxviii.  11.     _ 

8.  Compassionate  and  gracious  (is)  Jehovah,  slow  to  anger,  and  rich  in 
mercy.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxvii.  10  (9),  Ixxviii.  38,  Ixxxvi.  15,  in  all 
which  cases,  as  in  this,  the  terms  of  tlae  description  are  borrowed  from 


Psalm  103:9  -  13  425 

Exod.  xxxiv.  6.  There  is  here  an  evident  progression  in  the  thought. 
Not  only  is  God  good  to  me,  but  to  all  his  people  in  distress ;  not  only  did 
he  prove  this  to  Moses  and  to  Israel  by  saving  them  from  Pharaoh  and  their 
other  enemies,  but  by  bearing  with  their  own  offences.  The  previous  con- 
text might  have  seemed  to  concede  innocence,  if  not  merit,  to  God's  people, 
as  the  object  of  his  kind  regard  ;  but  they  are  here  exhibited  as  sinners, 
needing  his  forbearance  and  forgiveness. 

9.  Not  to  perpetuity  will  he  strive,  and  not  to  eternity  retain  (his  anger). 
This,  of  course,  imphes  that  he  is  sometimes  angry,  even  with  his  people, 
and  sometimes  strives  in  opposition  to  their  strivings  against  him.  But 
as  he  is  always  in  the  right,  and  they  are  always  in  the  wrong,  it  is  a  signal 
proof  of  the  divine  compassion,  that  he  does  not  strive  and  is  not  wroth 
for  ever.  The  first  clause  is  closely  copied  by  Isaiah  (Ivii.  16).  The 
second  is  itself  derived  from  Lev.  xix.  18,  where  we  find  a  verb  meaning 
to  retain  or  reserve  used  absolutely  in  the  sense  of  harbouring  a  grudge  or 
cherishing  a  secret  spite.  This  remarkable  form  of  expression  is  copied, 
in  the  case  before  us,  and  in  Nah.  i.  2,  Jer.  iii.  5,  12.  The  origiiM 
passage  is  a  prohibition,  in  obeying  which  the  Lord,  as  it  were,  here  sets 
his  people  an  example.     Compare  Mat.  v.  48,  1  Cor.  xi.  1,  Eph.  v.  1. 

10.  Not  according  to  our  sins  has  he  done  to  us,  and  not  according  to  our 
iniquities  has  he  dealt  with  us.  That  the  people  stood  in  need  of  the 
divine  forbearance,  is  now  still  more  distinctly  intimated.  The  last  verb 
is  the  one  of  which  the  participle  occurs  in  ver.  2,  and  might  here  be  ren- 
dered, with  still  closer  adherence  to  the  strict  sense  of  the  Hebrew  preposi- 
tion, has  he  bestowed  upon  us.  See  the  same  construction  in  the  Hebrew  of 
Ps.  xiii.  6,  cxvi.  7,  cxlii.  8  (7).  The  past  tense  has  reference  to  the  previ- 
ous history  of  Israel  as  a  nation,  but  involves  the  statement  of  a  general 
truth.  At  the  end  of  the  verse,  we  may  suppose  it  to  be  tacitly  added :  as 
he  might  have  done,  not  only  in  strict  justice,  but  in  execution  of  his  ex- 
press threatening,  Lev.  xxvi.  21. 

11.  For  as  the  heavens  are  high  above  the  earth,  mighty  is  his  mercy  above 
those  that  fear  him.  The  Hebrew  preposition  is  the  same  in  both  clauses, 
and  cannot  be  varied  in  translation  without  weakening  the  sentence.  In 
the  last  clause  it  suggests  the  ideas  of  descent  from  above,  superior  power, 
and  protection,  in  addition  to  that  of  mere  relation  or  direction,  which  is 
all  that  is  conveyed  by  the  translation  to  or  towards.  The  force  of  the 
original  is  likewise  impaired  by  substituting  great  for  strong  or  mighty.  The 
idea  meant  to  be  conveyed  is  not  that  of  mere  extent  but  of  efficiency. 
The  literal  meaning  of  the  first  words  is,  like  the  height  of  the  heavens,  or 
like  their  being  high.  His  fearers,  or  those  fearing  him,  is  a  common  de- 
scription of  the  righteous,  or  God's  people,  who  are  more  particularly  cha- 
racterised in  ver.  18. 

12.  As  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  he  hath  put  far  from  us  our 
trangressions.  The  form  of  expression  at  the  beginning  is  the  same  as  in 
ver.  11,  like  the  distance  of  the  east,  or  like  its  being  far.  The  Hebrew 
words  for  east  and  west,  according  to  their  etymology,  denote  the  place  of 
sunrise  and  the  place  of  evening.  Put  far  from  us,  as  no  longer  having 
anything  to  do  with  us,  a  figure  which  suggests  the  idea  both  of  pardon  and 
renewal,  justification  and  sanctification. 

13.  As  a  father  has  compassion  on  (his)  children,  Jehovah  has  compassion 
on  his  fearers.  The  compound  phrase,  has  compassion,  is  here  substituted 
for  the  simple  verb  pity,  in  order  to  retain  the  preposition  on,  which  fol- 
lows it  in  Hebrew,  and  also  because  the  plural  form,  compassions,  was  neces- 


426  Psalm  103:14  - 18 

sarily  employed  in  ver.  4  to  translate  the  cognate  noun.  The  Hebrew  verb 
is  peculiarly  appropriate  in  speaking  of  parental  love.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xviii.  2  (1).  The  preterite  forms  represent  the  fact  alleged  as  one  already 
known  and  well  attested  by  experience. 

14.  For  he  knows  our  frame,  mindful  that  dust  {are)  ne.  The  fragility 
of  man  is  here  again  assigned  as  a  ground  of  the  divine  compassion.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  39,  Ixxxix,  48  (47).  Frame,  formation,  constitution, 
or  as  we  say  familiarly  in  English,  our  make,  cur  build.  The  Hebrew 
noun  is  derived  from  the  verb  used  in  Ps.  xciv.  9,  and  may  therefore  be 
intended  to  suggest  the  same  idea  that  is  there  expressed.  He  who  formed 
us  knows  of  course  how  we  are  formed.  The  same  noun  is  applied  to  the 
moral  constitution,  Gen.  vi.  5,  viii.  21,  Deut.  xxxi.  21.  The  word  trans- 
lated mindful  is,  in  form,  a  passive  participle,  HOT)  meaning  remem- 
bered, but  equivalent  in  use  to  the  active,  remembering,  or  the  verbal 
adjective  mindful,  just  as  the    like  form  (HiOIl)  trusted  is  equivalent  to 

trusting,  Ps.  cxii.  7,  the  English  rejoicccZ  to  rejoicing,  &c.  We  are  dust, 
i.  e.  made  of  it,  and  tending  to  it.     Compare  Gen.  ii.  7,  iii.  19,  Ps.  xc.  3. 

15.  (As  for)  man,  his  days  {are)  like  the  grass;  like  the  blossom  of  the 
field,  so  he  blossoms.  As  the  preceding  verse  expresses  the  fragility  of  man 
by  referring  to  his  origin  and  end,  so  this  verse  does  the  same  by  a  familiar 
but  beautiful  comparison,  borrowed  from  Ps.  xc.  6,  and  repeated  in  Isa. 
xl.  6-8,  Job  xiv.  2.  The  very  name  here  given  to  the  race  is  one  denot- 
ing frailty  and  infirmity.     See  above,  on  Ps.  viii.  5  (4). 

16.  For  a  breath  passes  over  him  and  he  is  not,  and  no  more  shall  his 
place  know  him.  The  pronouns  may  with  equal  grammatical  correctness,  be 
referred  to  the  grass  and  rendered  it,  its.  The  primary  meaning  of  the  first 
noun  {breath)  is,  in  this  connection,  stronger  than  the  secondary  {wind). 
The  wind  may  be  a  whirlwind  ;  but  to  say  that  a  mere  breath  is  sufficient 
to  destroy  one  is  the  strongest  possible  expression  of  fragility.  That  the 
wind  is  called  the  breath  of  God,  as  the  thunder  is  his  voice,  is  a  striking 
and  poetical  but  needless  supposition.  He  is  not  or  no  more,  there  is  none 
of  him,  no  such  thing  or  person.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  10.  With  the 
first  clause  compare  Isa.  xl.7;  with  the  second,  Job  vii.  10.  The  last  verb 
means  to  recognise  or  know  again,  as  in  Ps.  cxlii.  6  (4),  and  the  whole 
clause,  that  death  makes  men  strangers  to  the  objects  with  which  they  have 
been  most  familiar. 

17.  And  the  mercy  of  Jehovah  {is)  from  eternity  even  to  eternity  upon 
those  fearing  him,  and  his  righteousness  to  children's  children.  Having 
carried  the  description  of  man's  frailty  to  the  furthest  point,  the  Psalmist 
suddenly  contrasts  with  it  God's  everlasting  mercy.  The  use  of  the  simple 
copulative  and,  in  suph  a  marked  antithesis,  where  but  might  to  us  seem 
indispensable,  is  one  of  the  most  striking  and  familiar  Hebrew  idioms. 
Upon  those  fearing  him  suggests  the  idea  of  a  gift  from  above.  To  chil- 
dren s  children  simply  means  given  (or  belonging)  to  them.  Unless  we  make 
the  last  clause  a  threatening  of  hereditary  vengeance  to  the  wicked  his  right- 
eousness can  only  mean  his  rectitude,  including  his  veracity  and  faithfulness 
in  exercising  covenanted  mercy.     Children  s  children,  literally  sons  of  sons. 

18.  To  the  keepers  of  his  covenant,  and  to  the  rememberers  of  his  laws,  to 
do  them.  This  is  the  necessary  qualification  of  a  promise  which  might 
otherwise  have  seemed  too  absolute.  Even  to  the  descendants  of  those 
fearing  him  the  promise  availed  nothing,  unless  they  themselves  were  faith- 
ful to  his  covenant  and  obedient  to  his  law.     The  last  words  {to  do  them) 


Psalm  103:19-22  427 

shew  that  the  remembrance  of  the  law  required  was  not  merely  intellectual 
but  practical  and  tending  to  obedience. 

19.  Jehovah  in  the  heavens  has  fixed  his  throne,  and  his  kingdom  over 
all  rules.  Not  only  is  he  infinitely  merciful  and  faithful,  but  a  universal 
and  almighty  sovereign,  no  less  able  than  willing  to  fulfil  his  promises  and 
execute  his  purposes  of  mercy.  The  word  translated  Jixed,  like  its  English 
representative,  suggests  the  two  ideas  of  preparing  and  establishing.  The 
same  combination  with  throne  occurs  above,  Ps.  ix.  8  (7).  See  also  Ps. 
xi.  4,  xlvii.  9  (8).  Ooer  all ;  the  original  expression  is  still  stronger,  over 
the  whole,  the  universe,  to  cai/.  The  same  phrase  is  applied  to  the  entire 
human  race,  Ps.  xiv.  3.  The  past  tense  of  the  last  verb  represents  this 
unlimited  dominion  as  already  established  or  revealed.  The  future  would 
have  made  its  ulterior  continuance  the  prominent  idea. 

20.  Bless  Jehovah,  ye  his  angels,  mighty  in  strength,  doing  his  word,  (so 
as)  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  his  word.  Having  finished  his  assertion  of  God's 
claims  to  universal  praise,  the  Psalmist  resumes  the  tone  of  exhortation 
with  which  he  began.  His  appeal,  however,  is  no  longer  to  his  own  soul, 
but  to  the  hosts  of  heaven,  the  noblest  of  God's  creatures,  the  highest 
order  of  finite  intelligences.  Mighty  in  strength,  more  exactly  mighty 
{ones)  of  strength,  or,  as  the  first  word  is  applied  as  a  substantive  to 
warriors  or  conquerors,  heroes  of  strength  or  mighty  heroes.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxiv.  8,  Ixxviii.  25.  The  construction  in  the  last  clause  is  obscure. 
The  infinitive  may  here  have  the  force  of  a  gerund,  auliendo,  auscultando, 
by  Ustening  to  the  voice  of  his  word,  or,  as  in  Ps.  Ixxviii.  18,  it  may  denote 
the  extent  or  the  efiect  of  their  obedience,  so  as  to  hearken,  or  so  that  they 
hearken,  i.  e.  listen  for  the  faintest  intimation  of  his  will.  The  expression 
hearken  to  his  voice,  as  thus  applied,  is  a  Mosaic  one.  See  Deut.  xxvi.  17, 
XXX.  20. 

21.  Bless  Jehovah,  ye  his  hosts,  his  ministers,  the  doers  of  his  will.  As 
the  word  hosts  is  applied  both  to  the  angels  and  the  heavenly  bodies  (see 
above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  10),  some  interpreters,  in  order  to  relieve  this  verse  of 
a  tautology,  suppose  it  to  relate  to  the  heavenly  hosts  in  one  sense,  as  the 
preceding  verse  does  in  another.  In  the  same  way  they  account  for  the 
change  of  expression  in  the  last  clause.  Only  intelligent  creatures  can  be 
literally  said  to  listen  for  God's  word  and  to  obey  it ;  but  even  the  inani- 
mate creation  may  be  said,  without  a  metaphor,  to  execute  his  will.  This 
last  phrase  occurs  also  in  Ps.  xl.  9  (8). 

22.  Bless  ye  Jehovah,  all  his  works,  in  all  places  of  his  realm;  bless 
thou,  0  my  soul,  Jehovah !  The  angels  and  heavenly  bodies,  with  men 
and  every  other  creature,  are  now  summed  up  in  the  comprehensive  phrase, 
all  his  works,  i.  e.  all  that  he  has  made,  all  creatures,  and  invited  to  bless 
God,  which  invitation  the  Psalmist  then  addresses  once  more  to  himself, 
and  thus,  by  a  beautiful  transition,  brings  us  back  to  the  point  from  which 
we  started. 


Psalm  104 

We  have  here  another  of  those  psalms,  in  which  the  hopes  of  God's 
people  are  excited  and  their  faith  strengthened  by  a  view  of  the  authority 
and  providential  care  which  he  exercises  over  the  creation.  The  sum  of 
the  whole  psalm  is  contained  in  the  first  verse,  and  its  application  indicated 
in  the  last.    Here,  as  in  Ps.  viii.,  xix.,  xxix.,  Ixv.,  the  description  of  God's 


428  Psalm  104:1 -3 

glory,  as  exhibited  in  nature,  is  entirely  subservient  to  a  moral  and  religious 
purpose,  and  the  psalm  is  therefore  fuUy  entitled  to  a  place  in  the  collec- 
tion, and  adapted  to  the  permanent  use  of  the  church.  The  arrangement 
of  the  psalm  is  founded  on  the  history  of  the  creation,  but  with  such  varia- 
tions as  were  suited  to  the  writer's  purpose.  After  a  general  statement  of 
this  purpose,  ver.  1,  the  Psahnist  traces  the  creative  and  providential  agency 
of  God  in  the  works  of  the  first  and  second  day,  ver.  2-5,  then  in  that  of 
the  third,  ver.  6-18,  then  in  that  of  the  fourth,  ver.  19-23,  then  in  that  of 
the  fifth,  ver.  24—26,  with  an  allusion  to  the  rest  of  the  seventh  day  in  ver. 
81.  The  psalm  closes  with  a  summary  statement  of  the  dependence  of  all 
living  creatures  upon  God's  care  and  bounty,  ver.  27-32,  a  resolution  to 
glorify  him  accordingly,  ver.  83,  34,  and  a  pregnant  inference,  that  they 
who  are  under  such  protection  have  nothing  to  fear  from  human  enemies, 
ver.  35.  According  to  Hengstenberg,  this  and  the  two  next  psalms  com- 
pose a  trilogy  added  to  the  Davidic  one  immediately  preceding  (Ps.  ci.-ciii.) 
about  the  time  of  the  Babylonish  exile.  This  hj^othesis,  he  thinks, 
accounts  for  the  occurrence  of  Davidic  psalms  in  this  part  of  the  Psalter, 
which  would  otherwise  have  found  their  place  among  the  Psalms  of  David 
in  the  first  division  of  the  book.  But  having  been  made  the  basis  or  the 
nucleus  of  later  compositions,  they  were  naturally  placed  with  these  in  their 
proper  chronological  position. 

1.  Bless,  0  my  soul,  Jehovah  I  0  Jehovah,  my  God,  thou  art  great 
exceedingly  ;  honour  and  majesty  hast  thou  put  on.  The  resemblance  of  the 
first  clause  to  Ps.  ciii.  1  shews  the  designed  connection  of  the  two  psalms. 
The  remainder  of  the  verse  is  a  kind  of  response  to  this  invocation,  and 
contains,  as  it  were,  the  words  in  which  his  soul  does  actually  bless  God. 
At  the  same  time  it  exhibits  in  advance  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  whole 
composition,  the  design  of  which  is  to  describe  the  glories  of  creation  and 
providence  as  the  royal  robe  of  the  divine  sovereign.  Compare  Ps.  xlv. 
4  (3),  xciii.  1,  xcvi.  6,  Job  xl.  10,  Isa.  li.  9. 

2.  Wearing  light  like  a  robe,  spreading  heaven  like  a  curtain.  In  carrying 
out  the  idea  summarily  stated  in  the  first  verse,  he  begins  where  the  cos- 
mogony in  Genesis  begins,  with  the  light  and  the  firmament,  not  the  act  of 
their  creation,  but  their  use,  as  the  Creator's  robe  and  curtain.  It  follows 
of  course  that  light  and  heaven  must  be  taken  in  their  popular  and  ordinary 
sense,  and  not  as  denoting  the  heaven  of  heavens  and  the  light  inaccessible 
in  which  he  is  elsewhere  represented  as  dwelling.  The  definite  forms  of  the 
original,  the  robe,  the  curtain,  as  contrasted  with  the  vaguer  forms,  light, 
heaven,  may  be  intended  to  suggest  the  idea  of  the  robe  and  curtain  known 
and  used  in  common  life,  which  man  puts  on  and  stretches  out  with  perfect 
ease,  but  not  more  easily  than  God  puts  on  the  light  and  stretches  out  the 
eky.     Compare  Gen.  i.  6,  Isa.  xl.  22,  Job  ix.  8. 

3.  Framing  with  water  his  halls ;  making  clouds  his  conveyance  ;  moving 
on  wings  of  the  wind.  The  first  word  means  laying  beams  or  rafters.  The 
next  phrase  may  either  mean  in  or  with  water.  The  first  is  more  obvious, 
the  last  more  striking^  as  it  represents  a  solid  building,  made  of  a  liquid  or 
fluid  material.  In  the  other  case  the  waters  meant  are  those  above  the 
firmament.  See  Gen.  i.  6,  7,  Ps.  xviii.  12  (11),  where  the  clouds  and  the 
wings  of  the  wind  are  also  mentioned  in  the  same  connection.  The  word 
translated  halls  denotes  the  highest  room  of  an  oriental  house,  which  is 
frequently  the  largest.  Hence  the  frequent  mention,  in  the  New  Testament, 
of  the  b'Trtgff^ov  as  a  place  of  assembly.  Making,  literally  setting,  placing. 
Chariot  is  too  specific  a  translation  of  the  Hebrew  word,  which  means  any- 


Psalm  104:4 -6  429 

thing  on  which  a  person  rides.  The  preposterous  figure  of  walking  on  wings 
belongs  entirely  to  the  versions,  ancient  and  modem.  The  Hebrew  word, 
though  often  so  applied,  is  a  generic  one,  denoting  all  progressive  move- 
ment, and  nearly  equivalent  to  our  word  going,  which  is  not  so  agreeable, 
however,  in  this  place,  to  English  usage,  as  the  more  general  and  poetical 
term  moving.     See  above  on  Ps.  xviii.  11  (10). 

4.  Making  his  angels  winds,  his  ministers  flaming  fire.  According  to 
the  simplest  and  most  obvious  construction  of  this  verse,  it  can  only  mean 
that  God  makes  his  angels  or  ministering  spirits  swift  and  ardent  in  his 
service.  But  such  a  statement  would  be  wholly  out  of  place  in  a  psalm, 
the  rest  of  which  relates  exclusively  to  the  material  creation.  The  best 
interpreters  are  therefore  of  opinion  that  angels  and  ministers  are  predicates, 
not  subjects,  or  in  other  words,  that  the  idea  meant  to  be  conveyed  is,  that 
he  makes  the  winds  his  messengers  or  angels,  and  the  flaming  fire  his 
minister  or  servant.  This  agrees  exactly  with  the  previous  declaration  that 
he  makes  the  clouds  his  chariot  or  conveyance,  and  moves  upon  the  wings 
of  the  wind.  It  may  seem,  however,  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  use  made 
of  the  passage  in  Heb.  i.  7,  as  a  proof  that .  the  angels  are  inferior  to  the 
Son  of  God.  But  how  could  this  inferiority  be  proved  by  the  fact  that  the 
angels  are  spirits,  or  even  wind  and  fire  ?  The  latter  cannot  be  hterally 
true,  and  if  metaphorical,  can  only  mean  that  they  are  swift  and  ardent  in 
God's  service,  which  they  might  be  and  yet  equal  to  the  Son  in  nature, 
who,  considered  as  a  messenger  or  agent  of  the  Father,  exhibits  precisely 
the  same  qualities.  The  truth  is,  that  the  passage,  as  thus  understood,  is 
perfectly  irrelevant  and  useless  to  the  argument,  and  therefore  that  this 
mode  of  explaining  it  is  not  entitled  to  the  preference,  whatever  difficulties 
may  attend  the  other.  Let  it  be  observed,  too,  that  the  Septuaglnt  version, 
which  is  quoted  in  Heb.  i.  7,  is  an  exact  transcript  of  the  Hebrew,  both  as 
to  the  sense  and  collocation  of  the  words,  so  that  if  the  original  admits  of  a 
difierent  construction,  it  may  be  extended  to  the  version  likewise.  The 
most  satisfactary  conclusion  is,  that  the  words  are  not  quoted  as  an  argu- 
ment or  proof  of  the  inferiority  of  angels,  but  merely  as  a  striking  yet 
familiar  form  of  words  in  which  to  clothe  the  >vriter's  own  idea,  which  is 
this,  that  angels  are  mere  messengers  and  ministers,  and  as  such  may  be 
classed  with  the  material  agencies  which  God  employs  in  execution  of  his 
purpose.  The  wind  and  the  lightning  are  God's  angels  and  his  ministers, 
and  are  expressly  so  described  in  the  Old  Testament ;  but  they  are  never 
called  his  sons,  much  less  addressed  directly  as  the  sovereign,  eternal, 
righteous,  ever-blessed  God.  Nor  are  the  ministering  spirits,  who  share 
with  these  material  agencies  the  character  of  messengers  and  servants,  ever 
so  described  or  so  addressed.  By  thus  supplying  the  suppressed  links  of 
the  chain  of  argument,  the  verse  before  us,  in  the  only  sense  of  which  the  con- 
text really  admits,  will  be  found  not  only  as  appropriate  as  the  other  to  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  is  quoted  in  the  New  'Testament,  but  incomparably  more  so. 

5.  He  founded  the  earth  on  its  bases  ;  it  shall  not  be  moved  for  ever  and 
ever.  The  idea  of  bases  is  rather  suggested  by  the  context,  and  especially 
the  yerh  founded,  than  expressed  by  the  Hebrew  noun  itself,  which  properly 
means  places,  or  more  specifically,  fixed  and  settled  places.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  Ixxxix.  15  (14),  xcvii.  2,  and  with  the  whole  verse  compare  Ps.  Ixxviii. 
69,  Ixxxix.  12  (11),  cii.  26  (25). 

6.  (With)  the  deep,  like  a  garment,  thou  didst  cover  it ;  above  the  moun- 
tains stand  the  xvaters.  Next  in  importance  to  the  separation  of  the  land 
and  water  in  the  beginning  (Gen.  i.  9,  10),  was  the  temporary  confoundmg 


430  Psalm  104:7 -10 

of  the  two  in  the  universal  deluge  (Gen.  vii.  19,  20),  which  the  Psalmist 
therefore  here  connects  with  the  creation,  as  equally  demonstrative  of 
almighty  power,  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  founding  on  this  seeming  vio- 
lation of  the  promise  in  the  last  clause  of  ver.  5,  a  still  more  solemn 
repetition  of  it.  The  grammatical  objection  that  the  pronoun  in  the  phrase 
didst  cover  it  is  masculine,  and  cannot  therefore  refer  to  earth  which  is 
feminine,  is  easily  removed  by  a  reference  to  the  general  licence  of  the 
Hebrew  syntax  with  respect  to  genders,  and  the  idiomatic  tendency  to  use 
the  masculine, not  as  a  distinctive  but  as  a  generic  form,  in  cases  where  the 
subject  is  sufficiently  indicated  by  the  context.  There  are,  moreover,  several 
clear  examples  of  the  mascuhne  construction  of  this   very  noun  (yiJ^) 

besides  those  in  which  earth  or  land  is  put  for  its  inhabitants.  See  e.  g. 
Gen.  xiii.  6,  Isa.  ix.  18.  The  allusion  in  the  last  clause  to  Gen.  vii.  19, 
20,  is  too  plain  to  be  mistaken. 

7.  At  thy  rebuke  they  flee,  at  the  voice  of  thy  thunder  they  hasten  away. 
The  same  power  that  produced  the  deluge  put  an  end  to  it.  The  verbs 
agree  with  waters  in  ver.  6.  The  divine  command  that  they  should  cease 
or  disappear  is  poetically  spoken  of  as  a  rebuke.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii. 
16  (15),  Ixxvi.  7  (6),  and  compare  Isa.  1.  2.  The  Hebrew  pavticle  means 
from,  denoting  both  the  time  and  cause  of  the  effect  described.  The  last 
verb  is  a  passive  meaning  strictly  to  be  panic- struck,  or  to  flee  in  conse- 
quence of  being  panic-struck.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxi.  23  (22),  xlviii. 
6  (5).  The  voice  of  thy  thunder  may  be  literally  understood  to  mean  the 
sound  of  thunder,  or  according  to  a  well-known  Hebrew  idiom,  thy  voice  of 
thunder,  or  thy  thundering  voice. 

8.  Tliey  go  up  mountains,  they  go  down  valleys,  to  this  place  thou  hast 
founded  for  them.  The  first  clause  is  a  beautiful  description  of  the  fluctua- 
tions which  attend  the  subsidence  of  swollen  waters,  not  only  in  the  case  of 
Noah's  flood  (Gen.  viii.  4,  5)  to  which  the  words  relate  in  the  first  instance, 
but  in  all  other  cases,  where  the  same  rule  still  holds  good,  so  that  the 
verse,  by  an  insensible  transition,  founds  the  statement  of  a  general  truth 
on  that  of  a  particular  event.  The  use  of  the  demonstrative  (this)  is  highly 
idiomatic.  The  original  construction  is,  to  a  place,  this  {ivhich)  thou  hast 
founded  for  them.  This  form  of  expression  is  equivalent  to  pointing  with 
the  hand,  and  therefore  adds  not  a  little  to  the  graphic  vividness  of  the 
description. 

9.  A  bound  thou  didst  set,  they  shall  not  pass  over,  they  shall  not  return 
to  cover  the  earth.  This  grand  exception  to  the  law  which  governs  the  rela- 
tions between  land  and  water  is  the  only  one  to  be  permitted  or  expected. 
The  limits  broken  were  renewed  with  an  assurance  that  henceforth  they 
should  be  inviolable.  See  Gen.  ix.  15.  Besides  the  immediate  reference 
to  the  flood,  the  verse  contains  the  statement  of  a  general  fact  in  the  eco- 
nomy of  nature,  and  thus  furnishes  a  natural  transition  to  the  similar  state- 
ments of  the  next  verse. 

10.  Sending  springs  into  the  valleys  ;  betiveen  hills  they  go.  The  partici- 
pial construction,  interrupted  by  the  parenthetical  account  of  the  flood,  is 
here  resumed,  the  participle,  like  the  others,  agreeing  directly  with  Jehovah 
understood,  as  the  {one)  sending,  which  is  the  precise  form  of  the  original. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  ciii.  3-6.  Springs  or  fountains,  not  in  the  restricted 
sense,  but  comprehending  both  the  source  and  stream,  as  in  Joel  iv.  18 
(iii.  18).  The  word  translated  valleys  is  restricted  in  usage  to  such  as  have 
streams  flowing  through  them.  The  last  word  is  the  one  translated  wallceth 
by  the  EngUsh  Bible  in  ver.  3  above,  but  here  run,  although  walk  is  given 


Psalm  104:1]  -15  431 

in  the  margin,  as  a  more  precise  and  literal  translation,  while  Jerome 
inserts  it  in  his  text,  ut  inter  mtdios  monies  ambulent. 

11.  They  tvater  every  beast  of  the  field  ;  (at  them)  wild  asses  quench  their 
thirst.  The  subject  of  the  first  verb  is  still  the  waters.  The  verb  itself 
means  to  water,  in  the  sense  of  giving  drink  to  animals,  though  sometimes 
metaphorically  applied  to  irrigation.  See  Gen.  ii.  10.  The  form  of  the 
parallelism  in  this  verse  is  peculiar,  although  not  uncommon  in  Hebrew 
poetry,  the  last  clause  containing  a  specification  of  the  general  statement 
in  the  first.  What  is  first  said  of  animals,  or  wild  ones  in  the  general,  is 
then  said  of  the  wild  ass  in  particular.  Quench,  literally  break,  i.  e.  sub- 
due, assuage.  A  derivative  noun  is  applied  in  Hebrew  to  com  or  gi'ain, 
as  that  which  breaks  or  assuages  hunger,  although  most  interpreters  and 
lexicographers  suppose  a  reference  to  the  literal  breakiBg  or  grinding  of  the 
corn  itself. 

12.  Above  them  the  birds  of  heaven  dwell,  from  between  the  branches  they 
give  voice.  The  poetical  character  of  the  composition  is  in  nothing  more 
obvious  than  in  these  minute  strokes  of  exquisite  painting,  superadded  to 
the  more  essential  parts  of  the  description.  At  the  same  time  these  are 
not  to  be  regarded  as  mere  lavish  or  gratuitous  embellishments,  since  the 
Psalmist's  purpose  is  to  celebrate  God's  wonderful  and  bountiful  provision 
for  his  hving  creatures,  and  the  running  brooks  would  fail  to  answer  one 
of  their  most  valuable  ends,  if  there  were  no  birds  to  give  voice  or  sing  among 
the  branches  of  the  overhanging  trees.  The  word  translated  birds  is  a  col- 
lective answering  to  the  old  'English  fowl,  not  as  used  in  the  version  of  this 
psalm,  where  it  is  plural,  but  in  that  of  Gen.  i.  20,  22,  26,  28.  That  pas- 
sage furnishes  an  explanation  of  the  phrase /oiy^  (or  birds)  of  heaven,  in  the 
fuller  description  (Gen.  i.  20),  fowl  that  may  fly  above  the  earth  in  the  open 
firmament  of  heaven,  i.  e.  through  the  air,  across  the  face  of  the  expanse  or 
visible  heaven. 

13.  Watering  mountains  from  his  upper  rooms — from  the  fruit  of  thy 
works  is  the  earth  filled.  He  still  returns  to  God  as  the  author  of  these 
merciful  provisions,  and  represents  him  by  a  beautiful  figure,  as  pouring 
this  abundant  supply  of  water  from  his  upper  rooms,  the  same  word  that 
was  rendered  halls  in  ver.  3  ;  but  here  the  connection  seems  to  reTjuire  that 
its  precise  etymological  import  should  be  prominent.  The  fruit  of  thy 
works,  the  result  or  product  of  thy  creative  energy.  Filled^  not  in  the 
sense  of  being  occupied,  which  would  require  a  different  Hebrew  verb,  but 
in  that  of  being  abundantly  supplied  or  saturated.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
ciii.  5.  The  sudden  apostrophe  to  God  himself  enhances  the  poetical 
effect. 

14.  Causing  grass  to  grow  for  the  cattle  and  herb  for  the  culture  of  man, 
(so  as)  to  bring  forth  bread  from  the  earth.  In  this  verse  there  is  a  transi- 
tion from  God's  care  of  the  inferior  animals  to  his  care  of  man.  The  word 
translated  herb  denotes  any  green  plant  or  vegetable,  and  is  here  applied  to 
such  as  constitute  or  furnish  human  food.  The  common  version  of  the 
next  words,  for  the  service  of  man,  can  only  mean  for  his  benefit  or  use,  a 
sense  not  belonging  to  the  Hebrew  word,  which,  as  well  as  its  verbal  root, 
is  applied  to  man's  servitude  or  bondage  as  a  tiller  of  the  ground  (Gen. 
iii.  17-19),  and  has  here  the  sense  of  husbandry  or  cultivation,  as  in  Exod. 
i.  14,  Lev.  XXV.  39,  it  has  that  of  compulsory  or  servile  labour.  The  in- 
finitive in  the  last  clause  indicates  the  object  for  which  labour  is  imposed 
on  man. 

15.  And  wine  gladdens  the  heart  of  man — (so  as)  to  make  his  face  shine 


432  Psalm  104:16- 18 

more  than  oil — and  bread  the  heart  of  man  sustains.  The  general  expres- 
sion at  the  end  of  ver.  14  is  now  rendered  more  specific  by  distinctly  men- 
tioning the  great  staples  of  production  and  subsistence  in  the  Holy  Land. 
The  only  doubt  is  whether  two  or  three  are  mentioned.  The  text  of  the 
English  Bible  makes  oil  a  distinct  item  in  the  catalogue,  and  oil  to  make 
his  face  to  shine.  But  this  is  an  impossible  construction  of  the  Hebrew,  in 
which  the  infinitive  {to  make  shine)  bears  the  same  relation  to  what  goes 
before  as  the  infinitive  (to  bring  forth)  in  the  verse  preceding,  and  is  there- 
fore expressive,  not  of  a  distinct  cause  and  efiect,  but  of  a  consequence 
resulting  from  the  one  just  mentioned.  The  true  construction  is  given  in 
the  margin  of  the  English  Bible,  to  make  his  face  shine  with  oil  or  more 
than  oil.  To  the  first  of  these  alternative  translations  it  may  be  objected 
that  wine  cannot  make  men's  faces  shine  with  oil,  unless  there  is  allusion 
to  the  festive  unctions  of  the  ancients,  which,  however,  were  restricted  to 
the  head.  The  other,  therefore,  seems  to  be  the  true  sense,  in  which  oil 
is  merely  mentioned  as  a  shining  substance.  The  description  of  food  as 
sustaining  the  heart  is  very  ancient.     See  Gen.  xviii,  5,  Judges  xix.  8. 

16.  Full  are  the  trees  of  Jehovah  ;  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  which  he  planted. 
Full,  i.e.  abundantly  supplied,  saturated,  as  in  ver.  13.  The  English  ver- 
sions supply  sap  ;  but  the  idea  suggested  by  the  context  is  the  more  gene- 
ral one  of  moisture,  irrigation.  The  mutual  relation  of  the  clauses  is  the 
same  as  in  ver.  11.  What  is  first  said  of  trees,  or  of  the  noblest  trees  in 
general,  is  then  said  of  the  cedars  in  particular.  The  trees  of  Jehovah,  like 
the  cedars  of  God  in  Ps.  Ixxx.  11  (10),  are  those  which  he  has  planted 
(Num.  xxiv.  6),  those  which,  by  their  loftiness  or  fruitfulness  or  beauty, 
bear  the  strongest  impress  of  their  Maker's  hand.  The  cedars  of  Lebanon 
are  often  mentioned  as  the  noblest  and  most  famous  of  their  kind.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxix.  5,  xcii.  13  (12). 

17.  Where  the  (small)  birds  nestle  ;  [as  to)  the  stork,  the  cypresses  (are) 
her  house  He  again  recurs  to  the  provision  made  for  birds  which  is  here 
connected  with  the  trees,  as  it  is  in  ver.  12.  The  word  translated  birds  is 
not  the  one  there  used,  but  the  same  with  that  in  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  4  (3),  cii.  7, 
where  it  is  commonly  translated  sparrow,  though  supposed  to  be  a  general 
term  for  small  birds,  so  called  from  their  chirping,  twittering  noise.  Here 
it  may  represent  the  smaller,  and  the  stork  the  larger  class  of  birds.  The 
Hebrew  name  of  the  stork  means  merciful  or  pious,  and  is  supposed  to  have 
reference  to  the  natural  kindness  of  that  bird,  both  to  its  parents  and  its 
young.  Nestle  or  build  their  nests.  The  choice  between  the  old  transla- 
tion, fir-trees,  and  the  new  one,  cypresses,  is  exegetically  unimportant. 

18.  Mountains,  the  high  (ones),  are  for  the  wild  goats — rochs  {are)  a  refuge 
for  the  conies.  The  idea  seems  to  be,  that  even  the  wildest  situations,  and 
the  most  inaccessible  to  man,  afibrd  shelter  and  subsistence  to  some  form 
of  hfe,  and  are  therefore  proofs  of  the  divine  benevolence  and  wisdom.  Of 
the  names  of  animals  here  mentioned,  the  first  occurs  also  in  the  book  of 
Job  (xxxix.  1) ;  the  second  in  the  list  of  unclean  beasts,  Lev.  xi.  5,  Deut. 
xiv.  7 ;  and  both  in  the  writings  of  Solomon,  Prov.  v.  19,  xxx.  26.  Of 
the  second,  various  explanations  have  been  given,  but  none  of  them  more 
probable  than  that  derived  from  the  rabbinical  tradition.  Nor  is  the  ques- 
tion of  the  slightest  exegetical  importance,  since  the  only  pecuharities  in- 
volved are  those  suggested  by  the  text  itself,  to  wit,  that  the  animals 
intended  must  be  such  as  inhabit  rocks  and  mountains.  Some  supply  a 
refuge  in  the  first  clause  from  the  second ;  but  a  better  sense  is  yielded  by 
the  simpler  construction,  they  belong  to  (or  are  intended  for)  the  vcild  goats. 


Psalm  104:19 -23  433 

which  agrees  exactly  with  the  drift  of  the  whole  psalm,  to  shew  that  all 
parts  of  the  inanimate  creation  contribute  something  to  the  comfort  of  the 
living  sentient  creature. 

19.  He  made  the  moon  for  seasons;  the  sun  knows  his  selling.  Even  the 
heavenly  bodies  have  a  reference  to  man's  advantage.  The  moon  is  a  mea- 
sure of  time,  and  the  sun  defines  the  period  of  active  labour.  The  word 
translated  seasons  is  the  plural  of  the  one  translated  set  time  in  Ps.  Ixxv. 
8  (2),  cii.  14,  and  the  same  that  means  assemblies  in  Ps.  Ixxiv.  4,  8.  It 
is  here  put  for  all  divisions  of  time,  including  the  succession  of  day  and 
night,  to  which  there  is  perhaps  a  special  reference,  as  in  the  other  clause, 
where  the  meaning  seems  to  be,  that  the  sun  knows  when  and  where  to 
set,  and  does  not  make  the  day,  -ndth  its  attendant  toils,  perpetual.  This 
is  a  strong  poetical  description  of  an  obvious  and  familiar  fact,  and  no  more 
presupposes  a  particular  theory  or  system  of  astronomy  than  the  similar 
language  of  uninspired  poets  among  ourselves. 

20.  Thou  tnakest  darkness  and  it  is  night ;  in  it  begins  to  move  every  beast 
of  the  forest.  The  first  verb  in  Hebrew  means  to  set  or  place,  but  is  used 
precisely  as  a  word  of  the  same  meaning  is  in  ver.  3.  Its  abbreviated  form 
does  not  indicate  an  optative  meaning,  but  is  substituted  for  the  full  form 
by  poetic  licence.  It  is  night,  or  night  is,  night  begins  to  be.  The  same 
inceptive  meaning  is  expressed  in  the  translation  of  the  third  verb  which 
denotes  animal  motion,  but  is  specially  applied  to  that  of  reptiles.  The 
idea  of  a  secret,  stealthy  motion,  as  suggested  by  the  common  version 
{do  creep  forth),  can  hardly  be  intended,  as  the  context  shews  the  main 
idea  of  the  passage  to  be  this,  that  as  the  day  affords  a  time  for  active 
motion  to  mankind  and  to  domestic  animals,  the  night  affords  a  like  time 
for  the  wilder  beasts,  or  beasts  of  the  forest,  an  expression  which  occurs 
above,  in  Ps.  1.  10. 

21.  The  young  lions  roaring  for  the  prey,  and  to  seek  from  God  their  food. 
By  translating  the  participle  and  infinitive  both  as  presents,  the  common 
version  makes  this  a  distinct  proposition.  But  in  Hebrew  it  forms  part 
of  the  preceding  sentence,  and  contains  a  specification  of  the  general  state- 
ment there  made.  When  night  comes  on,  all  the  beasts  of  the  forest  are 
aroused,  and  among  the  rest  the  lion,  roaring  for  his  prey,  (is  roused)  to 
seek  his  food  from  God.  This  last  expression  impHes  no  such  purpose  on 
the  lion's  part,  but  merely  that  he  seeks  what  can  only  be  bestowed  by  an 
almighty  being,  which  idea  is  suggested  by  the  name  of  God  here  used. 

22.  The  sun  rises — they  are  gathered — and  in  their  dens  lie  doicn.  The 
first  clause  may  also  be  translated,  let  the  sun  rise,  they  are  gathered,  or 
paraphrased  in  more  accordance  with  our  idiom,  uhen  the  sun  rises  they  are 
gathered;  but  neither  of  these  constructions  is  so  striking  and  poetical  as 
the  exact  version,  first  above  given.  Gathered,  i.  e.  called  in  from  their 
wanderings  and  dispersions.  The  word  translated  dens  means  abodes  or 
homes,  and  is  a  cognate  form  to  that  in  Ps.  xc.  1  ;  but  the  form  here  used 
is  specially  appHed  to  th€  lairs  or  resting-places  of  wild  beasts,  not  only 
here  but  in  Amos  iii.  4.  The  last  verb  is  also  one  appropriated  to  the 
lying  down  of  animals.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiii.  2.  The  construction 
is  a  pregnant  one  :  they  lie  down  to  (or)  into  their  dens,  i.  e.  go  into  them 
and  lie  down. 

23.  Forth  goes  man  to  his  work,  and  to  his  labour  until  evening.  This 
verse  presents  the  day- scene  corresponding  to  the  night- scene  of  the  two 
preceding  verses.  When  night  comes  on,  the  beasts  of  the  forest  are  in 
motion  ;  when  the  sou  appears,  they  gather  to  their  lairs,  and  man  comes 


434  Psalm  104:24  -  27 

forth  to  labour  unlil  evening,  when  the  scene  is  shifted  as  before.  Leav- 
ing out  of  view  all  higher  claims  to  admiration  and  respect,  the  poetical 
merit  of  this  whole  description  is  of  the  highest  order.  The  word  trans- 
lated labour  is  the  same  that  was  translated  culture  in  ver.  14. 

24.  How  manifold  are  thy  ivorks,  Jehovah  ;  all  of  them  in  wisdom  hast 
thou  wrought ;  full  is  the  earth  of  thy  riches.  The  first  verb  in  Hebrew 
strictly  means  are  many,  but  as  the  context  has  respect  to  the  variety, 
and  not  to  the  mere  number,  of  God's  works,  the  sense  is  well  conveyed  by 
the  term  used  in  the  English  version  {manifold).  Works  and  wrought  re- 
present a  cognate  verb  and  noun  in  Hebrew,  a  combination  which  adds 
point  and  animation  to  the  sentence.  The  last  word  in  the  verse  is 
derived  from  a  verb  which  means  to  acquire,  either  by  creation  or  by 
purchase.  While  the  noun,  therefore,  strictly  denotes  acquisitions  or 
possessions,  its  etymological  afiinities  would  instantly  suggest  to  every 
Hebrew  reader  the  idea  of  creation,  as  the  ultimate  source  of  these  pos- 
sessions, a  modification  of  the  thought  which  cannot  be  conveyed  by  any 
mere  translation. 

25.  Here  is  the  sea,  great  and  wide  on  all  hands  ;  there  are  moving 
things  and  without  number,  small  animals  with  great.  The  exclamation 
or  reflection  in  the  preceding  verse  aflfords  a  transition  to  the  survey  of 
other  parts  of  the  creation,  not  included  in  the  catalogue  before  recited, 
yet  no  less  striking  in  themselvess,  and  as  proofs  or  illustrations  of  the 
Maker's  wisdom.  Such  is  the  sea,  or  here,  for  instance,  is  the  sea,  are  the 
phrases  which  would  probably  be  used  in  our  idiom,  to  introduce  the  first 
example.  The  same  thing  was  probably  intended  by  the  Hebrew  phrase, 
this  (is)  the  sea,  as  if  the  speaker  at  the  same  time  pointed  to  it.  See 
above,  on  ver.  8.  Wide  of  both  hands  is  another  idiomatic  phrase  used 
also  by  Moses  (Gen.  xxxiv.  21),  and  Isaiah  (xxxiii.  21).  It  obviously  means 
stretching  out  in  all  directions.  The  sense  of  hand  as  thus  used,  is  the 
same  as  in  the  English  phrase  on  all  hands,  and  is  probably  derived  from 
the  use  of  the  right  and  left  hand  to  distinguish  position  or  direction. 
Moving  things  is  here  used  to  translate  a  single  Hebrew  word  (ti'Ql)  the 

cognate  noun  of  the  verb  employed  in  ver.  20  to  denote  animal  motion.  It 
is  applied  to  marine  animals,  as  here  in  Gen.  i.  9,  Ps.  Ixix.  35  (34).  The 
use  of  the  word  beasts,  in  the  common  version  of  the  last  clause,  is  not  con- 
sistent with  its  modern  usage,  which  restricts  it  to  terrestrial  quadrupeds. 

26.  There  the  ships  go — Leviathan — this  (that)  thou  hast  formed  to  play 
therein.  While  the  ships  connect  the  sea  with  man's  activity  and  interests, 
Leviathan,  the  standing  representative  of  aquatic  monsters,  may  be  here  put 
for  the  population  of  the  sea  itself.  To  play  therein,  as  in  his  native  element. 
Compare  Job  xl.  20.  The  idiomatic  use  of  this  is  like  that  in  ver.  25.  The 
word  translated  go,  in  the  common  version  of  the  first  clause,  is  the  same 
that  was  rendered  walk  in  ver.  3,  and  run  in  ver.  10. 

27.  All  of  them  on  thee  rely,  to  give  their  food  in  its  season.  The  all  of 
them  obviously  relates  to  all  the  Uving  creatures  previously  mentioned,  and 
not  to  any  one  or  more  exclusively,  the  proposition  being  no  less  true  of 
men  than  brutes,  or  of  brutes  than  men.  On  thee  rely  is  not  an  exact 
translation  of  the  Hebrew,  which  indeed  does  not  admit  of  one,  because  it 
combines  a  verb  and  preposition  which  cannot  be  combined  in  English. 
The  form  of  the  original  is,  to  thee  wait,  expect,  or  hope,  the  verb  expressing 
confidence,  the  particle  the  act  of  looking  towards  the  object  thus  confided 
in.  The  description  of  the  animals  as  thus  expecting  their  supplies  from 
God,  is  merely  the  poetical  costume  in  which  the  Psalmist  clothes  the  fact 


Psalm  104:28 -31  435 

that  they  are  really,  although  unconsciously,  dependent  on  him.  In  pre- 
cisely the  same  manner,  other  poets  represent  the  earth,  in  time  of  drought, 
as  parched  with  thirst  and  longing  for  the  rain,  which  expressions  no  sane 
man  would  either  charge  with  falseho()d,  or  consider  as  implying  a  belief  in 
the  conscious  personality  of  Earth.  Compare  my  note  on  Isa.  xlii.  4.  In 
its  season,  i.  e.  when  they  need  it. 

28.  Thoti  givest  to  them,  they  gather ;  thou  openest  thy  hand,  they  are 
filled  (with)  food.  The  point  of  the  significant  antithesis  is  this,  that  God 
as  easily  bestows  as  they  receive.  He  has  only  to  give,  they  have  only  to 
gather.  He  has  but  to  open  his  hand,  and  they  are  instantly  provided, 
even  to  satiety.  Filled,  satisfied,  abundantly  supplied,  as  in  ver.  13.  The 
verb  rendered  gather  means  to  pick  up  or  collect  from  the  ground.  It  is 
used  in  the  history  of  the  manna  (Exod.  xvi.  1,  5,  IG),  to  which  there  is 
obvious  allusion.  The  act  of  gathering  from  the  ground  seems  to  pre- 
suppose a  previous  throwing  down  from  heaven.  The  common  version, 
that  (meaning  what)  thou  givest  them  they  gather,  weakens  the  sentence,  if 
it  does  not  render  it  unmeaning. 

29.  Thou  hidest  thy  face,  they  are  confounded  ;  thou,  withdraioest  their 
breath,  they  expire,  and  to  their  dust  return.  The  hiding  of  God's  face  is 
the  opposite  of  looking  with  a  favourable  aspect.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiii. 
2  (1).  It  here  means  the  suspension  or  withdrawing  of  the  various  benefits 
before  described.  They  are  troubled  is,  in  every  case,  a  feeble  version  of 
one  of  the  strongest  words  in  the  language,  which  has  been  already  more 
than  once  explained.  Even  confounded,  though  much  stronger,  does  not 
perfectly  convey  the  idea,  which  is  that  of  being  agitated,  terror-stricken, 
or  convulsed.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  5,  Ixxviii.  33,  xc.  7.  Their  breath, 
the  vital  principle  imparted  by  the  Spirit  of  God  (Gen.  ii.  7),  who  is  the 
God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,  i.  e.  the  author  of  all  life  whatever.  See 
Num.  xvi.  22,  xxvii.  16,  and  compare  Heb.  xii.  9.  The  verb  exjire  is  used 
in  the  account  of  the  destruction  of  all  living  creatures  by  the  flood,  Gen. 
vii.  21,  22,  to  which  there  is  no  doubt  allusion,  as  there  is  in  the  next  clause 
to  Gen.  iii.  19.  Compare  Ps.  xc.  8,  ciii.  14,  Eccles.  xii.  7.  Their  dust, 
their  own,  their  native  dust,  to  which  they  belong,  and  from  which  they 
sprang. 

30.  Thoii  sendest  thy  breath,  they  are  created,  and  thou  reneivest  the  face 
of  the  earth.  The  absolute  power  of  God  over  the  life  of  his  creatures  is 
expressed  by  representing  him  as  annihilating  and  creating  the  whole  race 
at  pleasure,  by  a  breath.  With  equal  correctness  we  might  read  thy  spirit, 
but  thy  breath  is  more  poetical,  and  therefore  better  suited  to  the  context 
as  the  primary  meaning,  though  the  spirit  be  really  intended.  2  hey  are 
created  refers  the  effect  more  directly  to  God's  power  than  they  live  or  they 
revive  would  do.  In  the  last  clause  there  is  evident  allusion  to  the  renova- 
tion of  the  earth  desolated  by  the  flood,  and  the  joyous  change  of  its  face 
or  aspect  when  re-peopled. 

31.  Let  the  glory  of  Jehovah  be  for  ever  ;  let  Jehovah  rejoice  in  his  works. 
The  optative  form  of  the  first  verb  here  determines  the  meaning  of  the 
other.  It  would  also  be  grammatical,  though  much  less  natural  in  this 
connection,  to  regard  the  abbreviated  form  of  the  first  verb  as  a  mere  poetic 
licence,  and  explain  both  as  futures  proper.  The  glory  of  Jehovah  shall  be 
to  eternity  ;  Jehovah  shall  rejoice  in  his  worJcs.  The  grammatical  question 
is  of  less  importance,  because  one  of  these  senses  really  implies  the  other. 
The  wish  is  not  for  something  doubtful  but  infallibly  certain,  and  the  pre- 
diction is  in  strict  accordance  with  the  wish  of  him  who  utters  it.     In  this 


436  Psalm  104:32 -35 

verse  some  interpreters  suppose  an  allusion  to  God's  satisfaction  in  his 
own  work  of  creation  when  he  rested  from  it  on  the  seventh  day.  See 
Gen.  ii.  1,  2. 

32.  He  that  looks  at  the  earth  and  it  quakes,  touches  the  hills  and  they 
smoke.  There  is  something  in  the  form  of  this  verse  similar  to  that  of  yer. 
28.  God  has  only  to  look  at  the  earth  to  make  it  quake.  He  has  only  to 
touch  the  mountains  and  they  smoke.  His  controlling  and  terrifying  acts 
are  as  prompt  and  easy  as  his  acts  of  grace.  There  seems  to  be  a  reference 
to  the  words  of  Moses  in  describing  the  efiects  of  the  theophany  at  Sinai, 
when  its  summit  smoked,  and  its  very  roots  or  bases  were  on  fire.  See 
Exod.  xix.  18,  Deut.  xxxii.  22.  To  those  familiar  with  the  constant  use 
of  mountains  as  a  symbol  of  great  monarchies,  this  verse  would  necessarily 
suggest  the  thought,  that  God's  power  over  states  is  no  less  absolute  than 
that  which  he  exercises  over  individuals,  or  over  the  inanimate  creation. 

33.  /  will  sing  to  Jehovah  while  I  live,  I  xoill  make  music  to  my  God 
while  I  still  (exist).  This  is  the  Psalmist's  conclusion  from  the  view  which 
he  has  taken,  with  respect  to  his  own  interest  and  duty.  If  the  Lord  be 
such  a  God  to  all  his  creatures,  then  I  can  do  no  better  than  expend  the 
remainder  of  my  life  in  praising  him.  The  two  verbs  are  those  continually 
joined  to  denote  vocal  and  instrumental  pritise.  The  closing  words  of  each 
clause,  and  especially  the  second,  have  a  highly  idiomatic  character.  The 
phrase  translated  while  I  live  means  literally  in  my  life  or  lives.  The 
corresponding  one  can  scarcely  be  translated,  as  it  is  composed  of  the  pre- 
position in,  the  adverb  yet  or  still,  and  the  pronoun  of  the  first  person,  in 
my  yet,  i.  e.  in  my  (being)  yet,  while  I  still  am,  or  continue  to  exist. 

34.  Sweet  shall  be  of  him  my  meditation  ;  I  will  rejoice  in  Jehovah.  The 
ancient  versions  and  the  Prayer  Book,  with  some  of  the  best  interpreters, 
put  an  optative  sense  upon  the  first  clause,  may  my  thought  (or  speech)  be 
acceptable  to  him.  In  favour  of  this  interpretation  is  the  fact  that  a 
synonymous  verb,  followed  by  the  same  preposition  (7^),  means  to  be 

pleasing  to  a  person,  in  Ps.  xvi."6.  In  favour  of  the  other  is  want  of  any- 
thing to  indicate  a  wish,  and  the  parallelism  of  the  second  clause,  which 
relates  to  the  expression  of  his  own  feelings  towards"  Jehovah,  not  to  the  dis- 
positions of  Jehovah  towards  himself.  Thus  understood,  the  whole  verse 
completes  the  Psalmist's  practical  conclusion  from  the  view  which  he 
has  taken  of  God's  power,  wisdom,  and  goodness,  namely,  that  the  know- 
ledge and  possession  of  this  God  is  happiness. 

35.  Consumed  are  sinners  from  the  earth,  and  (as  for)  wicked  men,  they 
are  no  more.  Bless,  0  my  soul,  Jehovah.  Hallelujah  !  This  verse  has 
no  perceptible  connection,  either  with  the  verse  immediately  before  it,  or 
with  the  general  drift  of  the  whole  psalm,  except  upon  the  supposition,  that 
the  whole  psalm  was  intended  to  derive,  from  the  view  of  God's  authori- 
tative care  over  his  works,  an  encouraging  assurance  that  his  people  must 
be  safe ;  that  he  who  feeds  and  shelters  the  inferior  animals,  and  makes 
provision  for  the  physical  necessities  of  men  in  general,  cannot  fail  to  pro- 
vide for  the  security  and  happiness  of  those  whom  he  has  set  apart  for 
himself,  or  to  free  them  from  the  malice  of  those  sinners  who  are  equally 
the  enemies  of  God  and  of  his  people.  The  psalm,  like  the  one  before  it, 
closes  with  the  same  words  which  began  it.  The  last  word.  Hallelujah 
(praise  ye  Jah),  occurs  here  for  the  first  time,  and  is  supposed  by  some  to 
form  no  part  of  the  original  composition,  but  to  have  been  added  for  the 
purpose  of  adapting  it  to  some  public  service  at  a  later  date. 


Psalm  105:1  -  5  437 

Psalm  105 

This,  like  the  Seventy-Eighth,  is  a  historical  psalm,  recounting  God's 
ancient  dealings  with  his  people,  especially  in  Egypt.  The  practical  design 
of  the  commemoration  is  not  to  bring  the  people  to  repentance,  as  in  the 
case  referred  to,  but  to  excite  their  hopes  of  an  analogous  deliverance. 
According  to  a  theory  already  mentioned,  this  is  the  second  member  of  a 
trilogy,  added  to  one  of  older  date  (Ps.  ci.-ciii.)  during  the  time  of  the 
captivity.  It  differs  from  the  psalm  before  it  in  deriving  from  history  the 
same  consolation  which  is  there  derived  from  nature.  After  the  intro- 
duction, ver.  1-7,  the  arrangement  is  simply  chronological,  beginning  with 
the  promise  to  Abraham,  and  ending  with  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  ver.  8—44. 
The  first  fifteen  verses  of  this  psalm  are  found  in  1  Chron.  xvi.,  combined 
with  Ps.  xcvi.  and  three  verses  of  Ps.  cvi.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xcvi.  1. 

1.  Give  thanks  unto  Jehovah,  call  vpon  his  name,  make  known  among  the 
nations  his  exploits.  The  original  meaning  of  the  second  phrase  is,  call 
(him)  by  his  name,  i.  e.  give  him  the  descriptive  title  most  expressive  of  his 
divine  perfections  ;  or  more  specifically,  call  him  by  his  name  Jehovah,  i.e. 
ascribe  to  him  the  attributes  which  it  denotes,  to  wit,  eternity  and  self- 
existence,  together  with  that  covenant  relation  to  his  people,  which,  though 
not  denoted  by  the  name,  was  constantly  associated  with  it,  and  therefore 
necessarily  suggested  by  it.  The  meaning  of  the  next  phrase  is  obscured, 
if  not  entirely  concealed,  in  the  common  version,  among  the  people.  The 
plural  form  and  sense  of  the  original  expression  are  essential  to  the  writer's 
purpose,  which  is  to  glorify  the  God  of  Israel  among  all  nations.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xviii.  50  (49),  Ivii.  10  (9).  For  the  meaning  of  the  last  word,  see 
above  on  Ps.  ciii.  7. 

2.  Sing  to  him,  play  to  him,  muse  on  all  his  wondrous  deeds.  The  exhor- 
tation seems  to  be  addressed  to  the  Gentiles,  who  are  called  upon  to  join  in 
the  praises  and  to  share  the  blessings  of  the  chosen  people.  For  the  mean- 
ing of  the  last  verb,  see  above,  on  Ps.  civ.  34. 

3.  Glory  in  his  holy  name !  Glad  shall  be  the  heaH  of  those  who  seek 
Jehovah.  Congratulate  yourselves  that  you  possess  a  right  and  interest  in 
the  favour  of  so  glorious  a  Being.  The  last  clause  presents  as  an  induce- 
ment, that  to  seek  the  favour  of  this  God  is  a  source,  and  by  implication 
the  only  source,  of  joy  and  happiness.  Compare  Ps.  xxxiv.  3  (2),  xl.  17  (16), 
Ixix.  7  (6). 

4.  Seek  Jehovah  and  his  strength,  seek  his  face  evermore.  The  Hebrew 
verbs,  although  synonymous,  are  not  identical.  And  his  strength,  the  pro- 
tection secured  by  his  almighty  power.  Seek  him,  not  as  a  finite  being, 
but  as  the  omnipotent  Jehovah,  the  source,  as  well  as  the  possessor,  of  all 
strength.  Seek  his  face,  not  merely  his  presence,  but  his  countenance,  his 
favourable  look  or  aspect.  With  the  several  expressions  of  this  verse  com- 
pare Ps.  ix.  11  (10),  X.  4,  xiv.  2,  xxiv.  6,  xxxiv.  6  (4)^  Ixi.  4  (3),  Ixii.  8  (7), 
Ixiii.  3  (2),  Ixviii.  35  (34),  xcvi.  7. 

6.  Remember  his  wondrous  deeds  tchich  he  did,  his  miracles  and  the  judg- 
ments of  his  mouth.  They  are  exhorted  not  to  forget  them,  as  Israel  is 
charged  with  doing,  Ps.  Ixxviii.  11.  Miracles,  prodigies  or  wonders,  proofs 
of  divine  power.  There  is  no  need  of  identifying  these  with  the  judgments 
of  his  mouth,  which  include  his  laws  and  the  sentences  pronounced  upon 
his  enemies.  The  latter  is  probably  the  prominent  idea,  as  best  suited  to 
this  context. 


438  Psalm  105:6- 12 

6.  Ye  seed  of  Abraham  his  servant,  ye  sons  of  Jacob,  his  chosen  (ones). 
Descendants  of  the  patriarchs,  and  therefore  heirs  of  the  patriarchal  pro- 
mises. The  common  version  of  the  last  phrase  {his  chosen),  though  exact, 
conveys  a  wrong  idea,  as  it  seems  to  make  chosen  an  epithet  of  Jacob,  which 
would  also  seem  to  be  required  by  the  parallelism  ;  but  the  Hebrew  word  is 
plural,  and  describes  the  object  of  address  as  the  church  or  chosen  people. 
Compare  Isa.  Ixv.  9.  Abraham  is  called  the  servant  of  God,  in  an  emphatic 
sense,  as  being  his  chosen  instrument  and  confidential  agent.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xviii.  1,  and  compare  Ps.  xc.  1.  The  parallel  passage  (1  Chron. 
xvi.  13)  has  Israel  his  sercant. 

7.  He  is  Jehovah  our  God ;  in  all  the  earth  [are)  his  judgments.  His 
covenant  relations  are  with  us  the  seed  of  Abraham  ;  but  the  proofs  of  his 
existence  and  vindicatory  justice  are  common  to  all  nations.  This  whole 
introduction  seems  intended  to  dispose  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  to  the  praise 
of  God. 

8.  He  remembered  for  ever  his  covenant,  the  word  he  commanded  for  a 
thousand  generations.  There  is  here  a  kind  of  antithetical  allusion  to  the 
exhortation  in  ver.  5.  They  should  remember  what  he  did,  since  he  remem- 
bers what  he  promised.  What  he  has  done  involves  a  pledge  of  what  he 
will  do.  He  has  remembered  (and  will  remember)  his  covenant  to  eternity. 
The  ivord  is  the  word  of  promise.  He  is  said  to  have  commanded  it,  partly 
because  his  promise  is  conditional  and  annexed  to  his  commandment,  and 
for  that  reason  called  a  covenant ;  partly  because  all  that  God  says  must  of 
necessity  be  said  with  authority,  so  that  even  his  promises  partake  of  the 
nature  of  commands.  The  last  phrase,  a  thousand  generations,  is  Mosaic. 
See  Deut.  vii.  9,  and  compare  Exod.  xx.  6. 

9.  Which  he  ratified  with  Abraham,  and  his  oath  to  Isaac.  The  sentence 
is  continued  from  the  foregoing  verse.  lialified,  literally  cut ;  see  above, 
on  Ps.  1.  5.  His  oath  (which  he  sware)  to  Isaac,  or,  his  oath  for  (the  benefit 
of)  Isaac.  The  distinction,  if  any  be  intended,  is  that  the  covenant  was 
formally  made  only  with  Abraham,  and  merely  sanctioned  or  confirmed  by 
oath  to  his  successors.  See  Gen.  xv.  18,  xxvi.  3,  xxviii.  13.  His  oath  is 
governed  by  remembered  in  ver.  8.     Compare  Ps.  Ixxxix.  28,  34  (27,  33). 

10.  And  confirmed  it  to  Jacob  for  a  statute,  to  Israel  (for)  an  everlasting  cove- 
nant. Confirmed  it,  literally  made  (or  let)  it  stand,  instead  of  suffering  it 
to  expire  with  the  person  to  whom  it  was  originally  given.  A  statute,  in 
the  wide  sense  of  a  permanent  arrangement,  a  perpetual  constitution,  or  as 
it  is  called  in  the  last  clause,  a  compact  of  eternity,  an  everlasting  covenant. 
See  Gen.  xxviii.  13,  xxxv.  12. 

11.  Saying,  To  thee  will  I  give  the  land  of  Canaan,  as  the  portion  of  your 
heritage.  The  subject  or  substance  of  the  promise  is  now  more  distinctly 
stated.  The  word  translated  portion  primarily  means  a  line,  especially  a 
measuring  line,  and  then  what  is  measured  by  it,  to  wit,  a  piece  of  land,  a 
lot  of  ground.  This  was  not  to  be  given  to  the  patriarchs  in  person,  but  to 
their  descendants,  as  the  portion  of  their  heritage  or  their  hereditary  por- 
tion. The  plural  your  may  refer,  however,  to  the  patriarchs  themselves,  as 
the  promise  was  repeated  to  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob. 

12.  When  as  yet  they  could  be  numbered — very  few,  and  strangers  in  it. 
The  first  clause  involves  an  antithetical  allusion  to  the  promise,  afterwards 
fulfilled,  that  they  should  be  innumerable  as  the  stars,  or  as  the  sand  upon 
the  shore.  Gen.  xxii.  17.  The  form  of  the  original  is  highly  idiomatic,  in 
their  being  men  of  number,  like  a  little,  or  like  littleness  itself.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Ixxiii.  2,  and  compare  Isa.  i.  9.     Strangers,  sojourners,  living  on  the 


Psalm  105:13  -  16  439 

lands  of  others,  at  their  will,  or  by  their  sufferance.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xxxix.  13  (12).  In  it,  the  land  of  Canaan,  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
verse.  The  whole  verse  qualifies  the  previous  account  of  the  patriarchal 
covenant,  which  was  not  made  with  Israel  when  already  a  great  nation,  but 
with  their  ancestors  when  few  in  number  and  without  a  settled  home.  The 
parallel  passage  (1  Chron.  xvi.  19)  has  when  ye  were.  See  Gen.  xxxiv.  30, 
and  compare  Deut.  xxxiii.  6,  Isa.  x.  19. 

13.  And  they  went  about  fromnat ion  to  nation,  from  Jcinr/dom  to  another 
people.  This  may  be  regarded  as  in  contrast  with  ver.  12,  and  (yet)  they 
went  about,  notwithstanding  their  small  number  and  their  being  strangers. 
Or  ver.  12,  13,  may  be  the  protasis  of  the  sentence,  and  ver.  14  its  apo- 
dosis.  "  When  they  were  few  and  strangers,  and  went  from  nation  to  nation, 
he  let  no  man,"  &c.  This  verse  describes  the  characteristic  feature  in  the 
condition  of  the  chosen  people,  during  the  patriarchal  period  of  their  his- 
tory, namely,  their  migratory  intercourse  with  various  nations.  These  are 
mentioned  in  the  first  clause  as  distinct  races,  in  the  last  as  distinct  states 
or  bodies  poHtic.  Where  we  might  have  expected /rowi  kingdom  to  kingdom, 
the  ear  is  somewhat  disappointed  by  the  phrase  from  Jcingdom  to  another 
people,  which  may  have  been  intended  to  distinguish  the  Egyptian  and 
other  monarchies  from  the  more  democratical  or  patriarchal  institutions  of 
the  Arabians  and  other  nations.  They  went  about  seems  to  be  the  force  of 
the  reflexive  or  frequentative  verb,  as  distinguished  from  that  of  the  primi- 
tive, they  went.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvi.  3,  xxxv.  14,  ci.  2,  and  compare 
Gen.  V.  22,  xvii.  1,  xxiv.  6,  9,  40,  xlviii.  15. 

14.  He  suffered  no  man  to  oppress  them,  and  reproved,  for  their  sake, 
kings.  The  precise  sense  of  the  first  clause  is,  he  suffered  not  man  (or 
men  in  general)  to  oppress  them.  The  protection  of  the  patriarchs  is  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  most  striking  facts  in  sacred  history.  The  kings  men- 
tioned in  the  last  clause  are  the  kings  of  Egypt  and  Gerar  (Gen.  xii.  17, 
XX.  3),  not  without  reference  perhaps  to  those  mentioned  in  Gen.  xiv.  1. 

15.  Touch  not  mine  anointed  ones,  and  to  my  prophets  do  no  harm.  These 
are  the  words  of  God  himself,  and  are  designated  as  such  in  the  English 
Bible,  by  supplying  the  word  saying,  which  is  expressed  \n  the  analogous 
case,  ver.  11.  Toucli  not,  as  in  Gen.  xxvi.  11,  29.  In  the  Old  Testament, 
unction  is  the  symbol  of  spiritual  gifts,  and  especially  of  those  imparted  to 
the  great  theocratical  ofiices.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  2.  From  the  case  of 
Elisha  (1  Kings  xix.  16)  it  would  seem  that  prophets  were  anointed  when 
inducted  into  ofiice.  The  patriarchs  are  here  called  prophets  in  the  proper 
sense  of  the  term,  as  denoting  men  inspired  of  God,  and  admitted  to  confi- 
dential intercourse  with  him.  The  allusion  here  is  to  Gen.  xx.  7,  where 
God  says  to  Abimelech  of  Abraham,  «'  Restore  the  man  his  wife,  for  he  is 
a  prophet,  and  he  will  pray  for  thee,  and  thou  shalt  live." 

16.  And  he  called  {for)  a  famine  on  the  land  ;  every  staff  of  bread  he  brake. 
The  Psalmist  now  passes  from  the  Patriarchal  to  the  Egyptian  period  of 
the  history,  by  stating  the  occasion  of  Israel's  migration  into  Egypt.  The 
meaning  of  the  first  clause  seems  to  be,  that  he  summoned  famine,  as  his 
instrument  or  servant,  to  come  down  upon  the  land,  as  sent  from  above, 
that  is  to  say,  from  himself.  The  meaning  of  the  last  clause  is,  that  the 
people  were  deprived  of  every  customary  means  and  source  of  subsistence. 
The  figure  of  a  staff  or  stay  is  a  Mosaic  one.  See  Lev.  xxvi.  26,  and  com- 
pare Isa.  iii.  1.  It  is  near  akin  to  the  description  of  food  as  staying  or 
sustaining  the  heart.  See  above,  on  Ps.  civ.  15.  The  historical  reference 
in  the  verse  before  us  is  to  Gen.  xH.  54. 


440  Psalm  105:17 -22 

17.  He  sent  he/ore  them  a  man  ;  soldjor  a  slave  was  Joseph.  The  same 
providential  purpose  is  assigned  to  Joseph's  bondage  by  himself,  Gen.  xlv.  5. 
With  the  last  clause  compare  Gen.  xxxvii.  36.  Some  interpreters,  assum- 
ing, as  we  have  already  seen,  that  this  psalm  was  composed  in  the  time  of 
the  captivity,  suppose  a  parallel,  in  this  verse,  between  Joseph  and  Daniel, 
both  of  whom,  in  addition  to  their  personal  qualities,  were  sent  into  cap- 
tivity before  the  body  of  their  brethren ;  both  gained  the  royal  favour,  and 
were  exalted  to  high  station  in  the  land  of  their  captivity  ;  and  both 
employed  the  influence  thus  gained  for  the  advantage  of  their  countrymen. 
To  the  Jews  in  exile  such  a  parallel  must  have  been  not  only  interesting,  in 
a  historical  or  poetical  point  of  view,  but  consolatory  and  encouraging  as  a 
token  for  (food,  a  sign  that  God  was  about  to  renew  the  exodus  from  Egypt 
in  an  exodus  from  Babylon. 

18.  They  hurt,  with  the  fetter,  his  feet;  into  iron  came  his  soul.  That 
Joseph  was  actually  chained  or  fettered  is  included  in  the  true  sense  of  the 
word  bound,  applied' to  him  in  the  history.  See  Gen.  xl.  3,  and  compare 
Gen.  xxxix.  20,  22.  They,  the  Egyptians,  or  his  gaolers  ;  or  the  v^rb  may 
be  indefinitely  construed,  as  if  it  had  been  said,  his  feet  were  hurt.  The 
verb  means  elsewhere  to  humble  or  mortify,  but  is  here  used  in  its  strict 
sense  of  afflicting,  causing  to  suffer.  The  Prayer  Book  version  of  the  last 
clause,  the  iron  entered  into  his  soid,  is  ungrammatical,  the  word  for  iron 
being  mascuUne,  while  that  for  soul  is,  like  the  verb,  feminine.  The 
general  sense  is  given  in  the  text  of  the  English  Bible,  and  the  exact  form 
in  the  margin.  The  mention  of  the  soul,  as  in  many  other  cases,  is  of 
course  not  meant  to  be  exclusive  of  the  body,  but  to  suggest  the  idea  of 
intimate  and  heartfelt  suffering.     See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  3  (2),  xi.  1,  &c. 

19.  Until  the  time  that  his  pord  came  (to  pass),  the  saying  of  Jehovah 
tried  him.  The  last  verb  properly  denotes  the  assaying  of  metals,  but  is 
figuratively  applied  to  moral  trial  and  purgation.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xii.  7  (6),  xvii.  3.  xviii.  31  (30),  xxvi.  2.  The  most  probable  meaning  of 
the  verse  is,  that  during  the  two  years  which  intervened  between  his  expla- 
nation of  the  prisoners'  dreams,  and  the  favourable  issue  to  which  it  ulti- 
mately led,  his  faith  in  the  divine  promise  both  to  himself  and  to  his 
people,  was  severely  but  favourably  tried.  Compare  the  history  in  Gen.  xl. 
xli. 

20.  The  King  sent  and  loosed  him — the  ruler  of  nations,  and  set  him  free. 
Both  verbs  strictly  apply  to  the  removal  of  his  fetters,  the  first  meaning 
properly  to  knock  off  (Isa.  Iviii.  6),  the  other  to  open  for  the  purpose  of 
removing.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  12  (11).  The  king  of  Egypt  is  called 
a  ruler  of  peoples,  either  in  reference  to  the  tribes  or  nomes  of  Egypt  itself, 
or  because  there  were  other  nations  tributary  to  him. 

21.  He  made  him  Lord  of  his  house  and  ruler  of  all  his  wealth.  The 
literal  meaning  of  the  first  clause  is,  he  placed  him  lord  to  his  house.  See 
Gen.  xH.  40,  41,  43,  xlv.  8.  For  the  meaning  of  the  last  word  in  the 
sentence,  see  above,  on  Ps.  civ.  24  It  is  one  of  the  points  of  resemblance 
which  are  thought  to  identify  the  two  psalms  as  the  work  of.the  same 
author. 

22.  To  hind  his  chiefs  at  his  phasure,  and  his  elders  to  make  wise.  The 
words  translated  chiffs  and  elders  are  those  commonly  applied  to  the  heads 
of  tribes  and  families,  the  hereditary  magistrates  under  the  patriarchal  sys- 
tem. The  appHcation  of  the  second  word  to  Egypt  is  found  also  in  the 
histoiy,  Gen.  1.  7.  At  his  pleasure,  literally  with  his  soul,  which  some 
explain  as  a  bold  metaphor,  describing  Joseph's  mind  or  soul  as  the  cord 


Psalm  105:23 -28  441 

or  chain  with  which  he  bound  the  Egyptians,  i.  e.  forced  them  to  perform 
his  will.     But  see  Ps.  xvii.  9,  xxvii.  12,  xli.  3  (2). 

23.  And  (so)  Israel  entered  Egypt,  and  Jacob  sojourned  in  the  land  of 
Ham.  This  was  the  main  event,  to  which  those  just  recited  were  prepara- 
tory. Israel  and  Jacob  are  the  names  both  of  the  individual  patriarch  and 
of  his  descendants  as  a  nation.  In  this  case  both  the  applications  are  ad- 
missible, or  rather  requisite,  in  order  to  exhaust  the  writer's  meaning.  The 
patriarch  himself  came  into  Egypt,  but  his  sons  literally  came  with  him, 
and  all  his  descendants  figuratively  in  him.  The  land  of  Ham,  from  whom 
Mizraim  was  descended.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  51. 

24.  And  he  increased  his  people  greatly,  and  made  them  stronger  than 
their  enemies.  Increased,  literally  rendered  fruitful.  The  same  verb  ia 
used  in  the  promise  to  Abraham  and  Jacob  (Gr3n.  xvii.  6,  xxviii.  2),  and  in 
the  history  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  Exod.  i.  7.  The  word  here  used  for  enemies 
is  one  implying  persecution  and  oppression.  The  singular  pronouns  in  the 
Hebrew,  made  him  stronger  than  his  enemies,  are  in  strict  grammatical 
agreement  with  the  collective  noun  people. 

25.  He  turned  their  heart  to  hate  his  people,  to  deal  craftily  with  his 
servants.  The  first  clause  asserts  God's  sovereign  control  even  of  the  free  acts 
of  his  sinful  creatures,  a  truth  repeatedly  affirmed  in  the  history  which  this 
psalm  recapitulates.  See  Exod.  iv.  21,  vii.  3,  and  compare  1  Sam.  xxvi.  9, 
2  Sam  xvi.  10,  xxiv.  1.  The  last  verb  occurs  only  in  the  history  of  Joseph, 
Gen.  xxxvii.  18.  The  corresponding  term  in  Exodus  (i.  10)  is  let  its  deal 
wisely,  or  more  exactly,  let  its  make  ourselves  wise,  as  the  verb  in  this  case 
may  be  rendered,  let  us  make  ourselves  subtle  or  crafty,  both  being  reflexive 
forms.  The  historical  allusion  is  of  course  to  the  murderous  poUcy,  which 
preceded  the  violent  oppression  of  the  Hebrews. 

26.  He  sent  Moses  his  servant  (and)  Aaron  whom  he  chose.  The  meaning 
is  not  Moses  (who  was)  his  servant,  or  (because  he  was)  his  servant,  but  (to 
be)  his  servant,  his  instrument  in  the  great  work  of  delivering  his  people. 
See  above,  on  ver.  6,  and  on  Ps.  xviii.  1,  xxxvi.  1,  Ixxviii.  70. 

27.  They  placed  among  them  the  words  of  his  signs  and  wonders  in  the 
land  of  Ham.  The  first  phrase  seems  to  mean  nothing  more  than  set  before 
them,  or  exhibited  to  them.  Words  of  signs  is  by  some  understood  to  mean 
matters  (or  a^airs)  of  signs,  and  to  be  either  a  pleonastic  phrase  for  signa 
alone,  or  an  emphatic  phrase  denoting  all  the  signs.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixv.  4  (3).  The  first  is  a  gratuitous  assumption,  the  last  a  forced  interpre- 
tation. Better  than  either  is  the  explanation  which  gives  to  words  its 
proper  meaning,  and  supposes  stress  to  be  intentionally  laid  on  the  divine 
word  of  Jehovah,  and  the  prophetic  word  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  in  the  way  of 
threatening  and  command,  as  well  as  on  the  physical  efi'ects  which  followed 
these  denunciations.  Compare  the  use  of  words  in  Ps.  vii.  1,  and  the  expla- 
nation there  given.  Signs,  i.  e.  tokens  of  God's  presence  and  activity,  and 
indications  of  his  will.  Wonders,  prodigies,  miracles,  the  same  word  that 
occurs  above  in  ver.  5. 

28.  He  sent  darkness  and  made  it  dark,  and  they  did  not  resist  his  words, 
or  according  to  the  marginal  reading,  his  word.  This  is  by  some  under- 
stood to  mean  the  plague  of  darkness,  which  immediately  preceded  the 
slaughter  of  the  first-bom,  Exod.  x.  22.  But  to  this  explanation  there  are 
two  objections  :  first,  that  it  entirely  disturbs  the  order  of  the  plagues, 
which  is  otherwise  observed  with  great  exactness,  the  only  deviation  being 
very  trivial  compared  with  this  ;  secondly,  because  it  would  then  be  necessary 
to  apply  the  last  clause  to  Moses  and  Aaron,  or  to  Israel  in  general,  there- 


442  Psalm  105:29 -37 

by  making  it  unmeaning,  or  else  to  admit  a  contradiction  of  the  history, 
which  expressly  says  that  the  Egyptians  did  resist  the  word  of  God  even 
after  the  plague  of  darkness,  Exod.  x.  27.  The  only  remaining  explanation 
is,  that  darkness,  in  the  verse  before  us,  as  in  many  other  cases,  is  a  figure 
for  calamity  in  general,  and  applied  not  to  one  plague  in  particular,  but  to 
the  whole  series,  of  which  a  more  detailed  account  is  then  subjoined. 

29.  He  turned  their  waters  to  Uood  and  killed  their  fish.  Here  begins 
the  more  particular  enumeration  of  the  plagues  of  Egypt.  Compare  Ps. 
Ixxviii.  44,  where  the  inconvenience  specified  is  that  they  could  not  drink 
the  water,  whereas  here  it  is  the  loss  of  their  accustomed  food.  This  last 
word  is  used  as  a  collective  in  both  languages. 

30.  Their  land  teemed  with  frogs — in  the  chamlers  of  their  kings.  That 
even  these  were  not  safe  from  the  hateful  intruders,  is  an  aggravating  cir- 
cumstance, particularly  mentioned  in  the  original  threatening,  and  implied 
in  the  narrative  of  its  execution.  See  Exod.  viii.  3,  9.  The  first  verb 
means  to  bring  forth  in  abundance,  and  is  so  used  in  the  history  of  the 
creation,  with  particular  reference  to  the  genesis  of  animals.  Gen.  i.  20. 

31.  He  said,  and  the  fiy  came  and  gnats  (or  lice)  in  all  their  border. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  45,  where  the  gnats  or  lice  are  omitted,  and  the 
flies  precede  the  frogs.  So  here,  the  flies  precede  the  lice,  a  slight  departure 
from  the  order  of  the  history.  See  Exod.  viii.  5,  16.  He  said,  i.  e.  he 
said  so,  which  is  tantamount  to  saying,  he  commanded.  In  all  their  border, 
i.  e.  every  where  within  it,  throughout  the  land.  This  expression  is  bor- 
rowed from  the  history.     See  Exod.  viii.  2  (vii.  27). 

32.  He  gave  them  hail  for  rain  (and)  flaming  fire  in  their  land.  This, 
which  is  the  common  version,  represents  the  sense  correctly,  but  with  a 
deviation  from  the  form  of  the  original,  which  is  highly  idiomatic.  A  bald 
translation  is,  he  gave  their  rains  hail,  fire  of  flames  in  their  land.  The 
terms  are  chosen  for  the  sake  of  an  allusion  to  the  promise  in  Lev.  xxvi.  4, 
/  will  give  your  rains  in  thdr  season.  Instead  of  these  he  gave  the 
Egyptians  a  destructive  hail-storm.     Compare  Ps.  Ixxviii.  48. 

33.  And  smote  their  vine  and  their  fig-tree,  and  shattered  the  trees  of 
their  border.  Compare  Ps.  Ixxviii.  47,  where  sycamores  are  particularly 
mentioned.  The  history  says  nothing  of  the  vines,  but  speaks  of  the  break- 
ing of  the  trees,  using  the  same  intensive  verb  as  here.  See  Exod.  ix.  25. 
Their  border,  as  before,  means  their  land  or  territory  in  its  whole  extent, 
just  as  the  ends  of  the  earth  is  put  for  all  its  parts.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
ii.  8. 

34.  He  said,  and  the  arbeh  came,  and  the  yeleh,  anc?  (that)  without  num- 
ber. The  two  Hebrew  words,  here  retained,  denote  varieties  of  the  locust, 
and  have  no  equivalents  in  English.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  46,  where 
the  first  word  here  stands  second,  and  the  place  of  the  other  is  supplied  by 
hasil,  another  distinctive  term  of  the  same  kind.  Without  number,  Uterally 
there  is  no  number.     See  the  same  expression,  Ps.  civ.  25. 

35.  And  devoured  every  herb  in  their  land,  and  devoured  the  fruit  of 
their  ground.  The  verb,  though  varied  in  the  common  version,  is  the  same 
in  both  clauses  of  the  Hebrew.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlviii.  46,  and  compare 
the  original  narrative,  Exod.  x.  5,  15. 

36.  And  he  smote  all  the  first-born  in  their  land,  the  first-fruits  of  all 
tlieir  strength.  For  the  meaning  the  last  clause,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii. 
51 ,  and  compare  Exod.  xii.  29,  30. 

37.  And  he  brought  them  out  with  silver  and  unth  gold,  and  there  was  not 
in  his  tribes  a  totterer  (or  stumbler).     The  first  clause  relates  to  the  spoiling 


Psalm  105:38 -45  443 

of  the  Egyptians,  Exod.  xii.  35,  36.     The  last  word  denotes  a  person  unfit 
for  military  service.     Compare  Isa.  v.  27. 

38.  Glad  was  Egypt  at  their  going  forth,  for  their  fear  had  fallen  upon, 
them.  This  panic  terror,  which  followed  the  last  plague  and  faciUtated  the 
escape  of  Israel  (Exod.  xi.  1,  xii.  31-33),  accounts  for  the  readiness  with 
which  the  Egyptians  gave  whatever  was  demanded,  and  completely  vindicates 
the  children  of  Israel  from  the  charge  of  borrowing  what  they  never  meant 
to  pay.  The  terms  used  in  the  history  denote  the  acts  of  asking  and 
giving,  not  those  of  borrowing  and  lending.  The  terms  of  the  last  clause 
are  derived  from  Exod.  xv.- 16,  Deut.  xi.  25. 

39.  He  spread  a  cloud  for  a  covering,  and  fire  to  give  light  by  night. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  14.  The  poetical  description  of  the  cloud  as 
covering  the  host  is  derived  from  the  statement  that  "  the  cloud  of  Jehovah 
was  over  (or  above)  them  by  day,"  Num.  x.  34.  Compare  Num.  ix.  16, 
Neh.  ix.  12,  Isa.  iv.  5,  6. 

40.  (The  people)  asked  and  he  made  quails  come — and  bread  of  heaven 
satisfied  them.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  25-27,  and  compare  Exod.  xvi. 
4-13,  Num.  xi.  31.  As  to  the  alternation  of  the  singular  and  plural  forms, 
see  above,  on  ver.  24.  Bread  may  be  either  the  subject  of  the  verb,  as 
given  above,  or  a  qualifying  term,  [xcith)  bread. 

41.  He  opened  a  rock  and  forth  gushed  waters  ;  they  ran  in  the  wastes,  a 
river.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  16,  20.  The  word  translated  wastes 
means,  according  to  its  etymology,  dry  places. 

42.  Because  lie  remembered  his  holy  word  with  Abraham  his  servant.  This 
brings  us  back  to  the  statement  in  ver.  8,  9,  in  proof  of  which  this  long 
array  of  facts  has  been  presented.  Nothing  of  all  this  would  have  taken 
place  if  God  had  been  forgetful  of  his  covenant.  This  covenant  is  here 
meant  by  his  holy  word,  which  is  therefore  followed  by  the  preposition  with, 
as  in  Exod.  ix.  24,  where  the  covenant  is  expressly  mentioned. 

43.  And  brought  out  his  people  in  joy,  in  triumph  his  chosen  (oiies).  He 
remembered  his  promise,  and  in  execution  of  it  brought  out  his  people,  &c. 
The  parallelism  oi  people  and  chosen  throws  light  upon  the  latter  term,  as 
used  in  ver.  6. 

44.  And  gave  to  them  nations'  lands,  and  peoples'  labour  they  inherit.  The 
prominent  idea  is  not  that  of  gentiles  or  heathen,  in  the  religious  sense,  but 
that  of  other  nations,  and  whole  nations,  to  whose  place  and  possessions 
they  succeeded.  Labour  is  put  for  its  result  or  product,  as  a  synonjrmous 
Hebrew  word  is  in  Ps.  Ixxviii.  46. 

45.  To  the  end  that  they  might  keep  his  statutes  and  his  laws  observe. 
Hallelujah !  The  emphatic  phrase  at  the  beginning,  corresponding  to  our 
phrases,  to  the  end,  for  the  purpose,  or  in  order  that,  points  this  out  as  the 
qualification  or  condition  of  the  promise  which  had  been  so  gloriously 
verified.  The  same  condition  is  expressed  or  implied  elsewhere.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  7,  and  compare  Gen.  xviii.  19,  Deut.  iv.  40,  xxvi.  17. 
Hallelujah  [praise  ye  Jah),  as  above,  in  Ps.  civ.  35. 


Psalm  106 

After  an  introduction,  praising  the  divine  goodness,  and  expressing  the 
hope  of  a  participation  in  it,  ver.  1-5,  this  psalm  contains  a  solemn  con- 
fession of  the  sins  of  Israel  through  all  the  periods  of  his  history  :  in 
Egypt,  ver.  6-12  ;  in  the  wilderness,  vej.  13-33  ;  in  Canaan,  ver.  34-43  ; 


444  Psalm  106:1  -  5 

and  a  prayer,  founded  on  encouraging  tokens  of  the  Lord's  compassion,  that 
he  will  save  his  people  from  the  punishment  incurred  by  their  unfaithfulness, 
ver.  44-48.  According  to  Hengstenberg's  hypothesis  already  mentioned, 
this  is  the  third  psalm  of  the  trilogy  added  to  Ps.  ci.-ciii.,  in  the  times  of 
the  captivity,  and  a  direct  continuation  of  the  series,  since  the  moral  con- 
dition of  God's  covenant,  propounded  at  the  close  of  Ps,  cv.,  is  here  acknow- 
ledged to  have  been  violated  by  his  people,  who  are  also  represented  as 
actually  suffering  the  punishment  of  this  violation,  but  encouraged  by 
returning  tokens  of  a  favourable  change,  to  hope  and  pray  for  the  forgiveness 
of  their  sins  and  the  removal  of  the  judgments  which  they  have  so  well 
deserved.  The  first  verse  and  the  two  last  form  a  part  of  the  mixed  com- 
position in  First  Chronicles,  which  has  been  already  mentioned.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xcvi.  1.  But  a  still  more  interesting  parallel  to  this  psalm 
is  the  prayer  or  confession  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  Daniel,  which  resembles 
it  so  much  in  subject,  tone,  and  diction,  that  although  not  otherwise 
demonstrable,  it  would  not  be  absurd  to  regard  the  psalm  before  us  as  a 
lyrical  paraphrase  of  that  confession,  prepared  for  permanent  and  public  use 
by  Daniel  himself  or  some  contemporary  writer. 

1.  Hallelujah!  Give  thanks  unto  Jehovah,  for  {he  is)  good,  for  unto 
eternity  (is)  his  mercy.  The  Hallelujah  (praise  ye  J  ah  !)  which  concludes 
the  two  preceding  psalms,  stands  both  at  the  beginning  and  the  close  of 
this.  The  exhortation  to  give  thanks  unto  Jehovah  is  also  found  at  the 
beginning  of  Ps.  cv.  The  reason  here  assigned,  that  he  is  good,  and  his 
mercy  endures  for  ever,  is  expressed  in  the  same  words,  Ps.  c.  5. 

2.  Who  shall  tell  the  mighty  deeds  of  Jehovah  /  (Who)  shall  utter  all  his 
praise  ?  The  potential  meaning  (who  can  tell  ?)  is  here  included  in  the 
simple  future.  Mighty  deeds  answers  to  a  single  word  in  Hebrew  meaning 
strengths  or  powers.  The  expression  is  borrowed  from  Deut.  iii.  24,  where 
the  English  Bible  has  the  singular  form  might.  The  verb  translated  utter 
is  a  causative,  who  shall  cause  to  hear  or  to  be  heard  ?  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xxvi.  7.  The  interrogation  involves  a  negative  assertion,  namely,  that  they 
cannot  be  fully  expressed  or  duly  celebrated. 

8.  Happy  the  keepers  of  judgment,  the  doer  of  righteousness  at  every  time. 
The  form  of  expression  at  the  beginning  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  i.  1.  The 
keepers  of  judgment  are  those  who  observe  justice  as  the  rule  of  their  con- 
duct, the  same  idea  that  is  afterwards  expressed  in  other  words,  the  doer 
(or  practiser)  of  righteousness,  not  occasionally  merely  but  at  all  times.  The 
change  from  the  plural  to  the  singular  is  common,  where  the  latter  denotes 
an  ideal  individual,  the  representative  of  a  whole  class.  The  condition 
here  propounded  is  identical  with  that  in  Ps.  cv.  45,  ciii.  18,  Dan.  ix.  4. 

4.  Remember  me,  Jehovah,  with  the  favour  of  thy  people  ;  visit  me  with 
thy  salvation.  The  speaker  is  the  Church  or  chosen  people,  and  therefore 
prays  to  be  remembered  with  the  kindness  due  to  her  as  such.  Visit  me, 
manifest  thy  favourable  presence.  See  above,  on  Ps.  viii.  5  (4).  Such  a 
prayer,  uttered  by  the  church  itself,  impjies  that  the  tokens  of  God's 
favourable  presence  had  been  interrupted  or  withdrawn. 

5.  To  uitness  the  welfare  of  thy  chosen  [ones),  to  irjoice  in  the  joy  of  thy 
nation,  to  glory  with  thy  heritage.  Our  idiom  requires  the  subject  of  the 
verb  to  be  more  distinctly  indicated.  The  meaning  evidently  is,  that  I  may 
witness,  that  1  may  rejoice,  that  I  may  glory.  The  phrase  translated  witness 
the  welfare  literally  means  to  see  in  the  good,  i.  e.  to  look  on,  to  be  a  spec- 
tator, when  thy  chosen  ones  are  in  possession  or  enjoyment  of  good.  Thy 
nation  is  here  used  instead  of  the  customary  phrase  thy  people,  perhaps 


Psalm  106:6 -9  445 

because  the  meaning  Is,  the  nation  which  is  thy  chosen  people.  The  general 
meaning  of  the  whole  verse  is,  that  I  may  once  more  be  recognised  and 
treated  as  thy  people. 

6.  We  have  sinned  with  our  fathers,  we  have  done  perversely,  we  have 
done  wickedly.  The  connection  with  the  foregoing  context  may  be  made 
clear  by  supplying  a  few  intermediate  thoughts.  "  True,  we  have  no  right 
to  expect  this,  much  less  to  demand  it.  We  have  not  performed  the  con- 
dition of  thy  covenant ;  we  have  not  kept  thy  statutes  or  observed  thy  laws ; 
we  have  not  kept  judgment  or  done  righteousness."  The  national  confes- 
sion here  begun  is  nearly  co-extensive  with  the  psalm  itself.  The  terms  of 
this  verse  are  borrowed,  here  as  well  as  in  Dan  ix.  5,  from  that  great  model 
of  ecclesiastical  and  national  devotion  furnished  by  Solomon,  in  his  prayer 
at  the  dedication  of  the  temple,  1  Kings  viii.  47.  Compare  Isa.  hx.  12. 
With  our  fathers,  not  merely  like  them,  but  as  sharing  their  responsibility 
and  guilt.  Of  the  three  verbs  used  in  this  confession,  the  first  denotes 
failui-e  to  discharge  one's  obligations,  the  second  wilful  perversion  or  distor- 
tion, the  third  disorderly  or  turbulent  transgression.     See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  1. 

7.  Our  fathers  in  Egypt  did  not  understand  thy  wondrous  works,  they  did 
not  remember  the  abundance  of  thy  mercies,  and  rebelled  upon  the  sea,  at  the 
Red  Sea.  The  general  confession  in  ver.  6  is  now  followed  by  a  more  de- 
tailed acknowledgment,  beginning  with  the  exodus  from  Egypt.  The 
wondrous  works  of  God,  the  things  done  wonderfully  by  him,  then  and  there, 
for  the  deliverance  of  his  people,  the  great  body  of  them  did  not  understand. 
Even  those  who  referred  them  to  their  true  source  and  author,  did  not  fully 
appreciate  the  end  for  which  they  were  performed,  or  enter  into  the  majestic 
plan,  in  executing  which  they  were  permitted  to  be  God's  co-workers.  The 
truth  of  this  charge  is  abundantly  established  by  the  narrow,  grovelling, 
selfish  views  and  feelings  so  repeatedly  betrayed  by  the  generation  which 
came  out  of  Egypt,  shewing  clearly  that  they  did  not  practically  understand 
God's  dealings  with  them.  This  is  probably  the  idea  meant  to  be  conveyed 
by  the  Hebrew  verb,  which  usually  means  to  act  wisely,  but  is  here  modified 
by  governing  a  noun  directly.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  10,  xiv.  2.  The  twofold 
local  designation,  on  the  sea,  at  the  Bed  Sea,  was  probably  suggested  by  the 
parallelism  in  Exod.  xv.  4.  The  variation  of  the  particle  seems  merely  a 
poetical  embellishment ;  the  difference  in  meaning  is  no  greater  than  in  our 
on  and  at.  The  Sea  of  Sea-weed  was  the  name  given  by  the  Hebrews  and 
Egyptians  to  that  bay  or  gulf  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  which  was  called  the 
Red  Sea  by  the  Greek  geographers. 

8.  And  he  saved  them  for  his  name's  sake,  to  make  known  his  might.  This 
is  an  answer  to  a  tacit  objection,  namely,  that  their  conduct  had  been  sanc- 
tioned by  God's  saving  them.  True,  he  did  save  them,  because  they  were 
necessary  to  his  purpose.  He  saved  them  not  for  their  sake  but  his  own, 
to  accomplish  his  own  ends,  and  exhibit  his  own  power. 

9.  And  he  rebuked  the  Bed  Sea  and  it  dried  up,  and  he  made  them  go 
through  the  deeps  like  the  desert.  This  is  merely  a  specification  of  the 
general  statement  in  the  preceding  verse.  The  divine  intervention  here 
commemorated  was  the  more  remarkable  because  it  took  place  on  the  very 
spot  where  they  first  rebelled,  as  mentioned  in  ver.  7.  Though  they  dis- 
obeyed him  at  the  Red  Sea,  he  nevertheless  dried  the  Red  Sea,  i.  e.  as  much 
of  it  as  was  required  to  furnish  them  a  passage.  Bebuked,  as  in  Ps.  civ.  7. 
Like  the  desert,  as  in  the  desert,  i.  e.  in  a  level  and  extensive  plain,  without 
obstruction  or  unevenness.  See  my  note  on  Isa.  Ixiii.  13,  where  the  same 
comparison  is  used. 


446  Psalm  106:10  -  19 

10.  And  Tie  saved  them  from  the  hand  of  the  hater,  and  redeemed  them 
from  the  hand  of  the  enemy.     Both  epithets  are  intended  to  apply  to  Pharaoh, 

not  only  as  a  personal  oppressor  of  the  Israelites,  but  as  the  representative 
of  Egypt,  all  of  which  now  feared  and  hated  the  occasion  of  its  multiplied 
and  aggravated  sufferings. 

11.  And  the  waters  covered  their  adversaries ;  not  one  of  them  was  left. 
The  Psalmist  dwells  upon  the  completeness  of  the  overthrow  and  destruc- 
tion experienced  by  Pharaoh  and  his  host,  in  order  to  aggravate  the  previous 
and  subsequent  ingratitude  of  Israel,  as  well  as  to  enhance  the  free  grace  of 
Jehovah,  and  the  MeHty  with  which  he  executed  his  engagements,  even  to 
the  faithless. 

12.  And  they  believe  his  words,  they  sing  his  praise.  Then  (and  not  till 
then)  do  they  believe.  This  is  not  an  encomium  on  their  faith,  but  a  con- 
fession of  their  unbelief.  It  was  not  till  the  promise  was  fulfilled  that  they 
believed  it.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Exod.  xiv.  31 ;  with  the  second, 
Exod.  XV.  1. 

13.  They  made  haste,  they  forgot  his  deeds,  they  did  not  wait  for  his 
counsel.  Their  propensity  to  evil  was  so  strong  that  they  are  said  to  have 
hastened  to  forget  what  God  had  done  for  them,  which  means  much  more 
than  that  they  soon  forgot  it.  They  did  not  even  wait  for  the  promise  to  be 
verified  by  the  event.  The  expression  in  the  first  clause  is  borrowed  from 
Exod.  xxxii.  8.  The  works  or  deeds  of  God  are  not  in  this  case,  as  in  Ps. 
ciii.  22,  civ.  24,  the  works  of  nature,  but  the  plagues  of  Egypt.  See  Deut. 
xi.  3,  and  compare  Dan.  ix.  4. 

14.  And  they  lusted  a  lust  in  the  wilderness  and  tempted  God  in  the  desert. 
The  confession  now  passes  from  their  sins  in  Egypt  to  their  sins  in  the 
wilderness.  The  strong  expression  in  the  first  clause  relates  to  their  wanton 
craving  of  animal  food.  See  Num.  xi.  4,  34.  With  the  last  clause  compare 
Ps.  Ixxviii.  18.  The  two  words  for  wilderness  and  desert  are  the  same  as  those 
in  Ps.  Ixxviii.  40.     See  also  Ps.  Ixviii.  8  (7). 

15.  And  he  gave  them  their  request  and  sent  [them)  leanness  in  their  soul. 
The  last  phrase  is  by  some  translated  against,  by  others  into  their  soul ;  but 
it  is  really  a  qualifying  phrase,  designed  to  shew  that  the  emaciation  or 
decay  which  was  sent  upon  them  was  not  bodily  but  spiritual.  See  Num. 
xi.  18,  and  compare  Ps.  Ixxviii.  10,  18. 

16.  And  they  were  envious  at  Moses  in  the  camp,  at  Aaron,  the  Holy  One 
of  Jehovah.  This  is  another  of  their  wilderness  sins.  See  Num.  chap.  xvi. 
Aaron  is  not  called  the  Saint  of  the  Lord  in  reference  to  his  personal  holi- 
ness, which  does  not  seem  to  have  been  eminent,  but  his  Holy  (or  Conse- 
crated) One,  in  reference  to  his  sacerdotal  dignity. 

17.  (Then)  opens  the  earth  and  sivallows  Dathan,  and  covers  over  the  com- 
pany of  Abiram.  This  relates  to  the  destraction  of  those  followers  of  Korah 
who  were  not  Levites.  See  Num.  xvi.  32,  33,  and  compare  Deut.  xi.  6. 
From  the  ficrst  of  these  passages  some  interpreters  supply  her  mouth  after 
opens;  but  the  absolute  use  of  the  verb  is  perfectly  consistent  with  our 
idiom. 

18.  And  a  fire  devours  their  company,  a  flame  consumes  (those)  wicJced 
(men).  This  relates  to  the  destruction  of  Korah  himself  and  his  Levitical 
followers.     See  Num.  xvi.  35,  xxvi.  10. 

19.  They  make  a  calf  in  Horeb,  and  boiv  down  to  a  molten  image.  This 
was  a  third  sin  committed  in  the  wilderness.  See  Exod.  xxxii.  1-6,  and 
compare  Exod.  xxxiv.  4.  The  golden  calf  appears  to  have  been  an  imper- 
fect and  diminutive  copy  of  the  bull  Apis,  worshipped  in  Egypt. 


Psalm  106:20 -28  .447 

20.  And  exchange  their  glory  for  the  likeness  of  an  ox  eating  grass.  This 
must  be  read  in  the  closest  connection  with  ver.  19,  in  order  to  complete 
it.  Their  folly  consisted  in  exchanging  the  true  God,  whose  worship  and 
whose  favour  was  their  highest  honour,  for  the  mere  likeness  of  an  irra- 
tional brute.  Eating  grass,  not  in  the  act,  but  in  the  habit,  of  so  doing. 
Although  the  golden  calf  at  Horeb,  and  the  golden  calves  at  Dan  and  Beer- 
sheba,  were  all  regarded  as  representatives  of  Jehovah  himself,  their  worship 
was  uniformly  treated  as  idolatry,  and  as  a  virtual  though  not  a  formal  or 
avowed  renunciation  of  his  service.     Compare  Jer.  ii.  10-13. 

21.  They  forgot  God  that  saved  them,  that  did  great  (things)  in  Egypt. 
That  saved,  that  did,  literally  saving,  doing. 

22.  Wonderful  (things)  in  the  land  of  Ham,  terrible  (things)  on  the  Red 
Sea.  Wonderfid,  literally  (things)  made  wonderful  or  strangely  done. 
Terrible,  literally  to  be  dreaded.     Compare  Ps.  cv.  23,  27. 

23.  And  he  said  he  would  destroy  them — unless  Moses  his  elect  had  stood 
in  the  breach  before  him-,  to  turn  back  his  wrath  from  destroying.  The  first 
and  last  verbs  are  different  in  Hebrew,  but  have  only  one  exact  equivalent 
in  English.  The  second  clause  is  not  a  part  of  what  God  said,  but  a  his- 
torical statement  of  what  really  prevented  the  execution  of  his  threatening. 
He  said  he  would  destroy  them,  and  he  would  have  done  so,  had  not  Moses, 
&c.  Moses  is  called  the  Elect  or  Chosen  of  Jehovah,  as  having  been 
selected  and  set  apart  to  be  God's  instrument  in  the  great  work  of  deliver- 
ance and  legislation.  The  plural  is  elsewhere  apphed  to  the  whole  nation 
as  the  chosen  people.  See  above,  ver.  5,  and  Ps.  cv.  43.  Stood  in  the 
breach  is  a  militaiy  figure,  dra\vn  from  the  desperate  defence  of  a  besieged 
town  or  fortress.  Compare  Jer.  xv.  1,  Ezek.  xiii.  5,  xxii.  30.  The  histo- 
rical reference  is  to  Exod.  xxxii.  11-14,  Deut.  ix.  18,  l9.  To  turn  back 
his  wrath  is  to  prevent  its  accomplishing  its  object.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixxviii.  88,  and  compare  Num.  xxv.  11. 

24.  And  they  rejected  the  pleasant  land,  they  did  not  believe  his  word. 
This  refers  to  the  refusal  of  the  people  to  invade  the  land  of  Canaan  in  the 
first  year  of  their  exodus  from  Egypt,  and  to  their  believing  the  report  of 
the  ten  spies  in  preference  to  God  himself.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  22, 
32,  and  compare  Num.  xiv.  31.  The  land  of  desire,  the  desired  or  desir- 
able land,  is  a  name  also  found  in  Jer.  iii.  19. 

25.  And  they  murmured  in  their  tents  ;  they  did  not  hearken  to  the  voice 
of  Jehovah.  Tho  fonn  of  expression  in  the  first  clause  is  borrowed  from 
Deut.  i.  27  ;  in  the  second  from  Num.  xiv.  22. 

26.  And  he  lifted  his  hand  to  them,  to  make  them  fall  in  the  wilderness. 
The  first  phrase  does  not  mean,  he  raised  his  hand  against  them,  or  to 
strike  them,  but  as  the  ancient  gesture  of  swearing.  See  Num.  xiv.  28, 
30,  Deut.  i.  34,  ii.  14.  The  last  clause  contains  the  oath  itself,  or  what 
he  swore,  to  wit,  that  he  would  make  them  fall,  slay  them,  in  the  wilder- 
ness.    See  Num.  xiv.  29,  32. 

27.  And  to  make  their  seed  fall  in  the  nations,  and  to  scatter  them  in  the 
lands.  As  the  appointed  punishment  of  the  older  generation  was  to  die  in 
the  wilderness,  so  that  of  their  descendants  was  to  die  in  dispersion  and 
captivity  among  the  Gentiles.  See  Lev.  xxvi.  33,  38,  and  compare  Deut. 
xxviii.  32,  36,  64,  68.  The  recollection  of  this  threatening  must  have  been 
pecuHarly  affecting  to  the  Jews  in  Babylon. 

28.  And  they  joined  themselves  to  Baal  Peor,  and  ate  the  sacrifices  of  the 
dead.  He  now  adds  a  sin  committed  near  the  end  of  the  long  error,  and 
on  the  very  borders  of  the  Promised  Land.     The  first  verb  is  properly  pas- 


448  Psalm  106:29 -35 

sive,  they  were  joined,  but  this  of  course  does  not  mean  by  others  but 
themselves,  and  thus  the  simple  passive  comes  to  have  a  reflexive  meaning. 
Baal  Peor  is  the  name  given  to  Baal,  or  the  supreme  god  of  the  Tyriaus 
and  Moabites,  as  he  was  worshipped,  with  licentious  rites,  at  Peor,  a 
mountain  in  the  land  of  Moab.  See  Num.  xxv.  1-3.  The  dead,  not  dead 
men,  in  allusion  to  necromantic  superstitions,  but  the  dumb  or  lifeless  gods 
whom  they  worshipped.  See  below,  on  Ps.  cxv.  4-7,  and  compare  1  Cor. 
xii.  2. 

29.  Aoid  they  provoked  him  hy  their  crimes,  and  the  plague  broke  out 
among  them.  The  first  verb  means  to  excite  both  grief  and  indignation. 
Compare  the  use  of  the  cognate  noun  in  Ps.  vi.  8  (7),  and  of  the  verb  itself 
in  Ps.  Ixxviii.  58.  The  word  translated  plague,  like  its  English  equivalent, 
has  both  a  generic  and  specific  meaning ;  that  of  a  divine  stroke  or  inflic- 
tion in  general,  and  that  of  a  pestilential  disease  in  particular.  See  Num. 
xxv.  18,  19. 

30.  Then  stood  vp  Ph'mehas  and  judged,  and  (so)  ivas  stayed  the  plague. 
He  stood  (or  rose)  up  from  among  the  rest,  presented  himself  before  the 
people.  He  judged,  i.  e.  assumed  the  ofiice  and  discharged  the  duty,  from 
which  the  regular  official  judges  seemed  to  shrink.  The  verb  includes  the 
act  both  of  pronouncing  and  of  executing  judgment.  See  the  narrative  in 
Num.  xxv.  The  form  of  expression  in  the  last  clause  is  borrowed  from 
Num.  xvii.  13  (xvi.  48). 

81.  And  it  uas  reckoned  to  him  for  righteousness,  to  generation  and  gene- 
ration, even  to  eternity.  The  form  of  expression  is  borrowed  from  Gen. 
XV.  6 ;  but  what  is  here  meant  is  evidently  not  a  justifying  act  by  which 
Phinehas  was  saved,  but  a  praiseworthy  act  for  which  he,  a  justified  or 
righteous  man  already,  received  the  divine  commendation  and  a  perpetual 
memorial  of  his  faithfulness.  Compare  Deut.  vi.  25,  xxiv.  13.  The  par- 
ticular reward  promised  (Num.  xxv.  13),  that  of  a  perpetual  priesthood,  is 
riot  here  mentioned,  but  was  famiUar  to  the  mind  of  every  Hebrew  reader. 

32.  And  they  angered  (him)  at  the  waters  of  Strife,  and  it  went  ill  with 
Moses,  on  their  account.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxi.  8  (7),  xcv.  8,  xcix.  8. 
The  Hebrew  word  for  strife  is  the  name  given  to  the  place,  Meribah.  The 
object  of  the  first  verb  is  Jehovah,  as  in  ver.  29.  It  went  ill  with  Moses, 
or,  more  hterally,  it  tvas  had  for  Moses. 

33.  For  they  resisted  his  spirit,  and  he  spake  unadvisedly  with  his  lips. 
His  spirit  may  grammatically  signify  either  that  of  God  or  that  of  Moses. 
The  latest  writers  are  in  favour  of  the  first  construction,  which  is  not  with- 
out analogies  in  other  parts  of  Scripture  (Isa.  Ixiii.  10,  Eph.  iv.  30),  but 
the  other  seems  entitled  to  the  preference  in  this  connection,  because  the 
first  clause  then  contains  the  ground  or  reason  of  the  other.  It  was  because 
the  mind  of  Moses  was  excited  by  their  opposition,  that  he  spake  unad- 
visedly with  his  lips.  The  last  verb  is  one  used  in  the  law  to  denote  a 
precipitate  inconsiderate  engagement,  Lev.  v.  4. 

34.  They  did  not  destroy  the  nations  which  the  Lord  said  to  them.  The 
confession  now  passes  from  the  sins  of  the  wilderness  to  those  of  Canaan. 
The  neglect  to  destroy  the  Canaanites  completely  was  not  only  a  direct 
violation  of  God's  precept,  but  the  source  of  nearly  all  the  public  evils  that 
ensued.  There  is  no  need  of  giving  to  the  last  verb  a  rare  and  dubious 
sense  {commanded).  The  meaning  of  the  clause  is,  which  Jehovah  said  to 
the^n  (must  be  destroyed). 

85.  And  they  mixed  themselves  with  the  nations  and  learned  their  doings. 
The  reflexive  verb  at  the  beginning  indicates  an  active  and  deliberate  amal- 


Psalm  106:36  -  42  449 

gamation,  as  distinguished  from  a  passive  and  involuntary  one.  The  nations 
of  the  Canaanites,  and  those  which  inhabited  surrounding  countries.  The 
primary  idea  is  not  that  of  gentiles  or  heathen,  in  the  rehgious  sense. 
Learned  their  doings  or  practices,  learned  to  do  as  they  did.  With  the 
first  clause  compare  Josh,  xxiii.  12,  13,  Judges  iii.  6 ;  with  the  second, 
Deut.  xviii.  9,  xx.  18. 

86.  And  served  their  idols,  and  they  were  to  them  for  a  snare.  The  word 
translated  idols,  by  its  etymological  affinities,  suggests  the  idea  of  vexations, 
pains.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  4.  A  snare,  i.  e.  a  temptation  to  idolatry. 
Compare  Deut.  vii.  16. 

37.  And  they  sacrificed  their  sons  and  their  daughters  to  the  demons. 
This  last  is  the  Septuagint  version,  and,  if  not  directly  sanctioned,  is  at  least 
referred  to  in  the  New  Testament  (1  Cor.  x.  20).  That  the  worship  of 
idols  was  connected  with  that  of  fallen  spirits,  is  neither  improbable  in 
itself  nor  contradictory  to  Scripture,  According  to  the  modern  etymologists, 
the  Hebrew  word  means  lords  or  masters,  and  is  a  poetical  equivalent  to 
Baalim,  which  means  the  same  thing.  Compare  Deut.  xxxii.  17,  and  the 
xvgioi  of  1  Cor.  viii.  5.  The  word  translated  devils  in  Lev.  xvii.  7  is  entirely 
different. 

38.  And  they  shed  innocent  hlood,  the  blood  of  their  sons  and  daughters, 
which  they  sacrificed  to  the  idols  of  Canaan  ;  and  defiled  was  the  land  with 
bloods.  The  first  verb  means  to  pour  out,  and  here  implies  a  copious  or 
abundant  bloodshed,  corresponding  to  the  next  verb,  which  is  an  intensive 
form  of  that  used  in  ver.  37.  Blood,  in  the  singular,  is  used  in  a  physical 
sense ;  the  plural  bloods,  in  a  moral  one,  always  implying  guilt,  and  especi- 
ally the  guilt  of  murder.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  7  (6),  xxvi.  9,  U.  16  (14), 
Iv.  24  (23).  The  first  three  members  of  the  sentence  have  respect  to  the 
prohibitions  in  Deut.  xii.  31,  xviii.  10,  xix.  10.  With  the  last  clause  com- 
pare Num.  XXXV.  33. 

39.  And  they  were  polluted  by  their  own  doings,  and  went  a  whoring  by 
their  own  crimes.  They  defiled  not  only  the  land  of  promise  but  them- 
selves. Or  rather,  this  verse  is  explanatory  of  the  last  clause  of  ver.  38, 
and  shews  that  the^pollution  of  the  land  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  that 
of  its  inhabitants.  The  figure  of  spiritual  whoredom  or  adultery  is  often 
used  to  signify  the  violation,  by  the  chosen  people,  of  their  covenant  with 
God,  which  is  constantly  described  as  a  conjugal  relation.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xlv.,  and  compare  Ps.  Ixxiii.  27.  This  is  not  stated  as  an  additional 
offence,  but  as  an  aggravating  circumstance  attending  the  iniquities  already 
mentioned. 

40.  And  the  anger  of  Jehovah  was  enkindled  at  his  people,  and  he 
abhorred  his  heritage.  This  is  the  strongest  form  in  which  his  detestation 
of  their  sins  could  be  expressed,  but  does  not  necessarily  imply  the  abroga- 
tion of  his  covenant  with  them.  The  feeling  described  is  like  that  of  a 
parent  towards  his  wicked  children,  or  of  husbands  and  wives,  who  do  not 
cease  to  love  each  other,  though  grieved  and  indignant  at  each  other's  sins. 
The  word  heritage  adds  great  point  to  the  sentence.  He  abhorred  the  very 
people  whom  he  had  chosen  to  be  his,  not  merely  for  a  single  generation, 
but  for  many.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  59,  62. 

41.  And  he  gave  them  into  the  hand  of  nations,  and  over  them  ruled  tludr 
haters.  The  same  nations  whom  they  had  rebelliously  spared,  with  others 
of  Uke  spirit, — the  same  nations  who  had  led  them  into  sin, — were  used  as 
instruments  of  punishment.     Compare  Lev.  xxvi.  17,  Judges  ii.  14. 

42.  And  their  enemies  oppressed  them,  and  they  were  bowed  down  under 


450  Psalm  106:43 -48 

their  hand.  They  not  only  governed  them,  but  governed  them  tyrannically, 
so  that  they  were  not  only  under  coercion  and  constraint,  but  humbled  and 
degraded  from  the  rank  of  an  independent  state  to  that  of  tributaries  and 
bondsmen.  With  the  terms  of  this  verse  compare  Judges  i.  34,  iii.  30, 
iv.  3,  viii.  28. 

43.  Many  times  he  frees  them,  and  they  resist  (him)  hy  their  counsel,  and 
are  brought  low  by  their  guilt.  Having  given  in  the  preceding  verses  a 
brief  but  lively  summary  of  the  Book  of  Judges,  the  Psalmist  now  passes, 
by  an  almost  insensible  transition,  to  the  later  periods  of  the  history,  and 
indeed  to  its  catastrophe ;  for  the  meaning  of  the  last  clause  seems  to  be, 
that  after  all  their  fluctuations,  they  at  length  sink  or  fall  into  a  ruinous 
condition,  as  the  ultimate  fruit  of  their  rebellions.  The  meaning  of  the  first 
clause  is,  that  by  their  self-willed  plans  and  projects  they  continually  come 
into  collision  with  the  will  of  God,  and  with  that  great  providential  purpose, 
in  promoting  which  it  was  their  duty,  and  would  have  been  their  happiness, 
to  co-operate.    With  the  last  clause  compare  Lev.  xxvi.  39,  Ezek.  xxxii.  10. 

44.  And  he  has  looked  at  their  distress  uhen  he  hard  them  cry.  The 
idiomatic  form  of  the  original  may  thus  be  represented  by  a  bald  translation, 
and  he  saw  in  the  distress  to  them  in  his  hearing  their  cry.  As  this  follows 
the  brief  statement  of  their  downfall,  there  is  much  probability  in  the 
opinion,  that  it  relates  to  the  "  tokens  for  good,"  which  were  granted  to  the 
exiled  Jews  in  Babylon  long  before  their  actual  restoration.  With  the  first 
clause  compare  Exod.  ii.  25,  iv.  31,  Deut.  iv.  30,  Ps.  xviii.  7,  cii.  3. 

45.  And  he  has  remembered  for  them  his  covenant,  and  repented  accord- 
ing to  the  abundance  of  his  mercy.  For  them,  i.  e.  in  their  favour,  for  their 
benefit.  It  does  not  qualify  covenant,  but  remembered.  With  the  first 
clause  compare  Lev.  xxvi.  42,  45,  Ps.  cv.  8,  42  ;  with  the  second.  Num. 
xiv.  19,  Ps.  V.  8  (7),  Ixix.  14  (13),  Neh.  xiii,  22.  The  common  version 
of  the  last  word  (mercies)  rests  upon  the  marginal  or  masoretic  reading ; 
the  more  ancient  text  is  mercy. 

46.  And  has  given  them  favour  before  all  their  captors.  The  literal 
translation  of  the  first  clause  is,  and  has  given,  them  for  mercies  or  compas- 
sions. This  remarkable  expression  is  borrowed  from  1  Kings  viii.  50 
(compare  2  Chron.  xxx.  9),  not  only  here  but  in  the  history  of  Daniel  and  his 
fellow- captives  (Dan.  i.  9),  which  makes  it  not  at  all  improbable,  that  what 
is  there  recorded  is  among  the  indications  of  retux'ning  divine  favour  here 
referred  to  by  the  Psalmist. 

47.  Save  us,  Jehovah,  our  God,  and  gather  us  from  the  nations,  to  give 
thanks  unto  thy  holy  name,  to  glory  in  thy  praise.  Encouraged  by  these 
tokens  of  returning  favour,  the  church  prays  that  the  hopes  thus 
raised  may  not  be  disappointed,  but  abundantly  fulfilled  in  the  restoration 
of  the  exiles  to  their  own  land,  in  return  for  which  she  indirectly  engages 
to  render  praise  and  thanksgiving  to  Jehovah  as  her  liberator.  We  are 
thus  brought  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  psalm,  and  the  voice  of  confes- 
sion is  again  lost  in  that  of  anticipated  praise.  Instead  of  our  God,  the 
parallel  passage  (1  Chron.  xvi.  86)  has  God  of  our  Salvation.  The  word 
translated  glory  occurs  only  in  that  passage  and  the  one  before  us.  It  is 
synonymous,  however,  with  the  one  used  in  Ps.  cv.  3,  and  often  elsewhere, 
both  meaning  properly  to  praise  one's  self.  With  the  second  clause  com- 
pare Ps.  xxx.  5  (4). 

48.  Blessed  (be)  Jehovah,  God  of  Israel,  from  eternity  even  to  eternity. 
And  all  the  people  says  Amen.  Hallelujah !  Some  interpreters  regard  the 
psalm  as  closing  with  the  preceding  verse,  and  the  one  before  us  as  a  doxo- 


Psalm  107:1 -3  451 

logy  added  to  mark  the  conclusion  of  the  Fourth  Book.  But  here,  as  in 
Ps.  Ixxii.  19,  it  is  far  more  probable  that  this  doxology  was  the  occasion  of 
the  psalm's  being  reckoned  as  the  last  of  a  Book,  notwithstanding  its  inti- 
mate connection  with  the  one  that  follows.  This  probability  is  strengthened, 
in  the  case  before  us,  by  the  addition  of  the  words,  and  all  the  people  says 
Amen,  which  would  be  unmeaning, 'unless  the  doxology  formed  part  of  the 
psalm  itself.  The  additional  words  are  borrowed  from  Deut.  xxvii.  15-26. 
The  parallel  passage  (1  Chron.  xvi.  36)  has,  Aiid  all  the  people  said  Amen 
and  give  praise  (or  gave  praise)  to  Jehovah,  which  last  words  are  represented, 
in  the  verse  before  us,  by  the  Hallelujah  {Praise  ye  Jah !) 

Psalm  107 

After  propounding  as  his  theme  the  goodness  of  God  in  delivering  his 
people,  and  especially  in  bringing  them  back  from  their  dispersions,  ver. 
1-3,  the  Psalmist  celebrates  this  great  event,  under  the  various  figures  of 
safe  conduct  through  a  desert  and  arrival  in  a  populous  city,  ver.  4-9  ; 
emancipation  from  imprisonment,  ver.  10-16 ;  recovery  from  deadly  sick- 
ness, ver.  17-22  ;  deliverance  from  the  dangers  of  the  sea,  ver.  23-32 ; 
then  describes,  in  more  direct  terms,  the  fall  of  the  oppressor,  the  restora- 
tion of  Israel,  and  his  happy  prospects,  ver.  33-42 ;  ending,  as  he  began, 
with  an  earnest  exhortation  to  remember  and  commemorate  Jehovah's  good- 
ness, ver.  43.  The  psalm  is  so  constructed  as  to  admit  of  being  readily 
applied,  either  literally  or  figuratively,  to  various  emergencies  :  but  its 
primary  reference  to  the  return  from  exile  seems  to  be  determined  by  ver. 
2,  3.  According  to  Hengstenberg's  hypothesis,  this  psalm  was  added  to 
the  double  trilogy  by  which  it  is  preceded  (Ps.  ci.-cvi.),  immediately  after 
the  return  from  exile,  when  the  holy  city  was  re-peopled,  and  the  first 
harvest  had  been  gathered,  but  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  had  not  yet 
begun.  The  whole  seven  then  compose  one  series  or  system,  intended  to 
be  used  together  in  the  public  worship  of  the  ancient  church. 

1.  Give  thanks  vnto  Jehovah,  for  he  (is)  good,  for  unto  eteimity  (is)  his 
mercy.  The  repetition  of  the  first  words  of  the  foregoing  psalm,  as  the 
beginning  of  the  one  before  us,  strongly  favours  the  opinion,  that  the  latter 
was  designed  to  be  a  kind  of  supplement  or  appendix  to  the  former. 

2.  (So)  say  the  Redeemed  of  Jehovah,  whom  he  has  redeemed  from  the 
hand  «f  distress  (or  of  the  enemy).  What  they  are  to  say  is  not  the  exhorta- 
tion in  the  first  clause,  but  the  reason  for  it  in  the  last  clause,  of  the  fore- 
going verse.  Let  them  acknowledge  his  unceasing  mercy,  who  have  just 
experienced  so  remarkable  a  proof  of  it.  The  ambiguous  word  ("IH)  should 
probably  be  taken  in  the  same  sense  which  it  elsewhere  has  throughout 
this  psalm.  See  below,  ver.  6,  13,  19,  28,  and  compare  Ps.  cvi.  44. 
Indeed,  the  two  senses  may  be  reconciled  by  simply  supposing  the  distress 
to  be  personified.  Compare  the  unambiguous  expression  in  Ps.  cvi.  10. 
The  Redeemed  of  the  Lord  is  a  favourite  expression  of  Isaiah  (xxxv.  9,  10, 
Ixii.  12,  Ixiii.  3). 

8.  And  from  the  lands  has  gathered  them,  from  the  east  and  from  the 
west,  from  the  north  andfrom  the  sea.  The  Babylonish  exile  is  continually 
spoken  of  as  a  dispersion,  either  because  it  is  considered  as  including  other 
minor  deportations,  or  because  the  migration  of  the  great  mass  of  the  peo- 
ple into  Babylonia  was  unavoidably  accompanied,  followed,  or  preceded,  by 
a  less  extensive  and  more  scattering  migration  of  many  individuals  and 


452  Psalm  107:4  -  7 

families  to  other  quarters.  On  the  false  assumption  of  ^  perfect  parallelism 
as  indispensable,  some  have  supposed  that  sea  is  here  put  for  the  south. 
But  this  is  not  the  only  case  in  which  the  enumeration  of  the  cardinal 
points  is  complete  only  in  number.  See  Isa.  xlix.  12,  and  compare  Isa. 
xliii.  5,  6,  Ivi.  8.  The  mention  of  the  sea  instead  of  the  south  may  perhaps 
have  reference  to  the  prophecy  in  Deut.  xxviii.  68.  The  verse  before  us 
records  the  answer  to  the  prayer  in  Ps.  cvi.  47,  and  thus  aflfords  another 
indication,  that  the  writer  of  the  later  composition  had  the  earHer  in  his 
eye,  and  wrote  with  some  intention  to  illustrate  or  complete  it. 

4.  They  wandered  in  the  wilderness,  in  a  desert  way ;  a  city  of  habitation 
found  they  not.  Here  begins  the  first  metaphorical  account  of  the  Captivity 
and  Restoration,  in  which  the  exiles  are  described  as  wanderers  in  a  desert 
way,  i.  e.  as  some  suppose  a  pathless  desert,  which  sense,  however,  can 
scarcely  be  extracted  from  the  Hebrew  words.  Others  understand  the 
phrase  to  mean  a  way,  i.  e.  a  course,  a  region  to  be  traversed,  which  is 
desert ;  but  this  supposes  ivay  to  be  the  subject  and  desert  the  quaUfying 
term,  as  they  would  be  in  English,  but  in  Hebrew  the  precise  sense  is  a 
desert  of  way,  or  a  way-desert,  which  some  intei"preters  explain*  to  mean  a 
desert  in  reference  to  its  ways  or  paths,  thus  arriving,  by  a  different  course, 
at  the  meaning  first  suggested,  namely  that  of  a  pathless  wilderness.  City 
of  habitation  may  mean  a  habitable  or  inhabited  city  in  general,  or  a  city 
for  them  to  inhabit  in  particular.  The  latter  is  more  probable,  because  the 
word  translated  habitation  is  not  an  abstract  but  a  local  noun,  meaning  the 
place  where  men  sit  or  dwell,  according  to  the  primary  and  secondary 
meaning  of  the  verbal  root.  See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  1.  It  may  here  be  either 
governed  by  city,  as  above,  or  in  apposition  with  it,  a  city,  a  dwelling-place, 
i.  e.  a  city  in  which  they  might  dwell.  There  is  obvious  allusion  to  Jeru- 
salem, as  well  as  to  the  great  Arabian  wilderness,  although  the  contrast  of 
the  city  and  the  desert  suggests  the  idea  of  suffering  and  reUef,  by  a  natural 
as  well  as  a  historical  association.    See  Ezek.  xxix.  5,  and  compare  Job  xii.  24. 

5.  Hungry — also  thirsty — their  soul  in  them  shrouds  itself.  This  verse 
continues  the  description  of  the  wanderers  in  the  desert.  To  avoid  the 
ambiguity  of  an  exact  version,  in  which  hungry  and  thirsty  might  seem  to 
agree  with  soul,  the  substantive  verb  may  be  supplied  in  the  first  clause, 
(they  are)  hungry,  also  thirsty.  The  primary  sense  of  the  reflexive  verb  at 
the  end  of  the  sentence  seems  to  be  that  of  covering  one's  self  with  dark- 
ness, or  sinking  overwhelmed  beneath  some  great  calamity.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Ixxvii.  4  (3),  and  compare  the  cognate  forms  in  Ps.  Ixi.  3  (2),  Ixv. 
14  (13),  cii.  1,  Isa.  Ivii.  16. 

6.  And  they  cried  to  Jehovah  in  their  distress  ;  from  their  straits  he  frees 
them.  Both  the  nouns,  according  to  their  etymology,  convey  the  idea  of 
pressure,  compression,  painful  restraint.  In  their  distress,  literally  in  the 
distress  to  them,  that  which  they  had  or  suffered.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cvi.  44, 
and  compare  Deut.  iv.  30.  The  change  from  the  past  tense  to  the  future 
seems  intended  merely  to  describe  the  act  denoted  by  the  second  or  more 
recent. 

7.  And  he  led  them  in  a  straight  course,  to  go  to  a  city  of  habitation.  No 
exact  version  can  preserve  or  imitate  the  paronomasia  arising  from  the 
etymological  affinity  of  the  first  verb  and  noun,  analogous  to  that  between 
the  English  walk  and  to  walk,  though  the  Hebrew  forms  are  only  similar 
and  not  identical.  The  idea  of  physical  rectitude  or  straightness  necessarily 
suggests  that  of  moral  rectitude  or  honesty,  commonly  denoted  by  the 
Hebrew  word. 


Psalm  107:8 -12  453 

8.  Let  (sucli)  give  thanks  to  Jehovah  {for)  his  mercy,  and  his  wonderful 
works  to  the  sons  of  man.  Some  interpreters  make  this  the  close  of  a  long 
sentence,  beginning  with  ver.  4,  and  adopt,  in  all  the  intervening  verses,  a 
relative  construction,  as  if  he  had  said,  let  such  as  wandered  in  the  wilder- 
ness, whose  soul  fainted  in  them,  who  cried  unto  the  Lord,  whom  he  led, 
&c.,  let  such  give  thanks  unto  his  name.  But  although  this  is  certainly 
the  logical  connection  of  the  passage,  its  involution  and  complexity  of  form 
are  as  far  as  possible  removed  from  the  simplicity  of  Hebrew  syntax,  which 
prefers  a  distinct  enunciation  of  particulars  to  all  such  artificial  combina- 
tions.    This  verse  constitutes  the  burden  or  chorus  of  the  psalm. 

9.  For  he  has  satisfied  the  craving  soul,  and  the  hungry  soul  has  filled 
with  good.  This  is  merely  the  conclusion  of  the  first  scene  or  picture,  with 
a  change  of  figure  but  a  very  slight  one,  as  the  want  of  food  is  one  of  the 
most  painful  and  familiar  hardships  of  a  journey  through  a  desert,  and  as 
such  would  necessarily  occur  to  every  Israelite  who  knew  the  story  of  the 
eiTor  in  the  wilderness.  The  first  verb  has  the  same  sense  as  in  Ps.  civ.  13  ; 
the  last  noun  the  same  sense  as  in  Ps.  ciii.  4,  civ.  28.  The  unusual  word 
translated  craving  is  borrowed  from  Isa,  xxix.  8. 

10.  Dwelling  in  darknees  and  death-shade,  hound  in  afiHiction  and  iron. 
Here  begins  the  second  picture,  which  exhibits  the  same  suff"erers,  no  longer 
as  wanderers  in  the  desert,  but  as  closely  confined  prisoners.  The  darkness 
primarily  meant  is  that  of  the  dungeon,  but  not  without  reference  to  the 
frequent  use  of  darkness  in  general  as  an  emblem  of  misery.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Ixviii.  7  (6).  The  idea  of  darkness  is  then  expressed  in  a  still 
stronger  form  by  the  striking  compound  death-shade  or  shadow  of  death,  a 
bold  but  beautiful  description  of  the  most  profound  obscurity.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xxiii.  4.  The  leading  words  of  the  two  clauses  might,  in  one  respect, 
be  more  exactly  rendered,  inhabitants  of  darkness,  prisoners  of  afiliction. 
See  above, on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  61.  There  is  no  mixture  of  Uteral  and  figurative 
terms  in  the  last  clause,  but  only  the  addition  of  a  specific  to  a  general  term. 
The  afiiiction  particularly  meant  is  that  produced  by  iron,  i.e.  chains  or 
fetters.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cv.  1 8,  and  with  the  verse  before  us  compare 
Isa.  xlii.  7,  xhx.  9,  Job  xxxvi.  8,  Luke  xiii.  16. 

11.  Because  they  resisted  the  words  of  the  Mightiest,  and  the  counsel  of  the 
Highest  contemned.  This  verse  introduces  what  was  wanting  in  the  first 
scene,  the  fact  that  these  were  not  innocent  sufferers.  However  cruel  or 
unjust  their  sufl'erings  at  the  hands  of  men,  they  were  but  condign  punish- 
ments as  sent  by  God.  This  is  a  point  of  contact  and  resemblance  with 
the  preceding  psalm,  which  is  not  without  importance.  Resisted,  rebelled 
against,  a  favourite  expression  in  these  psalms.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cv.  28, 
cvi.  7,  83,  43.  Words  or  sayings,  commonly  applied  to  promises,  and  even 
here  combining  that  idea  with  the  sense  of  command,  because  the  command 
which  they  resisted  or  rebelled  against  had  reference  to  the  plan  or  counsel 
of  the  Lord  for  the  deliverance  of  his  people.  The  word  translated  mightiest 
is  (7K)  one  of  the  divine  names,  here  represented  by  an  Enghsh  superlative, 

in  order  to  preserve  the  antithesis  with  Most  High  in  the  other  clause. 

12.  And  he  brought  down,  with  trouble,  their  heart ;  they  stumbled  and 
there  was  no  helper.  The  remedial  design  and  efiect  of  their  punishment 
are  beautifully  set  forth  in  the  first  clause.  The  word  translated  trouble 
means  originally  work  or  labour,  then  the  pain  attending  it  or  flowing  from 
it.  Stumbled  may  here  be  put  ior  fell,  or  have  the  milder  sense  of  tottering 
or  stumbling,  as  distinguished  from  a  total  fall.    No  helper,  or  none  helping. 


454  Psalm  107:13 -20 

except  God,  as  intimated  in  the  next  verse  ;  or  against  God,  wlien  he  chose 
to  punish  them. 

13.  And  they  cried  to  Jehovah  in  their  distress ;  out  of  their  straits  he  saves 
them.  An  exact  repetition  of  ver.  6,  except  that  the  first  verb  is  exchanged 
for  a  cognate  one,  differing  only  in  a  single  letter,  and  the  last  verb  for  a 
synonyme  still  more  familiar.  As  to  the  consecution  of  the  tenses,  see 
above,  on  ver.  6. 

14.  He  brings  them  out  from  darkness  and  deathshade,  and  their  bonds  he 
severs.  The  terms  used  in  describing  the  deliverance  are  studiously  made 
to  correspond  with  the  account  of  the  captivity  in  ver.  10.  It  is  more 
remarkable,  though  possibly  fortuitous,  that  the  words  of  the  second  clause 
are  the  same  which  David  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  revolted  nations,  Ps. 
ii.  3.  The  English  word  severs  is  here  used  instead  of  breaks,  in  order  to 
represent  the  more  uncommon  and  poetical  term  used  in  Hebrew. 

15.  16.  Let  (such)  give  thanks  unto  Jehovah  {for)  his  mercy,  and  his 
wonderful  works  to  the  sons  of  man,  because  he  has  broken  doors  of  brass,  and 
bars  of  iron  has  cut  asunder.  The  burden  in  ver.  15  is  in  all  respects  identical 
with  ver.  8,  but  the  supplementary  verse  differs,  according  to  the  prominent 
figures  in  the  two  scenes  or  pictures.  As  the  idea  of  famine  was  selected, 
in  ver.  9,  from  among  the  hardships  of  the  wilderness,  so  here  the  fasten- 
ings of  the  prison  are  presented  in  precisely  the  same  manner.  In  this 
striking  regularity  of  form,  combined  with  vividness  and  beauty  of  concep- 
tion, there  is  evidence  of  art  and  skill  as  well  as  genius.  The  verb  in  the 
first  clause  of  ver.  16  is  an  intensive  form  of  the  verb  to  break,  and  might 
here  be  rendered  shattered,  shivered,  or  the  like.  The  corresponding  verb 
in  the  last  clause  is  a  similar  intensive  of  the  verb  to  cut.  The  whole  verse 
is  copied  from  Isa.  xlv.  2,  where  we  find  the  promise,  of  which  this  is  the 
fulfilment. 

17.  Fools  by  their  course  of  transgression,  and  by  their  crimes,  afflict  them- 
selves. Here  begins  the  third  scene  or  picture,  at  the  very  opening  of  which 
the  charge  of  folly  is  added  to  the  previous  one  of  guilt.  The  reflexive 
meaning  of  the  verb  is  essential,  and  cannot  be  diluted  into  a  mere  passive 
without  weakening  the  whole  sentence,  the  very  point  of  which  consists  in 
making  them  the  guilty  authors  of  their  own  distresses.  The  word  for 
transgression  is  the  one  that  originally  means  revolt  from  God,  apostasy. 
See  above  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  2  (1).     Course,  literally  way  or  path.     By,  Uterally 

from,  as  when  we  speak  of  an  effect  as  arising  or  proceeding  from  a  cause. 

18.  All  food  their  soul  abhors,  and  they  draw  near  to  the  very  gates  of 
death.  This  verse  abruptly  brings  before  us  the  same  persons  whom  we 
lately  beheld  wandering  in  the  desert,  and  then  chained  in  a  dark  dungeon, 
now  suffering  from  disease,  such  as  not  only  mars  their  pleasures,  but 
threatens  to  abbreviate  their  lives.  Compare  Ps.  cii.  3,  Job  xxxiii.  20. 
The  expression  very  gates,  in  the  translation  of  the  last  clause,  is  intended 
to  convey  the  full  force  of  the  Hebrew  preposition  ("ly)  which  is  stronger 

than  (/M)  to.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ivil.  11  (10).     With  the  last  clause  com- 
pare Ps.  ix.  14,  Ixxxviii.  4  (3),  Job  xxxiii,  22,  Isa.  xxxviii.  9. 

19.  And  they  cry  to  Jehovah  in  their  distress  ;  out  of  their  straits  he  saves 
them.     See  above  on  ver,  6,  13,  with  the  last  of  which  this  agrees  exactly. 

20.  Be  sends  his  word  and  heals  them,  and  makes  them  escape  from  their 
destructions,  i.  e.  those  which  threatened  them,  and  fi-om  which  escape 
appeared  impossible.  He  sends  his  word,  he  issues  his  command,  exerts 
his  sovereign  power  and  authority.     The  last  word  in  the  Hebrew  occurs 


Psalm  107:21  -  25  455 

only  here  and  once  in  Lamentations  (iv.  20).  The  modem  interpreters 
have  pits  or  graves  ;  but  such  a  derivation  from  the  verbal  root  is  without 
example  or  analogy.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvi.  10.  With  the  first  clause 
compare  Ps.  xxx.  3  (2),  xxxiii.  9,  Isa.  Ivii.  18;  with  the  last  Ps.  ciii.  4. 

21,  22.  Let  (such)  give  thanks  unto  Jehovah,  (for)  his  mercy  and  his  won- 
derful works  to  tke  sons  of  man;  and  let  them  sacrifice  sacrifices  of  thanks- 
giving, and  recount  his  deeds  with  {joyful)  singing.  The  freedom  from 
technical  and  artificial  rules  of  rhetoric  or  versification,  even  in  those  parts 
of  the  composition  which  exhibit  most  of  art  and  skill,  is  peculiarly  observ- 
able in  this  verse,  where,  instead  of  adding  to  the  uniform  chorus  or  refrain 
some  particular  image  from  the  scene  just  closing,  as  in  ver.  9,  16,  the 
Psalmist  continues  and  completes  the  sentence  by  repeating  the  exhortation 
to  give  thanks,  in  another  but  still  figurative  form,  derived  from  the  musical 
and  sacrificial  customs  of  the  temple  worship.  They  must  not  only  utter 
thanks  but  offier  them  in  sacrifice.  They  must  not  only  offer  them  in  sacri- 
fice, but  sing  them.     With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  1.  14. 

23.  Going  down  the  sea  in  ships,  doing  business  in  the  many  waters.  Here 
again  the  scene  is  shifted,  and  the  exiles  pass  before  us,  not  as  wanderers 
in  the  desert,  or  as  captives  in  the  dungeon,  or  as  sufiering  from  sickness, 
but  as  mariners  engaged  in  an  adventurous  voyage.  Descending,  going 
down,  seems  to  be  an  idiomatic  phrase,  borrowed  from  Isa.  xlii.  10,  and 
equivalent  to  going  out  to  sea  in  English.  The  expression  may  have  refer- 
ence to  the  general  elevation  of  the  land  above  the  water  (see  above,  on  Ps. 
jcxiv.  2),  but  is  directly  opposite  to  our  phrase,  the  high  seas,  and  to  the 
classical  usage  of  ascending  ships,  i.  e.  embarking,  and  descending,  i.  e.  land- 
ing. Doing  business  has  its  ordinary  sense,  as  applied  to  trade  or  traffic. 
The  last  words  may  also  be  translated  great  or  mighty  waters ;  but  the 
usage  of  the  Psalms  is  in  favour  of  the  version  many  waters,  which,  more- 
over, forms  a  beautiful  poetical  equivalent  to  sea  or  ocean.  This  image 
could  not  fail  to  suggest,  however,  indirectly,  the  idea  of  the  world  with  its 
commotions,  of  which  the  constant  emblem  is  the  sea.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xlvi.  4  (3),  Ixv.  8  (7),  Ixxxix.  10  (9),  xciii.  3,  4,  and  compare  Mat.  viii.  23- 
26,  Mark  iv.  36-41,  Luke  viii.  22-25. 

24.  They  saw  the  works  of  Jehovah,  and  his  wonders  in  the  deep.  The 
pronoun  at  the  beginning  is  emphatic,  (it  is)  they  (that)  see  (or  saw)  the 
works  of  the  Lord,  as  if  others  could  lay  claim  to  no  such  privilege  or 
honour.  Both  the  senses  of  the  phrase  God's  works  are  appropriate  in  this 
connection,  his  works  of  creation  and  his  works  of  providence.  The  last  word 
is  another  poetical  equivalent  to  sea  or  ocean.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixix.  3  (2). 

25.  And  he  said — and  there  arose  a  stormy  wind,  and  it  lifted  up  his 
waves.  He  now  parenthetically  specifies  some  of  the  divine  works  which 
he  had  just  mentioned  ia  the  general.  The  form  of  expression  at  the  be- 
ginning, as  in  all  like  cases,  involves  an  allusion  to  the  history  of  the 
creation,  where  each  creative  act  is  preceded  by  God's  saying,  let  it  be.  So 
here  the  full  sense  is,  and  God  said  (let  a  stormy  wind  arise)  and  a  stormy 
wind  arose.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiii.  9.  Arose,  literally  stood,  stood  up, 
as  in  Ps.  cvi.  30.  A  stormy  wind,  literally  a  wind  of  storm  or  tempest. 
Instead  of  his  waves  we  may  read  its  waves,  and  refer  the  pronoun  to  the 
remoter  antecedent  {sea)  in  ver.  23.  Deep,  in  ver.  24,  is  of  a  difierent 
gender.  It  is  equally  correct,  however,  and  more  natural,  to  refer  it  to 
Jehovah,  as  the  maker  of  the  sea  and  the  ruler  of  its  waves.  Compare  the 
expression  thy  waves  and  thy  billows  in  Ps.  xlii.  8.  See  also  Isa.  li.  15, 
Jer.  xxxi.  85. 


456  Psalm  108:26 -32 

26.  They  rise  (to)  the  heavens;  they  sink  (to)  the  depths;  their  soul  with 
evil  dissolves  itself.  That  the  verbs  in  the  first  clause  relate  not  to  the  waves 
but  to  the  mariners,  is  evident  from  the  last  clause.  The  words  rise  and 
sink  are  used  instead  of  ascend,  descend,  or  go  up,  go  down,  because  the 
Hebrew  verbs  have  no  etjmiological  affinity,  nor  even  a  single  letter  common 
to  their  roots.  The  ellipsis  of  the  preposition  to  is  frequent,  or  rather  verbs 
of  motion  in  Hebrew  may  be  construed  directly  with  a  noun,  where  our 
idiom  requires  the  intervention  of  a  particle.  Evil  in  the  last  clause  may 
denote  their  evil  state  or  painful  situation,  with  all  the  circumstances  com- 
prehended in  it ;  or,  more  specifically,  their  distress  and  painful  feelings. 
Compare  Gen.  xli.  29.  The  reflexive  form  of  the  last  verb  is  not  essential 
to  the  meaning  of  the  sentence,  as  in  ver.  17,  and  may  therefore  be  ex- 
plained as  an  intensive  or  emphatic  passage,  it  is  melted.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xxii.  15  (14).     With  the  whole  verse  compare  Ps.  civ.  8. 

27.  They  reel  and  stagger  like  a  drunken  (man),  and  all  their  wisdom  is 
confounded.  By  wisdom  we  are  here  to  understand  reason,  common  sense, 
that  which  makes  men  rational  and  raises  them  above  the  brutes.  This  is 
plain  from  the  comparison  with  drunkenness,  the  only  point  of  which  must 
be  the  loss  of  reason.  The  reeling  and  staggering  may  relate  to  the  irre- 
gular and  violent  motion  of  a  vessel  in  a  storm,  or,  as  the  last  clause  does, 
to  the  mariners  themselves.  The  last  verb  literally  means  is  swalloxoed  up, 
or  retaining  the  reflexive  form,  still  more  strongly,  swallows  itself  up.  But 
see  above,  on  the  last  word  of  ver.  26. 

28.  And  they  cried  to  Jehovah  in  their  distress,  and  out  of  their  straits 
he  brings  them  forth.  The  consecution  of  the  tenses  corresponds  to  the 
relation  of  the  acts  which  they  denote,  as  ^'iewed  by  a  spectator.  "  Now 
they  have  cried  to  the  Lord,  and  now  he  is  bringing  them  forth."  The  verse 
differs  from  ver.  13,  19,  in  the  first  verb,  which  agrees  with  ver.  6,  and  in 
the  last  verb,  which  is  unlike  both. 

29.  He  stills  the  storm  to  a  calm,  and  silent  are  their  waves.  This  is  an 
amplification  of  the  last  phrase  in  ver.  28,  and  shews  how  it  is  that  he 
brings  them  forth.  The  first  verb  strictly  means  he  makes  it  stand,  but  in 
a  sense  directly  opposite  to  that  of  a  synonymous  though  difierent  verb  in 
ver.  25.  Calm,  literally  silence,  stillness.  Their  waves,  the  waves  from 
which  they  suffer,  by  which  they  are  buffeted.  Compare  his  waves,  in 
ver,  25. 

30.  And  they  are  glad  that  they  are  quiet,  and  he  guides  them  to  their 
desired  haven.  The  connection  might  be  rendered  clearer  by  translating 
with  the  English  Bible,  then  are  th^y  glad,  &c.  The  last  word  in  the  verse 
occurs  only  here,  and  is  by  some  translated  shore,  by  others  goal :  but  it  is 
safer  to  retain  the  old  interpretation,  which  affords  a  perfectly  good  sense, 
and  rests  upon  the  joint  authority  of  the  Rabbinical  tradition  and  the  Sep- 
tuagint  version. 

31.  32.  Let  (such)  give  thanks  to  Jehovah  [for)  his  mercy,  and  his  won- 
derful works  to  the  sons  of  man  ;  and  let  them  exalt  him  in  the  congregation 
of  the  people,  and  in  the  session  of  the  elders  praise  him.  Here  again  we 
have  a  striking  instance  of  variety  combined  with  uniformity.  The  burden 
or  chorus,  as  in  ver.  22,  is  followed  by  a  solemn  exhortation  to  connect  the 
required  thanksgiving  with  the  forms  of  pubUc  worship.  But  instead  of 
the  temple  with  its  sacrifices  and  its  chants,  the  reference  in  this  case,  it 
should  seem,  is  to  the  spiritual  worship  of  the  synagogue.  The  word 
translated  congregation  is  one  constantly  applied  to  Israel,  as  actually 
gathered  at  the  place  of  worship.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  23  (22).     The 


Psalm  107:33 -38  457 

word  session  is  employed  in  the  translation  of  the  last  clause,  not  for  the 
sake  of  a  verbal  coincidence  with  Presbyterian  institutions,  a  coincidence, 
however,  which  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  because  it  adequately  represents  the 
Hebrew  (2I£^iQ)  in  its  double  acceptation,  as  denoting  both  the  act  and  the 

place  cf  sitting,  and  especially  of  sitting  together.  See  above,  on  ver.  4. 
The  elders,  here  as  elsewhere,  are  the  heads  of  tribes  and  families,  the 
hereditary  chiefs  and  representatives  of  Israel. 

33.  He  turns  streams  into  a  v/ildernesSy  and  springs  of  water  to  a  thirsty 
place.  As  the  shifting  of  the  scene  is  not  renewed  in  the  remainder  of  the 
psalm,  which,  on  the  other  hand,  if  viewed  as  a  distinct  and  independent 
portion  of  the  poem,  mars  its  symmetry  of  structure,  it  seems  best  to  regard 
these  verses  as  an  episode  belonging  to  the  last  scene  and  containing  the 
praises  of  the  people  and  their  elders.  The  figures  in  this  verse  are  often 
used,  particularly  by  Isaiah,  to  denote  an  entire  revolution,  whether  physical 
or  moral,  social  or  political.  Compare  Isa.  xliv.  26,  27,  1.  2,  Jer.  1.  88, 
li.  36.  It  thus  prepares  the  way  for  the  subsequent  rejoicings  in  the  down- 
fall of  Babylon  and  the  restoration  of  the  exiled  Jews. 

34.  A  fruitful  land  to  saltness,for  the  vdckedness  of  those  dwelling  in  it. 
The  sentence  is  continued  fi-om  the  foregoing  verse,  the  nouns  being 
governed  by  the  verb  he  turns.  The  first  phrase  literally  means  a  land  of  fruit. 
The  next  noun  may  be  taken  either  in  the  abstract  sense  of  saltness  or  the 
concrete  one  of  a  saline  soil  or  region,  and  by  implication  barren.  For, 
literally/rom,  as  in  ver.  17  above.  Compare  the  threatening  in  Isa.  xiii.  19, 
and  the  great  historical  type  of  all  such  judgments,  the  destruction  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah. 

35.  He  turns  a  desert  to  a  pool  of  water,  and  a  dry  land  into  springs  of 
water.  This  is  the  reverse  of  the  description  in  ver.  33,  to  which  the  terms 
are  studiously  conformed.  In  both  cases  the  first  verb  literally  means  he 
sets  or  puts,  and  the  noun  translated  springs  means  issues  or  places  where 
the  waters  issue.     Compare  Isa.  xxxv.  7,  xli.  18,  xliii.  20. 

36.  And  has  settled  there  famished  (men),  and  they  have  established  a  city 
to  dwell  in.  There  is  no  need  of  assuming,  that  the  desert  thus  transformed 
is  Palestine  or  Canaan.  It  is  better  to  adhere  to  the  general  import  of  the 
figures,  which  is  change  for  the  better.  Settled,  Hterally  caused  to  dwell. 
The  primary  meaning  of  the  last  clause  is  that  those  once  homeless  have  a 
home  ;  but  there  is  of  course  a  reference  to  the  repossession  and  rebuilding 
of  Jerusalem.  The  last  phrase  in  Hebrew  is  the  same  with  that  translated 
city  of  habitation  in  ver.  4. 

37.  And  have  sowed  fields,  and  planted  vineyards,  and  made  fruits  of 
increase.  The  form  of  all  these  verbs  requires  them  to  be  understood,  like 
those  of  ver.  36,  as  referring  to  time  actually  past,  from  which  some  have 
inferred  that  the  date  of  the  psalm  itself  lay  between  the  first  ingathering  of 
the  fruits  by  the  returned  Jews  and  the  founding  of  the  temple,  to  which 
there  is  here  no  allusion.  The  w^ord  translated  increase  is  applied  elsewhere 
to  the  annual  productions  of  the  earth.  See  Lev.  xxv.  16.  To  make  these 
is  to  gain  or  acquire  them  by  cultivation,  as  we  speak  of  making  money,  but 
of  raising  com.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ix.  14  (12). 

88.  And  he  has  blessed  them,  and  they  have  increased  greatly,  and  (even) 
their  cattle  he  does  not  diminish.  Increased,  not  in  numbers  merely,  but  in 
wealth,  strength  and  prosperity.  See  Deut.  xxx.  16.  The  verb  to  diminish 
is  borrowed  from  Lev.  xxvi.  22.  The  negation  may  be  understood  as  a 
meiosis,  meaning  to  increase  or  multiply.     The  whole  of  this  description 


458  Psalm  108:1,2 

agrees  well  with  the  encouraging  appearances,  by  which  the  Restoration 
was  attended  and  immediately  followed,  before  the  colony  experienced 
reverses  or  had  lost  the  fresh  impression  of  their  recent  suflferings  and  priva- 
tions, which  are  mentioned  in  the  next  verse* 

39.  And  they  were  diminished  and  brought  low,  from  oppression,  suffering, 
and  grief.  The  only  grammatical  construction  of  the  verbs  is  that  which 
refers  them  to  a  former  time,  *'.  e.  to  the  condition  of  the  people  under 
Babylonian  oppression.  The  sense  is  therefore  quite  mistaken  in  the 
English,  though  correctly  given  in  the  ancient  versions.  The  contrast  is 
intended  to  enhance  the  joy  and  thankfulness  of  the  restored  exiles.  These, 
now  so  prosperous,  are  the  very  men  who  lately  were  in  abject  misery. 

40.  Pouring  contempt  on  princes — and  he  has  made  them  wander  in  a 
waste  (where  there  is)  no  way.  From  the  exiles  he  reverts  to  their  Deliverer, 
and  describes  him  as  spuming  the  most  lordly  of  their  persecutors — nay, 
as  making  them  take  the  place  of  those  whom  they  oppressed,  which  idea 
is  conveyed  by  the  figure  before  used  of  wanderers  in  a  pathless  desert. 
See  above,  on  ver.  4,  and  compare  Job  xii.  21,  24.  The  word  for  waste  or 
void  is  one  of  those  used  in  Gen.  i.  2,  to  describe  the  original  condition  of 
the  earth. 

41.  And  has  raised  the  poor  from  affliction,  and  made  like  a  flocJc  families. 
The  first  verb  suggests  the  twofold  idea  of  elevation  from  a  wretched  state, 
and  security  from  future  danger.  For  its  ordinary  sense,  see  above,  on 
Ps.  XX.  2  (i),  xci.  14.  The  last  clause  simply  means,  he  has  increased 
the  people  who  were  so  reduced  in  strength  and  numbers, 

42.  The  righteous  shall  see  and  rejoice,  and  all  iniquity  stop  her  mouth. 
The  righteous  are  the  true  Israel,  as  in  Ps,  xxxiii,  1,  Num.  xxiii,  10,  Dan. 
xi.  17,     With  the  last  clause  compare  Job  v,  16,  Isa.  lii.  15. 

43.  Who  {is)  wise  and  will  observe  these  things,  and  attentively  consider 
the  mercies  of  Jehovah  ?  The  change  of  number  in  the  Hebrew  does  not 
aflfect  the  meaning.  Whoever  is  wise  will  observe  these  things,  and  all  who 
are  wise  will  consider  them.  With  this  conclusion  compare  Hosea  xiv.  10, 
Isa.  xlii.  23,  Jer.  ix.  11. 

Psalm  108 

1,  A  Song.  A  Psalm.  By  David.  This  is  not  an  original  or  inde- 
pendent composition,  but  a  compilation  from  two  other  psalms,  which  have 
afready  been  explained.  The  introduction,  ver.  2-6  (1-5),  is  substantially 
identical  with  Ps.  Ivii.  8-12  (7-11) ;  the  body  of  the  psalm,  ver.  7-13 
(6-12),  with  Ps.  Ix.  7-14  (5-12),  The  supposition  of  erroneous  copies, 
or  of  later  corruptions,  is  still  more  improbable  in  this  case  than  in  those 
of  Ps,  xviii,,  liii.,  Ixx.  The  best  solution  which  has  been  proposed  is,  that 
David  himself  combined  these  passages  to  be  the  basis  of  a  trilogy  (Ps. 
eviii.-cx.),  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  church  at  a  period  posterior  to  the 
date  of  Ps,  Ivii,  and  Ix.  The  comments  here  will  be  confined  to  the  varia- 
tions, as  in  Ps,  liii.  and  Ixx. 

2  (1).  Fixed  is  my  heart,  0  Ood,  fixed  is  my  heart;  I  will  sing  and  play 
— also  my  glory.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ivii.  8  (7).  The  words  here  added, 
also  my  glory,  correspond  to  the  first  clause  of  the  next  verse  in  that  psahn, 
awake  my  glory ! 

3  (2).  Awake  lute  and  harp !  I  will  awaken  the  dawn  (or  morning).  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ivii.  9  (8).     The  only  variation  is  the  one  already  mentioned, 


Psalm  108:3 -J3  459 

the  omission  here  of  the  words  awake  my  gloi~y,  for  which  the  last  clause  of 
ver,  2  (1)  is  a  substitute. 

4  (3).  /  xicill  thank  thee  among  the  nations,  0  Jehovah,  I  u-ill  praise  thee 
among  the  peoples.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ivii.  10  (9).  The  only  variation  is 
the  substitution  of  the  name  Jehovah  for  Adhonai,  a  change  scarcely  per- 
ceptible in  the  English  versions. 

5  (4).  FW  great /win  above  the  heavens  (is)  thy  mercy,  and  unto  the  clouds 
thy  truth.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ivii.  11  (10).  The  only  variation  is  the 
change  of  (Tfy)  tmto  into  O'^D).  from  above,  apparently  intended  to  suggest 

the  idea  of  God's  mercy  as  descending  upon  man. 

6  (5).  Be  thou  high  above  the  heavens,  0  God,  and  above  all  the  earth  thy 
glory.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ivii.  12  (11).  The  only  variation  is  the  intro- 
duction of  the  copulative  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  clause. 

7  (6).  In  order  that  thy  beloved  (ones)  may  be  delivered,  save  with  thy  right 
hand,  and  hear  (or  ansucr)  us.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ix,  7  (5),  with  which 
this  verse  agrees  in  all  points,  not  excepting  the  keri  or  various  reading  in 
the  last  word  {me  for  us). 

8  (7).  God  hath  spoken  in  his  holiness  (and  therefore)  I  uill  triumph,  I 
will  divide  Shechem.,  and  the  valley  of  Succoth  I  will  measure.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Ix.  8  (6),  with  which  this  verse  agrees  exactly. 

9  (8).  To  me  (belongs)  Gilead,  to  me  31anasseh,  and  Ephraim  the 
strength  of  my  head,  Judah  my  lawgiver.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ix.  9  (7). 
The  only  variation  is  the  omission,  in  the  verse  before  us,  of  the  and  after 
Gilead. 

10  (9).  Moab  (is)  my  wash-pot ;  at  Edom  will  I  throw  my  shoe  ;  over 
Philistia  will  I  shout  aloud.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ix.  10  (8).  At  the  end 
of  this  verse  is  the  most  material  variation  in  the  whole  psalm,  which, 
however,  is  evidently  not  fortuitous  or  by  a  later  hand,  but  intentional  and 
made  by  the  original  writer.  I  will  shout  aloud,  as  an  expression  of  triumph 
over  a  conquered  enemy. 

11  (10).  Who  will  bring  me  (to)  the  fortified  city  !  Who  leads  (or  has 
led)  me  up  to  Edom  f  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ix.  11  (9),  The  only  variation 
is  the  change  of  one  synonymous  word  for  another,  to  express  the  idea  of 
a  fortified  city. 

12  (11).  (Is  it)  not  God  who  has  cast  us  off,  and  uilt  not  go  forth  with 
our  hosts  f  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ix.  12  (10).  The  only  variation  consists  in 
the  omission  of  the  emphatic  pronoun  thou,  which  is  expressed  in  the  paral- 
lel passage,  and  only  imphed  in  the  one  before  us.  Some  interpreters  sup- 
pose a  sudden  change  of  construction  from  the  third  to  the  second  person. 
Is  it  not  God — (even  thou  who)  didst  cast  us  off,  &c. 

13  (12).  Give  tw  help  from  the  enemy  (or  from  distress) ;  and  (the  rather 
because)  vain  is  the  salvation  of  man,  meaning  that  which  he  afi"ords.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ix.  13  (11),  which  agrees  with  this  exactly. 

14  (13).  In  God  we  will  make  (i.e.  gain  or  gather)  strength,  and  he  will 
tread  down  (or  trample  on)  our  adversaries  (persecutors  or  oppressors). 
See  above,  on  Ps.  Ix.  14  (12),  between  which  and  the  verse  before  us  there 
is  not  the  slightest  difference. 

Psalm  109 

This  psalm  consists  of  three  parts  ;  a  complaint  of  slanderous  and  malig- 
nant enemies,  ver.  1-5  ;  a  prayer  for  the  punishment  of  such,  ver.  6-20  ; 


460  Psalm  109:1  -  6 

and  a  prayer  for  the  suflferer's  own  deliverance,  with  a  promise  of  thanks- 
giving, vcr.  21-31.  According  to  the  theory  repeatedly  referred  to,  this  is 
the  second  psa'm  of  a  Davidic  trilogy.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cviii.  This 
psalm  is  remarkable  on  two  accounts :  first,  as  containing  the  most  striking 
instances  of  what  are  called  the  imprecations  of  the  psalms ;  and  then,  as 
having  been  applied  in  the  most  explicit  manner  to  the  sufferings  of  our 
Saviour  from  the  treachery  of  Judas,  and  to  the  miserable  fate  of  the  latter. 
These  two  peculiarities  are  perhaps  more  closely  connected  than  they  may 
at  first  sight  seem.  Perhaps  the  best  solution  of  the  first  is  that  afforded 
by  the  second,  or  at  least  by  the  hypothesis,  that  the  Psalmist,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Spirit,  viewed  the  sufferings  of  Israel,  which  furnished  the 
occasion  of  the  psalm,  as  a  historical  type  of  the  Messiah's  sufferings  firom 
the  treachery  of  Judas,  representing  that  of  Judah,  and  that  with  this  view 
he  expresses  his  abhorrence  of  the  crime,  and  acquiesces  in  the  justice  of 
its  punishment,  in  stronger  terms  than  would  have  been,  or  are  elsewhere, 
employed  in  reference  to  ordinary  criminals. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  By  David.  A  Psalm.  God  of  my 'praise^ 
he  not  silent.  The  first  inscription  was  particularly  necessary  here,  because 
the  psalm  might  otherwise  have  seemed  to  be  a  mere  expression  of  strong 
personal  feeling.  See  above,  on  Ps.  li.  1.  God  of  my  praise,  i.  e.  the 
object  of  it,  whom  I  delight,  or  am  accustomed,  or  have  caus6,  to  praise. 
Be  not. silent  means  not  merely  do  not  refuse  to  cnsicer,  but  amidst  the 
threats  and  railings  of  my  enemies,  let  thy  voice  be  heard  also.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xxviii.  1,  xxxv.  22,  xxxix.  13  (12). 

2.  For  a  wicked  mouth  and  a  mouth  of  deceit  they  have  opened ;  they 
have  spoken  against  me  with  a  tongue  of  falsehood.  Compare  Ps.  xxxv.  11, 
Iv.  4  (3).  The  subject  of  the  first  verb  is  his  enemies,  and  not  the  nouns 
preceding,  as  the  verb  translated  open  is  elsewhere  always  active.  Against 
me,  literally  uith  me,  implying  that  they  charged  him  falsely  to  his  face,  a 
circumstance  remarkably  fulfilled  in  Christ.     See  Mat.  xxvi.  59. 

3.  And  with  words  of  hatred  they  have  compassed  me,  and  have  fought 
against  me  without  cause.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  20,  xxxvi.  4  (3.) 

4.  In  return  for  my  love  they  are  my  adversaries — and  I  (am)  prayer. 
The  fii-st  word  in  Hebrew  strictly  means  instead  or  in  lieu  of.  The  unusual 
expression  at  the  end  can  only  mean,  I  am  all  prayer,  I  do  nothing  but 
pray,  which  some  understand  to  signify,  I  bear  their  persecution  meekly 
and  continue  my  devotions  undisturbed  by  their  calumnies  and  insults. 
But  as  the  whole  context  is  descriptive,  not  of  the  sufferer's  behaviour  but 
of  his  enemies',  a  more  probable  sense  is,  I  am  forced  to  be  continually 
praying  for  protection  against  them  and  deliverance  from  them. 

5.  T/iey  lay  upon  me  evil  instead  of  good,  and  hatred  instead  of  love. 
The  first  verb  literally  means  they  set  or  place.  Instead  of  the  good  and 
the  love  which  they  owed  me,  or  in  return  for  my  kindness  and  love  to 
them,  as  in  ver.  4. 

6.  Appoint  thou  over  him  a  wicked  one,  and  let  an  adversary  stand  upon 
his  right  hand.  The  first  verb  in  Hebrew  means  to  place  one  in  authority 
or  charge  over  another.  See  Gen.  xxxix.  5,  xli.34.  Num.  i.  50,  and  com- 
pare Lev.  xxvi.  16,  Jer.  xv.  3.  Wicked  one  and  adversary  (Satan),  although 
here  used  as  appellatives  or  common  nouns,  are  the  very  terms  applied,  in 
the  later  scripture  to  the  Evil  Spirit,  or  the  Devil.  See  Job  i.  6,  ii.  1, 
1  Chron.  xxi.  1,  Zech.  iii.  1,  2.  In  the  place  last  cited  he  stands  too  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  siimer  to  accuse  him.  The  change  of  number  in  the 
verse  before  us  might,  in  conformity  with  usage,  be  explained  as  a  mere 


Psalm  109:7 -14  461 

difference  of  form,  the  ideal  person  denoted  by  the  singular  being  really  the 
type  and  representative  of  the  whole  class  denoted  by  the  plural.  But  the 
constancy  with  which  the  change,  in  this  case,  is  adhered  to,  rather  favours 
the  conclusion,  that  a  real  individual  is  meant,  to  whom  the  Psalmist  turns 
from  the  promiscuous  crowd  of  his  oppressors.  For  a  similar  transition, 
see  above,  on  Ps.  Iv.  13  (12). 

7.  When  he  is  tried  he  shall  go  forth  guilty^  and  his  prayer  shall  Je  Jbr 
sin.  The  future  meaning  of  the  second  verb  is  determined  by  the  form  of 
the  third,  which  is  not  apocopated,  as  in  ver.  12,  13.  When  he  is  tried, 
literally,  in  his  being  tried.  The  next  phrase  simply  means  that  he  shall 
be  condemned  ;  the  last  clause,  that  his  very  prayer  for  mercy  shall  be 
reckoned  as  a  new  offence,  a  strong  description  of  extreme  judicial  rigour 
and  inexorable  justice. 

8.  Let  his  days  be  few — his  office  let  another  take.  The  word  translated 
office  is  a  collateral  derivative  of  the  verb  at  the  beginning  of  ver.  6,  and 
means  commission,  charge.  This  expression  makes  it  still  more  probable 
that  a  real  individual  is  referred  to,  as  the  possession  of  a  charge  or  office 
could  not  be  common  to  the  whole  class  of  malignant  enemies.  The  Sep- 
tuagint  version  is  ivtaxoirriv,  oversight  or  supervision,  corresponding  exactly 
to  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  verb  in  ver.  6.  This  translation  is  retained 
in  Acts  i.  20,  where  the  verse  before  us  is  expressly  quoted  by  Peter  as 
"  written  in  the  book  of  Psalms,"  and  applied  to  the  case  of  Judas 
Iscariot. 

9.  Let  his  sons  be  orphans  and  his  wife  a  widow.  He  here  passes  from 
the  person  of  the  criminal  to  the  sufferings  of  those  dependent  on  him, 
See  Exod.  xx.  5. 

10.  And  wander — wander — let  his  sons  and  beg,  and  seek  (their  food)/rom 
(among)  their  ruins.  The  emphatic  repetition  of  the  first  verb  is  expressed 
in  the  English  Bible,  by  a  paraphrase,  let  his  children  be  continually  vaga- 
bonds. The  last  clause  is  extremely  graphic,  representing  them  as  creep- 
ing forth  in  search  of  food  from  amidst  the  ruins  of  their  habitations. 

11.  Let  a  creditor  entrap  all  he  has,  amd  strangers  plunder  (the  fruit  of) 
his  labour.  The  first  noun  originally  means  a  lender,  but  in  usage  has  the 
accessory  sense  of  a  hard  creditor,  an  extortioner.  The  verb  means  to 
lay  a  snare  for,  as  in  Ps.  xxxviii.  19  (12.)  Strangers,  not  his  natural  heirs, 
not  members  of  his  family.     See  Deut.  xxv.  5. 

12.  Let  there  he  no  one  to  him  extending  mercy,  and  let  there  be  no  one 
shewing  favour  to  his  orphans.  The  verb  translated  extend  literally  means 
draw  out,  prolong,  and  is  applied  to  the  continued  indulgence  both  of 
hostile  and  amicable  feelings.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxviii.  3,  xxxvi.  11  (10), 
Ixxxv.  6  (5).     Shewing  favour,  exercising  mercy,  as  in  Ps  xxxvii.  21. 

13.  Let  his  posterity  be  cut  off;  in  the  next  generation,  blotted  out  be  their 
name.  The  word  for  posterity  strictly  means  futurity,  after  part,  or  latter 
end.  See  above,  Ps.  xxxvii.  37^  38.  Cut  off,  literally  for  cutting  off. 
The  next  or  .after  generation,  as  in  Ps.  xlviii.  14  (13).  The  plural  pronoun 
their  refers  to  the  collective  noun  posterity. 

14.  Let  the  guilt  of  his  fathers  be  remembered  by  Jehovah,  and  his  mother's 
sin  not  blotted  out.  This  is  perhaps  the  most  fearful  imprecation  in  the 
psalm,  as  it  extends  the  consequences  of  transgression,  not  merely  to  the 
children,  who  might  naturally  be  expected  to  partake  of  them,  but  to  the 
parents.  It  is  not  to  be  forgotten,  however,  that  in  all  such  cases,  the 
personal  guilt  of  the  implicated  parties  is  presupposed,  and  not  inferred 
from  their  connection  with  the  principals.     Remembered  by  (literally  to) 


462  Psalm  109:15 -21 

Jehovah,  which  may  possibly  mean  brought  to  his  remembrance,  recalled 
to  mind  by  another,  perhaps  by  the  accuser  before  mentioned. 

15.  Let  them  he  before  Jehovah  always,  and  let  him  cut  off  from  the  earth 
their  memory.  The  subject  of  the  first  clause  is  the  gvilt  and  sin  men- 
tioned in  the  verse  preceding.  Be/ore  Jehovah,  in  his  sight,  an  object  of 
attention  to  him.  See  above,  Ps.  xc.  8.  With  the  last  clause  compare 
Ps.  ix.  7,  (6),  xxxiv.  17  (16). 

16.  Because  that  he  did  not  remember  to  do  mercy,  and  persecuted  an 
affiicted  and  poor  man,  and  one  smitten  in  heart,  to  kill  (him).  There  is  an 
antithesis  between  the  remember  of  this  verse  and  the  remembered  of  ver. 
14.  Though  he  did  not  remember  mercy,  G-od  remembers  guilt.  The 
last  phrase,  to  kill,  denotes  both  the  design  and  the  extent  of  the  malignant 
persecution  which  was  deadly  or  to  death.  The  object  of  the  persecution 
is  the  psalmist  himself,  or  the  ideal  person  whom  he  represents.  See 
ver.  22. 

17.  And  he  loved  a  curse,  and  it  has  come  [ujwn)  him  ;  and  he  delighted 
not  in  blessing,  and  it  has  removed  far  from  him.  This  verse  contemplates 
the  event  as  actually  past.  The  optative  meaning,  given  to  the  verbs  in 
the  English  Bible,  is  as  inconsistent  with  the  form  of  the  original  as  the 
future  meaning  given  in  the  Prayer  Book  and  the  ancient  versions. 

18.  And  he  has  put  on  cursing  as  his  garment,  and  it  has  come  like  water 
into  his  inside,  and  like  oil  into  his  bones.  There  is  an  obvious  cUmax  in 
this  verse.  That  which  is  first  described  as  the  man's  exterior  covering,  is 
then  said  to  be  within  him,  first  as  water,  then  as  oil  or  fat,  first  in  the 
vessels  of  his  body,  then  in  his  very  bones.  The  general  idea  is  that  the 
curse,  which  he  denounced  and  endeavoured  to  inflict  on  others,  has  taken 
possession  of  himself,  both  within  and  without.  Compare  Num.  v.  22, 
24,  27.  The  first  clause  admits  of  a  different  construction,  which  would 
make  it  descriptive  of  the  crime  and  not  the  pvmishment.  He  put  on  curs- 
ing as  his  garment,  and  (now)  it  has  come,  &c.  This  construction  intro- 
duces an  antithesis,  and  thereby  adds  to  the  point  of  the  sentence,  and.  is 
also  recommended  by  the  analogy  of  ver.  17. 

19.  Let  it  be  to  him  as  a  garment  (that)  he  wears,  and  for  a  belt  let  him 
always  gird  it.  This  is  not  a  mere  reiteration  of  the  figure  in  the  first 
clause  of  ver.  18,  but  conveys  the  additional  idea  of  a  habitual  and  constant 
presence.  The  word  belt  is  used  in  the  translation  of  the  last  clause,  be- 
cause the  Hebrew  word  to  which  it  corresponds  is  not  the  usual  derivative 
of  the  verb  that  follows,  but  etymologically  unconnected  with  it. 

20.  [Be)  this  the  wages  of  my  adversaries  from  Jehovah,  and  of  those 
speaking  evil  against  my  soul.  The  pronoun  this  in  the  first  clause  refers 
to  the  whole  preceding  series  of  denunciations.  The  word  translated  wages 
means  originally  work,  and  secondarily  the  price  or  recompence  of  work  or 
labour,  and  is  so  used  in  the  law  of  Moses.  See  Lev.  xix.  13.  It  is  here 
pecuharly  appropriate,  because  it  represents  the  misfortunes  of  his  ene- 
mies as  the  direct  finit  of  their  own  misconduct.  No  single  word  in  Eng- 
lish can  express  this  double  meaning  of  the  Hebrew.  Such  is  their  work 
and  such  their  wages.  The  word  translated  adversaries  is  a  cognate  form 
to  that  used  in  ver.  6,  and  might  suggest  the  idea  of  my  Sqtans  ;  but  this 
would  probably  convey  too  much.  From  Jehovah,  their  reward  or  recom- 
pence to  be  expected  from  him,  or  already  bestowed  by  him.  The  descrip- 
tion in  the  last  clause  includes  insult,  slander,  and  mahcious  plotting. 

21.  And  thou,  Jehovah,  Lord,  do  with  me  for  thy  names  sake,  because 
good  is  thy  mercy  set  me  free.     The  emphatic  thou  at  the  beginning  indi- 


Psalm  109:22 -29  463 

cates  a  contrast  between  God  and  his  oppressors.  Do  with  me  is  a  com- 
mon English  phrase  meaning  deal  with  me,  dispose  of  me  ;  but  no  such 
idiom  exists  in  Hebrew,  and  the  best  authorities  regard  the  construction  as 
elhptical,  and  make  it  mean,  do  kindness  (or  shew  mercy)  to  me.  With  the 
last  clause  compare  Ps.  Ixiii.  4  (3),  Ixix.  17  (16). 

22.  For  afflicted  and  poor  (am)  I,  and  my  heart  is  wounded  within  me. 
This,  though  indefinite  in  form,  is  equivalent  to  sa}'ing,  I  am  the  afflicted  and 
poor  man  whom  the  mahgnant  adversary  persecuted,  as  was  said,  in  ver.  16. 
The  word  translated  wounded  strictly  means  pierced  or  perforated,  a  stronger 
expression  than  the  one  in  ver.  16.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps. 
xl-  18  (17),  Ixix.  30  (29). 

23.  Like  a  shadow  at  its  turning  I  am  gone ;  I  am  driven  away  like  the 
locust.  The  first  comparison  is  the  same  with  that  in  Ps.  cii.  12.  Our 
idiom  enables  us  to  imitate  the  phrase  /  am  gone,  a  passive  which  in  He- 
brew occurs  only  here.  The  other  verb  is  rare,  but  its  meaning  is  suffi- 
ciently determined  by  usage.  The  allusion  here  is  to  the  violence  with 
which  a  cloud  of  locusts  in  the  east  is  scattered  by  the  wind.  Compare 
Exod.  X.  19,  Joel  ii.  20,  Nah.  iii.  17. 

24.  My  knees  totter  from  fasting,  and  my  flesh  fails  from  fatness.  The 
last  phrase  is  obscure,  but  seems  to  mean  from  being  fat,  so  that  it  is  not 
fat ;  the  privative  usage  of  the  preposition  being  very  common.  The  sense 
thus  put  upon  the  verb  is  justified  by  the  analogy  of  Isa.  Iviii.  11,  where  an 
equivalent  expression  is  applied  to  failing  waters.  Some  interpreters,  how- 
ever, insist  upon  retaining  the  strict  sense  both  of  verb  and  noun,  and 
understand  the  clause  to  mean,  my  flesh  lies  or  deceives  the  eye,  by  no 
longer  appearing  as  it  once  did,  or  by  seeming  to  exist  when  it  is  gone, 
from  oil,  i.  e.  from  want  of  oil,  because  no  longer  taken  care  of  and  anointed. 
But  no  construction  could  well  be  more  forced  and  far-fetched.  It  may 
also  be  objected  that  the  external  use  of  oil  was  to  anoint  the  head  on  festive 
occasions,  not  to  fatten  the  person  or  preserve  the  flesh. 

25.  And  1  have  been  a  reproach  to  them,  they  see  me,  they  shake  their 
head.  A  reproach,  an  object  of  contempt,  as  in  Ps.  xxii.  7  (6),  xxxi.  12  (11). 
As  to  the  meaning  of  the  gesture  mentioned  in  the  last  clause,  see  above, 
on  Ps.  xxii.  8  (7). 

26.  Help  me,  Jehovah,  my  God,  save  me,  according  to  thy  mercy.  The 
renewed  description  of  his  sufierings,  in  ver.  22-25,  is  followed  by  a  re- 
newed petition  for  deliverance,  corresponding  to  that  in  ver.  21.  Accord- 
ing to  thy  mercy,  i.  e.  in  proportion  to  its  greatness  and  the  freeness  with 
which  it  is  exercised. 

27.  And  they  shall  know  that  this  (is)  thy  hand  ;  thou,  Jehovah,  hast 
done  it.  The  optative  construction,  let  tliem  know,  and  the  subjunctive 
one,  that  they  may  know,  are  really  involved  in  the  more  exact  translation, 
they  shall  know.  The  subject  of  the  verb  may  be  men  in  general,  or  the 
persecuting  adversaries  in  particular,  more  probably  the  latter,  because  they 
are  referred  to  both  before  and  after.  This  is  thy  hand,  i.  e.  this  deUver- 
ance  is  the  product  of  thy  power.     Compare  Ps.  lix.  14  (13). 

28.  They  will  curse,  and  thou  wilt  bless  ;  they  have  risen  up,  and  shall  be 
shamed,  and  thy  servant  shall  be  glad.  The  first  clause,  expressed  in  our 
idiom,  would  be,  they  may  curse,  but  thou  wilt  bless.  Risen  up,  i.  e.  against 
me,  a  favourite  expression  in  the  Psalms.  Shamed,  in  the  pregnant  sense 
of  being  disappointed,  defeated,  confounded.  Thy  servant,  i.  e.  I,  as  such, 
in  that  capacity  or  character. 

29.  Clothed  shall  my  adversaries  he  with  confusion,  and  dressed,  as  a  robe, 


464  Psalm  110:1 

in  their  shame.  This  is  not  the  mere  expression  of  a  wish,  like  that  in 
ver.  18,  which  would  here  be  out  of  place,  but  a  confident  anticipation,  with 
which  he  concludes  the  psahn.  Compare  Ps.  kxi.  13.  The  word  tran- 
slated rohe  denotes  a  garment  reaching  to  the  feet,  and  expresses  therefore 
still  more  strongly  the  idea  that  his  foes  shall  be  completely  covered  with 
confusion. 

80.  /  will  thank  Jehovah  greatly  toith  my  mouth,  and  in  the  midst  of 
many  will  I  praise  him.  He  vows  that  his  thanksgiving  shall  not  be 
merely  mental  or  domestic,  but  audible  and  public.  With  the  last  clause 
compare  Ps.  xxii.  23  (22). 

31.  For  he  will  stand  at  the  right  hand  of  a  poor  (man),  to  save  (him) 
from  the  judges  of  his  soul.  This  assigns  the  special  reason  of  his  promised 
praise.  The  verse  is  in  strong  contrast  to  ver.  6  above,  especially  if 
Satan  be  there  taken  as  a  proper  name.  The  right  hand  here  is  not  the 
place  of  honour  but  ol  pretection.  A  poor  man,  as  in  ver.  16,  means  this 
poor  man,  i.  e.  me  a  poor  man.  Compare  Ps.  xxxiv.  7  (6).  The  last 
clause  is  correctly  paraphrased  in  the  common  version,  those  that  condemn 
his  soul. 


Psalm  110 

This  is  the  counterpart  of  the  Second  Psalm,  completing  the  prophetic 
picture  of  ithe  conquering  Messiah.  The  progressive  development  of  the 
Messianic  doctrine  lies  in  this,  that  the  Kingship  of  Messiah,  there  alleged 
and  confirmed  by  a  divine  decree,  is  here  assumed  at  the  beginning,  and 
then  shewn  to  be  connected  with  his  Priesthood,  which  is  also  solemnly 
proclaimed,  and  its  perpetuity  ensured  by  a  divine  oath.  This  constitutes 
the  centre  of  the  psalm,  ver.  4,  to  which  all  the  rest  is  either  introductory, 
ver.  1-3,  or  supplementary,  ver.  5-7.  The  repeated,  explicit,  and 
emphatic  appUcation  of  this  psalm,  in  the  New  Testament,  to  Jesus  Christ, 
is  so  far  fi*om  being  arbitrary  or  at  variance  with  the  obvious  import  of  the 
psalm  itself,  that  any  other  application  is  ridiculous.  The  chief  peculiarity 
of  form  is  a  frequent  change  of  person,  not  unlike  that  in  Ps.  xci. 

1.  By  David.  A  Psalm.  Thus  saith  Jehovah  to  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  at 
my  right  hand,  until  1  make  thine  enemies  thy  footstool.  The  ascription  of 
the  psalm  to  David  is  not  only  uncontradicted  by  external  evidence,  but 
corroborated  by  the  internal  character  of  the  composition,  its  laconic 
energy,  its  martial  tone,  its  triumphant  confidence,  and  its  resemblance  to 
other  undisputed  psalms  of  David.  In  addition  to  all  this,  we  have  the 
authority  of  Christ  himself,  who  not  only  speaks  of  it  as  David's,  but 
founds  an  argument  upon  it,  the  whole  force  of  which  depends  upon  its 
having  been  composed  by  him.  See  Mat.  xxii.  43,  Mark  xii.  36,  Luke  xx. 
42,  and  compare  Acts  ii.  34.  As  a  further  confirmation  of  the  truth  of 
this  inscription,  some  allege  the  obvious  relation  of  this  psalm  to  those 
before  it,  as  forming  with  them  a  Davidic  trilogy.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cviii.  1. 
Thv^  saith  Jehovah,  or  more  exactly,  a  dictum  (or  saying)  of  Jehovah. 
For  the  origin  and  usage  of  this  formula,  used  only  in  prophetic  declara- 
tions, see  above  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  2  (1).  My  Lord,  i.  e.  David's,  as  our 
Saviour  explicitly  declares  in  the  passages  already  cited,  yet  not  of  David 
merely  as  a  private  person,  nor  even  as  an  individual  king,  but  as  repre- 
senting his  own  royal  race  and  the  house  of  Israel  over  which  it  reigned. 
The  person  thus  described  as  the  superior  and  sovereign  of  David  and  his 


Psalm  110:2  465 

house,  and  of  all  Israel,  could  not  possibly  be  David  himself,  nor  any  of  his 
sons  and  successors  except  one,  who,  by  virtue  of  his  twofold  nature,  was 
at  once  his  sovereign  and  his  son.  See  Rom,  i.  3,  4.  That  the  Lord  here 
meant  was  universally  identified  with  the  Messiah  by  the  ancient  Jews,  is 
clear,  not  only  from  their  own  traditions,  but  from  Christ's  assuming  this 
interpretation  as  the  basis  of  his  argument  to  prove  the  Messiah's  super- 
human nature,  and  from  the  fact  that  his  opponents,  far  from  'questioning 
this  fact,  were  unable  to  answer  him  a  word,  and  afraid  to  interrogate  him 
further  (Mat.  xxii.  46).  The  original  fonn  of  expression,  in  the  phrase  Sit 
at  my  right  hand,  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  cix.  31.  A  seat  at  the  right  hand 
of  a  king  is  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures  as  a  place  of  honour,  not  arbitra- 
rily, but  as  implying  a  participation  in  his  pov/er,  of  which  the  right  hand 
is  a  constant  symbol.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlv.  10  (9),  and  compare  Mat. 
xix.  28.  The  sitting  posture  is  appropriate  to  kings,  who  ai'e  frequently 
described  as  sitting  on  their  thrones.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxix.  10.  In 
this  case,  however,  the  posture  is  of  less  moment  than  the  position.  Hence 
Stephen  sees  Christ  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God  (Acts  vii.  55,  56), 
and  Paul  simply  says  he  is  there  (Rom.  viii.  34).  The  participation  in  the 
divine  power,  thus  ascribed  to  the  Messiah,  is  a  special  and  extraordinary 
one,  having  reference  to  the  total  subjugation  of  his  enemies.  This  idea  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  figure  of  their  being  made  his  footstool,  perhaps  with  allusion 
to  the  ancient  practice  spoken  of  in  Josh.  x.  24.  This  figure  itself,  how- 
ever, presupposes  the  act  of  sitting  on  a  throne.  It  does  not  imply 
inactivity,  as  some  suppose,  or  mean  that  Jehovah  would  conquer  his  foes 
for  him,  without  any  intervention  of  his  own.  The  idea  running  through 
the  whole  psalm  is,  that  it  is  in  and  through  him  that  Jehovah  acts  for  the 
destruction  of  his  enemies,  and  that  for  this  very  end  he  is  invested  with 
almighty  power,  as  denoted  by  his  session  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  This 
session  is  to  last  until  the  total  subjugation  of  his  enemies,  that  is  to  say, 
this  special  and  extraordinary  power  of  the  Messiah  is  then  to  terminate,  a 
representation  which  agrees  exactly  with  that  of  Paul  in  1  Cor.  xv.  24—28, 
where  the  verse  before  us  is  distinctly  referred  to,  although  not  expressly 
quoted.  It  is  therefore  needless,  though  grammatical,  to  give  the  until  an 
inclusive  meaning,  namely,  until  then  and  afterwards,  as  in  Ps.  cxii.  8 
below.  This  verse,  it  has  been  said,  is  more  frequently  quoted  or  referred 
to,  in  the  New  Testament,  than  any  other  in  the  Hebrew  Bible.  Besides 
the  passages  already  cited,  it  hes  at  the  foundation  of  all  those  which 
represent  Christ  as  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father.  See  Mat.  xxvi. 
64,  1  Cor.  XV.  25,  Eph.  i.  20-22,  Phil.  ii.  9-11,  Heb.  i.  3,  14,  viii.  1, 
X.  12,  13,  1  Pet.  iii.  22,  and  compare  Rev.  iii.  21. 

2.  The  rod  of  thy  strength  will  Jehovah  send  forth  from  Zion  ;  rule 
thou  in  the  midst  of  thine  enemies.  The  Psalmist  now  addresses  the  Messiah 
directly.  The  idea  latent  in  the  figures  of  the  first  verb,  namely  that  of 
power,  is  here  expressed.     The  word  (HISD)  translated  rod  never  means  a 

sceptre,  as  the  synonymous  term  (ZOD^)  sometimes  does,  from  which  it  is 

distinguished  by  Ezekiel  (xix.  11),  but  a  rod  of  correction  and  of  chastise- 
ment. See  Jer.  xlviii.  12,  and  compare  Isa.  ix.  3  (4),  x.  5,  15,  xiv.  4,  5, 
Ezek.  vii.  10,  11.  It  is  here  named  as  the  instrument  with  which  the 
foes  are  to  be  subdued.  Compare  Ps.  ii.  9.  There  may  be  an  allusion  to 
the  rod  of  Moses.  See  Exod.  xiv.  16,  21,  and  compare  Isa.  x.  24,  26. 
The  rod  of  thy  strength,  or  thy  rod  of  strength,  thy  strong  rod,  or 
rather  the  rod  by  means  of  which  thine  own  strength  is  to  be  exerted.    Aa 


466  Psalm  110:3 

this  strength  is  not  human  but  divine,  it  is  said  to  be  sent  forth  by  Jehovah 
out  of  Zion,  considered  as  his  earthly  residence,  the  seat  of  the  theocracy. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xx.  3  (2).  The  verb  translated  rule  is  not  appUed  in 
usage  to  a  peaceful  reign,  but  to  coercive  or  compulsory  dominion  over 
conquered  enemies.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlix.  15  (14),  and  compare  Num. 
xxiv.  19.  The  imperative  here  involves  prediction  in  its  strongest  form. 
As  if  he  had  said.  All  is  ready  for  the  conquest ;  there  is  no  resistance  ; 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  result ;  rule,  therefore,  in  the  midst  thine 
enemies,  i.  e.  over  the  very  enemies  by  whom  thou  art  surrounded,  and 
who  threatened  to  dethrone  thee. 

3.  Thy  people  (are)  free-mll-qfferings  in  the  day  of  thy  power,  in  holy 
decorations,  from  the  womb  of  the  daivn,  to  thee  {is)  the  dew  of  thy  youth. 
Every  member  of  this  very  obscure  verse  has  been  a  subject  of  dispute  and 
of  conflicting  explanations.  The  common  version  of  the  first  words  {thy 
veople  shall  be  vnlling)  is  entirely  inadmissible  as  an  exact  translation,  since 
the  word  translated  willing  is  a  plural  substantive  of  the  feminine  gender, 
and  not  an  adjective  agreeing  with  the  masculine  singular  noun  -people. 
The  idea,  however,  is  the  same,  but  expressed  with  far  more  strength  and 
beauty.  The  plural  noun  just  mentioned  is  the  one  used  to  denote  spon- 
taneous gifts,  or  free-will-offerings,  under  the  law  of  Moses.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  Uv.  8  (7),  and  compare  Exod.  xxv.  2,  xxxv.  29,  xxxvi.  3,  Lev.  xxii.  23. 
By  supplying  the  correlative  verb,  which  may  be  considered  as  latent  in 
the  noun,  we  obtain  the  sense,  thy  people  (offer)  voluntary  gifts.  But  by 
supplying  the  substantive  verb,  which  is  far  more  natural  and  common,  we 
obtain  the  still  more  striking  sense,  thy  people  are  themselves  such  gifts, 
i.  e.  they  fireely  consecrate  themselves  to  God.  In  this  sense  of  voluntary 
self- dedication,  the  reflexive  form  of  the  verbal  root  is  used  even  in  historical 
prose  (1  Chron.  xxix.  14,  17),  especially  in  reference  to  military  service 
(Judges  V.  2,  9,  2  Chron.  xvii.  16).  The  day  of  thy  power,  the  day  in 
which  it  is  exerted  and  displayed  in  the  subjugation  of  thine  enemies.  The 
next  phrase  literally  means,  in  beauties  (or  ornaments)  of  holiness,  which 
may  either  have  its  obvious  spiritual  sense,  as  in  Ps.  xxix.  2,  or  that  of  holy 
decorations,  with  allusion  to  the  sacerdotal  dress,  which  is  expressly  called 
garments  ojf  holiness,  Lev.  xvi.  4.  The  last  is  the  sense  put  by  the  modem 
interpreters  upon  the  phrase,  which  then  means  that  the  people,  when  they 
make  this  solemn  offering  of  themselves  to  God,  appear  clothed  in  sacerdotal 
vestments,  as  the  servants  of  a  priestly"  king  (ver.  4  below),  and  themselves 
a  "  kingdom  of  priests  "  (Exod.  xix.  6).  The  womb  of  the  dawn  (or  day- 
break) is  a  very  strong  poetical  description  of  the  origin  or  source  of  the 
dew  which  immediately  follows,  and  the  sense  of  which  must  determine  that 
of  the  whole  clause.  The  most  probable  opinions  as  to  this  point  are  the 
following.  Some  suppose  the  clause  to  be  descriptive  of  the  multitude  of 
warriors  who  devote  themselves  to  the  Messiah,  and  who  are  then  described 
as  no  less  numerous  than  the  drops  of  dew  born  from  the  womb  of  morning. 
The  objection  to  this  is,  that  it  lays  too  much  stress  upon  mere  members, 
and  expresess  that  idea  by  a  figure  neither  common  nor  altogether  natural. 
Another  explanation  makes  the  point  of  the  comparison  with  dew,  not 
numbers,  but  beauty,  brilliancy  thus  corresponding  to  the  holy  decorations 
of  the  other  clause.  Here  again  the  comparison  selected  is  by  no  means 
obvious,  much  less  familiar.  Lovely  or  beautiful  as  dew  is  not  a  combina- 
tion likely  to  occur  to  the  mind  of  any  writer.  In  the  two  interpretations 
which  have  now  been  given,  youth  must  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  young  men, 
like  the  Latin  pubes  and  juventu^,  when  applied  to  a  youthful  soldiery,  or 


Psalm  110:4  467 

made  to  qualify  the  noun  before  it  youthful  dew,  still  meaning  the  young 
warriors.  But  of  such  a  figure  there  is  not  a  trace  in  Hebrew  usage,  and 
in  the  only  other  place  where  the  word  (miT)  occurs,  it  evidently  means 

youth,  as  a  period  of  human  life  (Eccles.  xi.  9,  10).  Free  from  all  these 
objections  is  the  supposition,  that  the  clause  relates  not  to  the  numbers  or 
the  beauty  of  Messiah's  people,  but  to  their  perpetual  succession,  expressed 
by  a  fine  poetical  comparison  with  dew,  engendered  afresh  daily  from  the 
womb  of  the  morning.  Youth  will  then  have  its  proper  sense,  as  denoting 
the  perpetual  youth  of  the  Messiah,  whose  body  is  thus  constantly  renewed 
by  the  successive  generations  of  his  people.  This  construction  also  enables 
us  to  divine  the  clause  more  equally  than  in  the  masoretic  interpunction, 
which,  at  all  events,  is  either  incorrect  or  rather  musical  than  logical. 

4.  Sworn  hath  Jehovah,  and  toiil  not  repent,  Thou  {shalt  he)  a  priest  for 
ever,  after  the  order  of  Melchizedek.  The  declaration  in  the  last  clause  of 
ver.  3  is  here  repeated  in  another  form,  and  with  a  statement  of  the  ground 
or  reason  upon  which  it  rests.  What  was  there  poetically  represented  as 
the  perpetual  youth  of  the  Messiah  is  here  more  solemnly  described  as  a 
perpetual  priesthood,  indissolubly  blended  with  a  perpetual  kingship,  both 
secured  by  the  oath  of  God  himself.  He  will  not  repent,  there  is  no  fear  or 
even  possibility  of  his  breaking  or  retracting  this  engagement,  for  such  it  is, 
and  not  a  mere  declaratory  attestation  of  the  present  fact  or  general  truth, 
as  it  might  seem  to  be  from  the  common  version,  not  only  here  but  in  Heb. 
V.  6,  vii.  17,  21,  in  every  one  of  which  places  the  Greek  conforms  exactly 
to  the  Septuagint  version  and  the  Hebrew  text,  the  art  being  constantly 
Bupphed  by  the  translators.  That  the  clause  is  a  promise,  and  as  such 
relates  directly  to  the  future,  is  clear  from  the  whole  tenor  of  the  psalm  as 
a  prophetic  one,  as  well  as  from  the  oath,  which  is  not  used  in  Scripture  to 
attest  mere  matters  of  fact,  but  to  confirm  the  divine  promise  and  threaten- 
ings.  The  indefinite  expression,  a  priest,  is  intended  to  describe  the  oflice 
in  itself  considered,  without  reference  to  temporary  distinctions  and  grada- 
tions. It  therefore  comprehends  whatever  appertained  to  the  ofiice  of  the 
High  Priest,  as  the  head  and  representative  of  all  the  rest.  After  the  order, 
i.  e.  according  to  the  manner,  character,  or  institution.  It  is  remarkable 
that  this  phrase  (like  mi/!!  in  ver,  3)  is  almost  peculiar  to  this  psalm  and 

the  book  of  Ecclesiastes,  being  found  besides  in  only  one  place  (Job  v.  8). 
In  aU  the  direct  quotations  of  the  verse  in  Hebrews,  the  Septuagint  version 
of  this  word  (rd^iv)  is  retained.  But  in  one  of  the  more  indirect  citations 
(Heb.  vii.  15)  another  word  (o^co/oxTjra)  is  substituted,  shewing  that  the 
essential  idea  is  that  of  likeness  or  resemblance.  This,  likeness  consists 
primarily  in  the  union  of  the  regal  and  sacerdotal  ofiices.  See  Gen.  xiv.  18. 
The  meaning  of  the  verse  in  its  original  connection  is,  that  this  royal  con- 
queror is  also  a  priest,  who  makes  atonement  for  the  sins  of  his  people,  and 
thus  enables  and  disposes  them  to  make  the  dedication  of  themselves 
described  in  the  preceding  verse.  The  perpetuity  of  this  relation,  and  its 
confirmation  by  the  oath  of  God,  are  attendant  circumstances  but  essential, 
and  as  such  insisted  on  by  the  apostle,  Heb.  vii.  20-24.  The  coincidences 
founded  on  the  meaning  of  the  names  Melchizedek  and  Salem  (Heb.  vii.  2), 
and  on  the  want  of  hierarchical  succession  in  both  cases  (Heb.  vii.  3),  are 
perfectly  legitimate,  but  not  essential  to  the  understanding  of  the  verse 
in  its  original  connection.  The  inspired  commentary  on  this  sentence, 
which  occupies  the  whole  seventh  chapter  of  Hebrews,  is  not  intended 
merely  to  explain  its  meaning,  but  also  to  make  use  of  its  terms,  and  the 


468  Psalm  110:5 -7 

associations  coupled  with  them,  as  a  vehicle  of  other  kindred  truths,  belong- 
ing to  the  Christian  revelation,  and  not  necessarily  suggested  by  the  psalm 
to  its  original  readers. 

5.  The  Lord  on  thy  right  hand  has  smitten,  in  the  day  of  his  anger,  kings. 
Some  suppose  this  to  be  addressed  to  Jehovah,  and  the  Lord  to  moan 
Messiah,  on  the  ground  that  they  could  not  each  be  on  the  right  hand  of 
the  other.  See  above,  ver.  1.  That  they  could  be  so,  however,  only  shews 
that  the  whole  description  is  a  figurative  one,  and  that  the  principal  figure 
has  a  twofold  meaning.  On  the  right  hand  has  precisely  the  same  meaning 
here  as  in  Ps.  cix.  81,  where  it  denotes  the  place  of  protection  or  assistance, 
the  figure  being  probably  derived  from  the  usages  of  war,  in  which  one  who 
succours  or  protects  another  may  be  said  to  strengthen  his  right  hand,  as 
the  member  which  he  uses  in  his  own  defence.  In  one  sense,  therefore, 
the  Lord  is  at  the  right  hand  of  Jehovah  ;  in  another  sense,  Jehovah  is  at 
his.  This  assistance,  far  from  excluding,  presupposes  his  own  action,  or 
rather,  what  Jehovah  is  described  as  doing  for  him  he  does  through  him. 
See  above,  on  ver.  1.  The  word  translated  smite  is  very  strong  and  has 
repeatedly  occurred  before.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  39  (38),  Ixviii.  22, 
24  (21,  23).  The  day  of  Jehovah's  wrath  is  coincident  with  that  of  the 
Lord's  strength  in  ver.  3.  The  strength  of  the  Messiah,  as  a  conqueror,  is 
to  be  exerted  in  giving  eflfect  to  Jehovah's  wrath  against  his  enemies.  The 
position  of  the  word  kings  at  the  end  of  the  sentence,  although  harsh  and 
almost  ungrammatical  in  English,  is  retained  in  the  translation  for  the  sake 
of  its  effect  upon  the  emphasis  and  point  of  the  description.  The  objects 
of  Jehovah's  \vrath  and  the  Messiah's  strokes  are  not  to  be  mere  ordinai-y 
men,  but  kings,  if  they  continue  to  oppose  themselves.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
ii.  2,  10.  The  tense  of  the  verb  may  be  regarded  as  an  instance  of  prate- 
ritum  phropheticum,  describing  what  is  certainly  to  happen  as  ahead}'  past. 

6.  He  will  judge  among  the  nations — he  has  filled  (them)  with  corpses — 
he  has  smitten  the  head  over  much  land  (or  over  the  wide  earth).  By  another 
sudden  change  of  form,  the  Messiah  is  again  spoken  of  as  a  third  person. 
The  judgment  here  ascribed  to  him  is  only  another  name  and  figure  for  the 
conquest  just  described.  The  form  of  expression  in  the  last  clause  is 
unusual  and  obscure.  The  common  version  makes  both  head  and  land 
collectives,  the  heads  over  many  countries.  Some  interpreters  explain  the 
second  word  in  this  way,  but  the  first  more  strictly,  as  denoting  a  single 
ruler  over  many  countries.  Others  invert  the  t'^.rms,  and  understand  by 
head  the  various  chiefs  of  nations,  but  by  earth  the  v/hole  earth  with  its 
qualifying  epithet  of  great  or  wide.  Amidst  these  questions  of  construction 
or  minute  interpretation,  the  general  idea  is  clear  enough,  to  wit,  that  of 
universal  conquest  on  the  part  of  the  Messiah,  and  extending  to  all  earthly 
principalities  and  powers. 

7.  From  the  brook  in  the  way  he  will  drink,  therefore  will  he  raise  the 
head.  According  to  the  masoretic  interpunction,  in  the  tvay  does  not  qualify 
the  brook  but  he  will  drink,  a  distinction  of  little  exegetical  importance. 
Unlike  the  foregoing  verse,  the  one  before  us  is  perfectly  clear  in  its  parti- 
cular expressions,  but  obscure  in  its  general  import  and  relation  to  the 
context.  The  most  probable  meaning  of  thr  first  clause  is,  that  he  shall 
not  be  exhausted  Uke  those  wandering  in  thfe  desert  (Ps.  cii.  24,  cvii.  4,  5) 
but  refreshed  and  strengthened,  with  a  reference,  as  some  suppose,  to  the 
relief  experienced  by  Samson  (Judges  xv.  18,  19).  The  raising  of  the 
head,  in  the  last  clause,  is  an  obvious  and  intelligible  figure  for  exhilaration, 
or  relief  from  dejection  and  depression,  which  is  naturally  indicated  by  the 


Psalm  ]] J.J  -3  469 

hanging  of  the  head.  The  only  question  is  whether  this  effect  is  here  sup- 
posed to  be  produced  in  the  conqueror  himself  or  in  others.  In  favour  of 
the  former  explanation  is  the  parallel  clause,  which  represents  him  as 
assuaging  his  own  thirst.  In  favour  of  the  other  is  the  analogy  of  Ps.  iii. 
4  (8),  xxvii.  6,  where  God  is  said  to  raise  the  head  of  man.  As  in  other 
doubtful  cases,  where  the  senses  are  not  incompatible  or  exclusive  of  each 
other,  it  is  safe,  if  not  entirely  satisfactory,  to  leave  them  side  by  side,  the 
rather  as  the  words  could  probably  not  fail  to  suggest  both  ideas  to  the 
Hebrew  reader. 


Psalm  111 

This  is  an  alphabetical  psalm,  in  which  the  Hebrew  letters  mark  the  be- 
ginning not  of  verses  but  of  clauses.  The  first  eight  verses  contain  each 
two  clauses;  the  last  two  consists  of  three.  The  psalm  begins  with  an  in- 
vitation to  the  public  praise  of  God,  ver.  1,  then  assigns,  as  the  ground  and 
object  of  this  praise,  his  dealings  with  his  people,  ver.  2-9,  and  ends  with  the 
conclusion,  that  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,  ver.  10. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  psalm  itself  to  determine  its  date  or  its  historical 
occasion.  According  to  Hengstenberg,  it  is  the  first  psalm  of  a  trilogy, 
added  to  the  ancient  one  preceding  (Ps.  cviii.-cx.)  after  the  return  from 
exile. 

1.  Hallelnjah  !  I  will  thank  Jehovah  with  a  whole  heart,  in  the  company 
of  the  upright  and  in  the  congregation.  The  Hallelujah  [praise  ye  Jah) 
marks  the  designation  of  the  latter  psalms  for  permanent  use  in  pubHc  wor- 
ship, as  the  inscription  to  the  chief  musician  does  that  of  the  older  ones. 
With  a  whole  heart,  or  with  all  {my)  heart,  as  it  is  fully  expressed  in  Ps. 
Ixxxvi.  12.  Compare  Ps,  cxix.  2.  The  word  translated  company  means 
properly  a  circle  of  confidential  friends.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  14,  Iv.  15 
(14),  Ixiv.  8  (2),  Ixxxiii.  4  (8).  It  is  here  appUed  to  the  church  or  chosen 
people,  as  constituting  such  a  company  or  circle,  in  opposition  to  the  world 
without.  It  is  not,  therefore,  really  distinct  from  the  congregation  men- 
tioned in  the  last  clause,  but  another  name  for  it.  The  upright  (or  straight- 
forward) is  a  title  given  to  the  true  Israel,  from  the  days  of  Balaam 
downwards.     See  Num.  xxiv.  10. 

2.  Great  are  the  works  of  Jehovah,  sought  (according)  to  all  their  desires. 
The  common  version  of  the  last  phrase,  all  them  that  have  pleasure  therein, 
supposes  the  text  to  be  difi'erently  pointed,  as  in  Ps.  xl.  15  (14),  Ixx.  3  (2). 
The  received  text  can  only  mean  to  (for  or  according  to)  all  their  wishes. 
The  antecedent  of  the  pronoun  [their)  seems  to  be  the  upright  in  ver.  1. 
For  a  similar  construction  of  the  same  pronoun,  see  below,  on  ver.  10.  The 
clause,  thus  construed,  is  obscure,  but  may  be  understood  to  mean,  that 
when  the  works  of  God  are  sought  out,  investigated,  or  explored,  their  great- 
ness fully  satisfies  the  hopes  and  wishes  of  his  people.  Another  possible 
sense  is,  that  they  are  sought  for,  i.  e.  the  experience  or  knowledge  of  them 
eagerly  desired,  with  (literally  as  to)  all  their  wishes,  i.  e.  with  avidity,  or, 
as  it  is  expressed  in  the  preceding  verse,  with  all  the  heart. 

3.  Honour  and  majesty  [is)  his  work — and  his  righteousness  standing  for 
ever.  In  the  first  clause,  work  is  the  subject  of  the  proposition,  honour  and 
majesty  the  predicate.  His  work  is  honour  and  majesty,  i.e.  all  that  ho 
does  is  noble  and  majestic,  worthy  of  the  great  King,  to  whom  these  epithets 
are  often  applied  elsewhere.     See  above,  on  Ps.  civ.  1.     His  work  means 


470  Psalm  110:4 -9 

specifically  here  what  he  does  for  the  protection  and  deUverance  of  his 
people.  In  the  last  clause,  as  in  many  other  places,  this  work  is  referred 
to  his  righteoxisness^  not  his  justice,  in  the  technical  and  strict  sense,  but  his 
rectitude,  including  his  fidelity  to  his  engagements,  and  securing  the  exercise 
of  his  covenanted  mercy.  This  seems  more  natural  than  to  explain  it  as 
meaning  the  practical  justification  of  his  people  by  his  providential  care  of 
them.  Standing  to  eternity  (or  perpetuity),  not  fitful  or  capricious,  not 
confined  or  temporary,  but  perpetual  and  constant. 

4.  A  memory  has  he  made  for  his  wonderful  ivorks;  gracious  and  compas- 
sionate (is)  Jehovah.  The  first  clause,  though  not  exactly  rendered,  is 
correctly  paraphrased  in  the  English  Bible,  he  hath  made  his  wonderful  works 
to  be  remembered,  and  still  more  freely  in  the  Prayer-Book  version.  The 
last  clause  shews  that  the  wonderful  works  of  the  first  are  not  the  wonders 
of  creation,  nor  those  of  providence  in  general,  but  those  wrought  for  the 
benefit  of  Israel.  The  terms  of  this  clause  are  borrowed  from  Exod. 
xxxiv.  6.     See  above,  on  Ps.  ciii.  8. 

5.  Prey  hath  he  given  to  those  fearing  him;  he  xoill  rerrhemher  to  eternity 
his  covenant.  The  first  word  properly  denotes  the  food  of  wild  beasts,  and 
may  here  be  either  a  poetical  equivalent  to  food,  provision,  as  in  Prov. 
xxxi.  15,  Mai.  iii.  10,  or  intended  to  suggest  the  additional  idea  of  food  ob- 
tained at  the  expense  of  enemies.  In  either  case  there  seems  to  be  no  reason 
for  restricting  the  clause  to  the  supply  of  Israel  in  the  desert,  although  that 
would  necessarily  occur  to  every  reader,  as  the  great  historical  example  of 
the  general  fact  alleged,  and  in  the  last  clause  represented  as  a  proof  of 
God's  fidelity  to  covenant  engagements. 

6.  The  power  of  his  works  he  has  declared  to  his  people,  (so  as)  to  give  to 
them  a  heritage  of  nations.  He  has  shewn  them  what  powerful  things  he 
can  do,  by  favouring  them  so  far  as  to  drive  out  nations  from  their  seats, 
and  make  his  people  their  successors  and,  as  it  were,  their  heirs.  This  re- 
fers to  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  as  the  first  in  a  long  series  of  such  dispos- 
sessions, including  all  the  territories  gained  in  war  from  the  surrounding 
nations,  tiU  the  death  of  David.  The  construction  of  to  give  as  a  gerund 
(by  giving)  is  not  a  Hebrew  idiom,  and  restricts  the  meaning  of  the  clause 
unduly.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  18. 

7.  The  works  of  his  hands  are  truth  and  judgment ;  sure  [are)  all  his 
precepts.  The  second  clause  is  not  an  iteration  of  the  first,  but  an  inference 
from  it.  If  what  God  does  himself  is  always  done  in  faithfulness  and  justice 
to  his  people,  then  what  he  requires  them  to  do  must  certainly  be  right  and 
best,  and  his  requisitions  therefore  may  be  trusted  and  confided  in,  the  true 
sense  of  the  adjective  or  participle  here  employed. 

8.  Settled  for  ever  and  ever,  done  in  truth  and  right.  The  subjects  are 
the  same  as  in  ver.  7,  but  presented  in  an  inverse  order,  the  first  clause  re- 
lating to  the  precepts,  the  last  to  the  works,  of  God.  The  former  are  settled, 
firmly  supported,  founded,  or  established,  not  capricious  and  precarious. 
The  latter,  by  which  they  are  recommended  and  attested  (see  above,  oa 
ver.  9),  and  works  of  faithfulness  and  rectitude.  The  last  word  in  Hebrew 
is  an  adjective  used  as  a  neuter  or  abstract  noun,  in  which  respect  the 
English  right  resembles  it. 

9.  Redemption  he  has  sent  to  his  people ;  he  has  ordained  to  eternity  his 
covenant;  holy  and  fearful  is  his  name.  That  this  verse  was  intended  to 
consist  of  three  clauses,  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  it  contains  three  letters 
of  the  alphabet  in  regular  succession.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  re- 
maining verse.     The  first  clause  relates  mainly,  not  exclusively,  to  the 


Psalm  112:1 -3  471 

deliverance  from  Egypt.  As  in  ver.  5,  the  second  clause  aflEinns  a  general 
truth,  attested  and  exemplified  by  the  particular  fact  mentioned  in  the  first. 
Fearful,  not  merely  to  his  foes  but  to  his  people,  who  can  never  cease  to 
worship  him  with  holy  awe. 

10.  The  beginning  of  wisdom  is  the  fear  of  Jehovah  ;  a  good  understanding 
(is)  to  all  (those)  doing  them  ;  his  praise  endureth  for  ever.  This  is  the 
conclusion  drawn  from  all  that  goes  before.  Since  all  God's  dealings  with 
his  people  are  in  faithfulness  and  truth,  and  his  commands  not  only  are  but 
must  be  right,  then  the  first  step  in  wisdom,  its  first  principle  or  element,  is 
reverence  for  such  a  Being,  proved  by  obedience  to  his  will.  The  same 
sentiment  occurs  in  Prov.  i.  7,  ix.  10,  Job  xxviii.  28,  The  intimate  con- 
nection of  the  verse,  notwithstanding  its  proverbial  or  aphoristic  form,  with 
the  foregoing  context,  is  apparent  from  the  reference  of  the  pronoun  them  to 
the  plural  nouns  of  the  preceding  verses.  Endureth  for  ever,  literally  (is) 
standing  to  eternity.  This  is  equivalent  to  saying  that  he  will  and  must  be 
praised  for  ever,  corresponding  to  the  Halleujah  at  the  beginning  of  the 
psalm. 

Psalm  112 

Another  alphabetical  psalm  of  precisely  the  same  character,  coinciding 
with  the  one  before  it,  even  in  the  number  of  verses,  and  the  number  of 
clauses  in  each  verse.  This  formal  agreement  shews  the  intimate  connec- 
tion of  the  two  compositions,  and  makes  it  highly  probable  that  they  belong 
not  only  to  the  same  age  but  to  the  same  author,  and  were  meant  to  form 
parts  of  one  continued  series  or  system.  This  psalm  begins  precisely  where 
the  one  before  it  ends,  i.  e.  with  the  happiness  arising  from  the  fear  of  God, 
ver.  1,  the  blessed  efiects  of  which  are  then  recounted  under  several  parti- 
culars, ver.  2-9,  and  finally  contrasted  with  the  fate  of  the  ungodly,  ver.  10. 

1.  Sappy  the  man  fearing  Jehovah,  in  his  commandments  delighting  greatly. 
There  is  here  not  only  an  obvious  connection  with  the  close  of  the  preceding 
psalm,  but  an  obvious  advance  upon  it  or  progression  of  ideas.  As  the  fear 
of  the  Lord  is  there  declared  to  be  the  principle  of  all  true  wisdom,  so  here 
it  is  declared  to  be  the  source  of  all  true  happiness.  The  second  clause 
defines  the  meaning  of  the  first,  by  shewing  that  the  fear  there  mentioned 
is  a  fear  consistent  with,  or  rather  necessarily  involving,  a  complacent 
acquiescence  in  God's  will,  thus  entirely  excluding  a  mere  slavish  dread, 
which  is  incompatible  with  such  a  disposition. 

•  2.  Mighty  in  the  earth  shall  he  his  seed  ;  the  race  of  the  upright  shall  bt 
blessed.  The  first  phrase  is  borrowed  from  Gen.  x.  8,  and  would  at  once 
suggest  to  every  Hebrew  reader  the  idea  of  a  mighty  man  like  Nimrod  and 
the  other  ancient  heroes.  Now  a  promise  of  personal  heroism  is  perhaps 
without  analogy,  especially  as  given  to  the  son,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
father.  This  anomaly  can  be  avoided  only  by  assuming,  what  is  probable 
enough  in  itself,  that  the  ideal  person  here  described  represents  the  chosen 
people,  the  upright  of  the  other  clause,  each  successive  generation  of  whont 
might  be  expected  to  excel  its  predecessors  in  heroic  eminence. 

3.  Wealth  and  riches  (are)  in  his  house,  and  his  righteousness  endu/reth  fot 
ever.  Not  only  in  his  dwelling  but  in  his  family,  so  that  his  wealth  or 
prosperity  might  have  been  said  to  endure  for  ever  as  well  as  his  righteous^ 
ness,  i.  e.  his  recognition  and  reception  as  a  righteous  person,  his  justifica- 
tion,    Endureth,  literally  (is)  standing,  the  same  expression  that  is  used  in 


472  Psalm  112:4 -7 

Ps.  cxi.  3  of  God  himself.  There  is  also  an  analogy,  at  least  in  form,  be- 
tween the  majesty  and  honour  of  the  righteous  God  and  the  loealth  and 
riches  of  the  righteous  man. 

4.  There  arises  in  the  darkness  light  to  the  upright — Jcind,  and  compas- 
sionate, and  righteous.  The  figure  in  the  first  clause  is  a  natural  and  com- 
mon one,  denoting  relief  from  deep  distress.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xcvii.  11. 
In  the  last  clause  we  have  another  instance  of  the  singular  way  in  which 
terms  applied  to  God  in  the  preceding  psalm  are  copied  and  applied  to  man 
in  this.  The  first  two  epithets  in  this  clause  are  employed  above  in  Ps. 
cxi.  4.  The  principle  involved  may  be  the  same  as  in  Luke  vi.  36.  "  Be  ye 
therefore  merciful,  as  your  Father  also  is  merciful."  Compare  Matt.  v.  48. 
To  these  two  epithets  is  added  that  of  righteous,  in  the  wide  sense  including 
both  the  others.  The  construction  of  the  sentence  is  unusual  and  doubtful; 
but  most  probably  the  second  clause  sustains  the  same  relation  to  the  other, 
as  in  ver.  1  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  limits  and  defines  the  general  description 
upright,  by  confining  it  to  such  as  have  the  quahties  expressed  by  the  three 
adjectives  that  follow.  The  alternation  of  the  numbers  is  familiar  where  the 
smgular  denotes  an  ideal  individual  including  many  real  ones. 

5.  Happy  the  man  shewing  favour  and  lending  ;  he  shall  sustain  his  affairs 
hy  justice.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew,  which  means  good,  is  here  descrip- 
tive not  of  character  but  of  condition,  and  denotes  good  fortune.  It  is  used 
in  the  same  sense  by  Isaiah  (iii.  10)  and  Jeremiah  (xliv.  17).  The  com- 
mon version  (a  good  man)  is  forbidden  by  the  Hebrew  collocation.  Lending, 
not  as  a  financial  or  commercial  operation,  but  as  an  act  of  charity,  lending 
to  the  poor.  The  verb  in  the  last  clause  strictly  means  to  provide  for  or 
sustain,  especially  with  food.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Iv.  23  (22).  It  is  here 
applied  to  the  control  and  management  of  all  one's  interests.  Affairs, 
literally  words,  but  in  the  wider  sense  of  that  which  words  denote,  namely 
things,  afiairs,  in  which  sense  it  is  sometimes  applied  to  causes  or  suits  at 
law.  The  last  word  is  commonly  translated  judgment,  not  in  the  sense  of 
discretion,  given  in  the  English  versions,  but  in  that  of  practical  justice, 
righteous  conduct.  He  shall  best  secure  his  own  interests  by  treating  those 
of  others  justly  and  generously. 

6.  For  to  eternity  he  shall  not  he  moved;  to  the  memory  of  eternity  he  shall 
he  righteous.  The /or  assigns  the  reason  for  his  being  pronounced  happy. 
Moved,  i.  e.  from  his  prosperous  condition,  or  from  his  position  as  a  righteous 
man.  The  construction  of  the  last  clause  in  the  English  versions  [the 
righteous  shall  he  in  everlasting  rememl/rance)  is  grammatical,  and  yields  a 
good  sense  ;  but  the  latest  interpreters  prefer  another,  which  makes  to  ever- 
lasting remembrance  mean  the  same  as  to  eternity.  As  long  as  he  shall  be 
remembered,  he  shall  be  remembered  as  a  righteous  man.  This  construction 
has  the  advantage  of  making  the  parallelism  more  exact. 

7.  From  evil  tidings  he  shall  not  fear ;  fixed  is  his  heart,  trusting  in 
Jehovah.  The  first  Hebrew  noun  is  in  the  singular  number,  and  is  properly 
a  participle  passive  meaning  heard,  used  absolutely  as  a  noun  denoting  what 
is  heard,  a  rumour  or  report,  news  or  tidings.  The  common  version  {he 
shall  not  he  afraid  of  evil  tidings)  seems  to  confine  the  negation  to  the  mere 
apprehension  or  anticipation  of  bad  news,  whereas  the  original  expression 
comprehends,  and  indeed  more  properly  denotes,  being  frightened  when  the 
evil  tidings  are  heard.  A  fixed  heart  is  the  negation  both  of  fickleness  and 
cowardice.  See  above,  on  Ps.  li.  12  (10),  Ivii.  8  (7),  cviii.  1.  Instead  of 
the  active  participle  trusting,  the  Hebrew  has  the  passive  trusted,  analogous 
to  that  in  Ps.  ciii.  14. 


Psalm]  13:1 -3  473 

8.  Settled  (is)  his  heart,  he  shall  not  fear,  -until  he  look  upon  his  foes  (with 
triumph).  The  first  word  is  another  expression  borrowed  from  the  foregoing 
psalm,  but  applied  in  a  manner  altogether  different.  See  Ps.  cxi.  8,  where 
the  plural  of  the  same  participle  is  applied  to  God's  commandments.  The 
construction  in  the  last  clause  is  the  idiomatic  one  of  the  verb  see  with  the 
preposition  in,  which  usually  means  to  see  with  strong  emotion,  and  espe- 
cially with  joy  or  triumph.  See  above,  on  Ps.  1.  23,  liv.  9  (7).  Until  does 
not  imply  that  he  shall  then  fear,  but  that  there  will  then  be  no  occasion  so 
to  do.     See  above,  on  Ps.  ex.  1. 

9.  He  has  scattered,  he  has  given  to  the  poor,  his  righteousness  endureth 
for  ever,  his  horn  shall  he  high  with  honour.  The  first  verb  denotes  profuse 
munificence,  as  in  Prov.  xi.  34.  This  is  alleged  not  as  the  cause  but  the 
effect,  and  therefore  as  the  evidence  of  his  being  righteous.  The  next  clause 
is  the  same  as  the  last  of  ver.  3.  With  the  last  clause  compare  Ps.  Ixxv. 
5  (4),  Ixxxix.  18  (17). 

10.  The  wicked  shall  see  and  fret ;  his  teeth  he  shall  gnash,  and  shall  melt 
axcay ;  the  desire  of  the  wicked  shall  perish.  He  shall  see,  but  not  with  triumph 
or  delight,  like  the  righteous  in  ver.  8.  The  word  translated  fret  means 
both  to  grieve  and  be  angry,  and  has  no  exact  equivalent  in  English.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  vi.  8  (7),  x.  14,  xxxi.  10  (9).  Gnash  with  his  teeth,  a  strong 
expression  of  impotent  malignity.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  16,  xxxvii.  12. 
Melt  away,  Uterally  be  melted,  i.e.  waste  or  decay.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii. 
15  (14),  Ixviii.  3  (2).  The  desire  of  the  vdcked  is  his  wish  to  see  the  righteous 
perish.  Compare  Prov.  x.  24,  28,  Job  viii.  13,  and  the  contrary  promise 
to  the  humble,  Ps.  ix.  19  (18). 

Psalm  113 

The  Psalmist  celebrates  the  majesty  of  God,  ver.  1-5,  in  contrast  with 
his  gracious  condescension  to  his  suffering  creatures,  ver.  6-9.  According 
to  a  Jewish  usage,  which  appears  to  have  existed  even  in  the  time  of  Christ, 
the  six  psalms  beginning  with  this  one  constitute  the  Greater  Hallel,  sung 
at  the  annual  festivals,  especially  the  Passover  and  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles. 
According  to  Hengstenberg's  arrangement,  this  psalm  closes  a  second  trilogy, 
added  to  the  Davidic  one  (Ps.  cviii.-cx.)  after  the  return  from  Babylon. 

1.  Hallelujah !  Praise,  O  ye  servants  of  Jehovah,  praise  the  name  of 
Jehovah  !  As  the  title.  Servant  of  Jehovah,  is  applied  to  eminent  leaders 
of  the  chosen  people  (Ps.  xviii.  1,  xxxvi.  1,  xc.  1,  cv.  6),  so  the  plural. 
Servants  of  Jehovah,  designates  his  chosen  people  itself.  See  above,  Ps. 
xxxiv.  23  (22),  Ixix.  37  (36),  and  below,  Ps.  cxxxvi.  22,  and  compare  Ezra 
v.  11,  Neh.  i.  10,  firom  which  last  places  it  appears,  that  this  was  a  familiar 
form  of  speech  with  the  returned  exiles. 

2.  Be  the  name  of  Jehovah  blessed,  from  now  and  even  to  eternity.  In 
this  as  well  as  the  preceding  verse,  the  name  of  Jehovah  involves  the  usual 
allusion  to  the  manifestation  of  his  nature  in  his  former  acts.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  V.  12  (11).  The  wish  expressed  in  this  verse  implies  a  perpetu^ 
continuation  or  renewal  of  the  evidence  already  furnished. 

3.  From  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  to  its  setting,  (to  be)  praised  (is  the) 
name  of  Jehovah.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  1.  1.  The  last  clause 
might  be  grammatically  construed  as  a  wish,  like  that  in  the  preceding 
verse,  praised  (be  the)  name  of  Jehovah.     It  is  more  probable,  however, 


474  Psalm  113:4 -9 

that  the  passive  participle  (laudatus)  was  meant  to  have  the  force  of  a 
gerundive  (laudandus).     See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  4  (3). 

4.  High  above  all  nations  (is)  Jehovah  ;  above  the  heavens  {is)  his  (glory). 
The  two  clauses  are  declaratory  of  his  infinite  superiority,  both  to  the 
animate  and  inanimate  creation,  each  being  represented  by  its  noblest  part ; 
the  former  by  mankind,  and  that  considered  not  as  individuals  but  nations  ; 
the  latter  by  the  heavens.  This  is  certainly  more  natural,  and  yields  a 
better  sense,  than  to  give  the  prept)sition  (7^)  a  different  meaning  in  the  two 

clauses,  in  the  first  that  of  above,  in  the  second  that  of  on,  in  which  case  it 
is  necessary  to  explain  on  heaven  as  meaning  in  heaven,  just  as  on  the  earth 
and  in  the  earth  are  convertible  expressions.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ivii.  6  (5). 

5.  Who  is  like  Jehovah,  our  God,  the  (one)  dtvelUng  high?  The  verb 
denotes  not  merely  dwelling,  but  sitting  enthroned,  sitting  as  a  king.  The 
original  construction  of  the  last  clause  is  peculiar,  the  (one)  making  high  to 
sit  (or  dwell). 

6.  2'he  one  seeing  deep — in  heaven  and  in  earth.  The  construction  of 
the  first  clause  is  precisely  the  same  with  that  of  the  last  clause  in  ver.  5, 
and  must  be  explained  in  the  same  manner.  As  making  high  to  dwell 
means  dwelling  high,  so  making  low  (or  deep)  to  see  must  mean  seeing  deep, 
i.  e.  far  below.  It  also  follows  fii'om  the  exact  correspondence  of  these 
clauses,  that  the  remaining  words  of  ver.  6  are  to  be  connected  with  the 
first  words  of  ver.  5.  Who  is  like  Jehovah,  our  God  .  .  .  in  heaven,  and 
in  earth  ?  The  rest  will  then  be  read  as  a  parenthesis.  This  construction 
is  confirmed  by  the  analogy  of  Deut.  iii.  24. 

7.  Raising  from  the  dust  the  poor — -from  the  dunghill  he  will  lift  the  needy. 
The  mention  of  God's  seeing  far  below  him  suggests  the  idea  of  his  conde- 
scension to  the  humblest  objects  which  he  thus  beholds.  The  word  trans- 
lated poor  is  one  of  wide  signification,  meaning  sometimes  poor  in  flesh  and 
Bometimes  poor  in  purse.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xli.  2  (1).  The  parallel  term 
means  poor  in  the  strict  sense,  *.  e.  needy,  destitute.  Dust  and  dunghill, 
common  figures  in  all  languages  for  a  degraded  social  state.  The  terms 
are  borrowed  from  the  prayer  of  Hannah,  1  Sam.  ii.  8.  Compare  Ps. 
xliv.  26  (25). 

8.  To  make  him  sit  with  nobles,  with  the  nobles  of  his  people.  Not  merely 
to  dwell,  which  is  too  vague,  but  to  sit  with  them,  as  their  equal  and  asso- 
ciate. There  is  also  a  cUmax  in  the  last  clause.  He  not  only  raises  the 
poor  to  an  equality  with  nobles  in  general,  but  with  the  nobles  of  his  people, 
»'.  e.  with  the  noblest  of  mankind.     See  again,  1  Sam.  ii.  8. 

9.  Making  the  barren  (one)  of  the  house  to  sit  a  joyful  mother  of  children. 
Eallelujah  I  The  common  version  (to  keep  house)  is  founded  upon  Ps. 
Ixviii.  7  (6),  but  is  here  at  variance  both  with  Hebrew  usage  and  the 
masoretic  accents,  which  require  Cn*|p^)  barren  and  (JT'3J1)  the  house  to 

be  closely  united  in  construction,  as  above.  The  form  of  expression  is  like 
one  in  Ps.  Ixviii.  13  (12).  To  sit  might  be  rendered  to  dwell  without  any 
material  change  of  sense ;  but  the  former  keeps  up  the  uniformity  with 
ver.  6,  8,  where  the  same  Hebrew  word  is  used.  The  historical  allusion  ia 
to  Hannah  who,  with  other  long  childless  mothers  mentioned  in  the  sacred 
history,  was  a  type  of  the  Church  in  its  low  estate,  and  more  especially  in 
exile.     Compare  Isa.  liv.  1. 


Psalm  114:1,2  475 

Psalm  114 

As  the  preceding  psalm  encouraged  the  people  of  God,  in  a  time  of  trial, 
by  reminding  them  that,  although  infinitely  exalted,  he  condescends  to 
notice  and  relieve  the  sufterings  of  his  creatures,  so  the  one  before  us  is 
intended  to  produce  the  same  efiect,  by  bringing  to  their  recollection  what 
he  actually  did  for  Israel  in  the  period  of  the  exodus  from  Egj'pt.  By  that 
deliverance  he  acknowledged  Israel  as  his  chosen  people,  ver.  1,  2,  and 
attested  the  acknowledgment  by  miracle,  ver.  3,  4.  Nature  herself,  whose 
course  was  interrupted,  is  appealed  to  as  a  witness,  ver.  5,  6,  that  she  is 
subject  to  the  God  of  Israel,  ver.  7,  8.  There  is  no  improbabiUty  in  the 
opinion  that  this  psalm,  with  those  which  immediately  follow,  was  intended 
to  continue  the  series  begun  in  the  two  preceding  trilogies  (Ps.  cviii.-cx., 
cxi.-cxiii.),  and  intended  to  sustain  the  hopes  of  the  Jewish  Church  after 
its  return  from  Babylon. 

1.  Ill  the  coming  forth  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  of  the  house  of  Jacoh  from  a 
people  of  strange  language.  The  first  phrase  is  not  to  be  restricted  to  the 
very  act  or  moment  of  the  exodus,  but  comprehends  the  whole  Mosaic 
period,  of  which  this  was  the  characteristic  and  critical  event.  The  house 
of  Jacoh  is  a  phrase  pecuharly  appropriate  to  those  who  entered  Egypt  as 
a  family,  and  left  it  as  a  nation.  Of  strange  language  is  a  paraphrase  of 
one  Hebrew  word,  apparently  a  participle  and  occurring  only  here  ;  but 
according  to  its  obvious  etymological  aflinities,  it  probably  means  stammer- 
ing, and  then,  by  an  association  common  in  antiquity,  speaking  barbarously 
i.  e.  in  a  foreign  language.  All  such  expressions  may  perhaps  involve  an 
allusion  to  the  pre-eminence  of  Hebrew,  as  the  primitive  and  sacred  lan- 
guage. It  was  no  small  part  of  the  humihation  to  which  Israel  was  subjected 
in  Egypt,  that  the  people  of  God  should  sustain  for  ages  a  relation  of  de- 
pendence to  a  nation  who  did  not  even  speak  the  sacred  language,  much  less 
profess  the  true  religion,  so  inseparably  blended  with  it.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixxxi.  6  (5),  and  compare  my  note  on  Isa.  xxxiii.  19. 

2.  Judah  became  his  sanctuary,  Israel  his  dominion.  Judah  is  put  as 
an  equivalent  to  Israel,  not  only  because  it  had  really  become  so,  when 
the  psalm  was  written,  but  because  it  was  destined  to  become  so  from  the 
fii-st.  See  Gen.  xlix.  10.  Became,  Uterally  was  for,  which  might  mean 
nothing  more  than  served  as  or  was  treated  as  ;  but  this  construction  of 
the  verb  to  be  with  to  or  for  is  the  only  representative  in  Hebrew  of  our 
word  become.  The  sense  thus  obtained  is  entirely  consistent  with  the  call- 
ing of  Abraham,  because  what  is  here  meant  is  that  Israel,  as  a  nation,  was 
now  publicly  declared  to  be  the  chosen  or  peculiar  people,  an  idea  expressed 
by  the  phrase  his  sanctuary  or  holy  thing,  i.  e.  something  set  apart  exclu- 
sively to  his  use  and  service.  The  parallel  word  in  the  original  is  plural, 
dominions  or  domains,  in  reference,  as  some  suppose,  to  the  plurality  of 
tribes,  but  according  to  others,  in  contrast  with  the  lordships  and  dominions 
of  the  world,  to  all  which  Israel  is  described  as  more  than  equipollent,  just 
as  the  infinite  superiority  of  the  true  God  to  all  false  gods  is  expressed  or 
suggested  by  the  plural  name  Elohim.  Here,  as  in  Ps.  Ixxxvii.  1,  the  pro- 
nouns are  without  an  antecedent  in  the  sentence.  The  reference  to  God  is 
so  self-evident,  that  the  only  question  has  respect  to  the  unusual  form, 
which  some  explain  by  supposing  that  the  psalm  was  originally  part  of  the 
preceding  one,  or  at  least  designed  to  be  always  read  or  sung  directly  after 
it.     The  latest  interpreters  prefer  the  explanation,  that  the  name  of  God 


476  Psalm  J  14:3 -8 

was  designedly  suppressed,  in  order  that  the  questions  in  ver.  5,  6,  might 
appear  more  natural  and  yet  more  striking. 

3.  The  sea  saw  and  fled — the  Jordan  turns  back.  By  supposing  the  con- 
versive  prefix  to  affect  both  verbs,  we  may  render  the  last  also  as  a  prete- 
rite, turned  back.  The  historical  allusion  is  to  Exod.  xiv.  21,  Josh.  iii.  14— 
17.  At  the  same  time,  as  seas  and  rivers  are  familiar  emblems  of  the  world 
and  its  nations,  the  reminiscence  is  adapted  to  suggest  the  hope,  that  other 
seas  and  other  rivers  may  be  yet  controlled  by  the  same  power.  See  above, 
onPs.  Ixxvii.  17  (16),  xciii.  3,  cvii.  23. 

4.  The  mountains  skipped  like  rams,  (the)  hills  like  the  young  of  sheep.  As 
the  Psalmist  is  reciting  actual  events,  to  be  used  as  symbols  and  pledges  of 
others,  this  cannot  be  explained  as  a  poetical  figure,  but  must  be  understood 
as  referring  to  the  concussion  of  Sinai,  with  its  various  peaks  and  neigh- 
bouring mountains.  See  Exod.  xix.  18,  Judges  v.  4,  Ps.  Ixviii.  9  (8), 
xcvii.  4,  5,  Hab.  iii.  6.  Here  again  the  familiar  use  of  mountains  to  denote 
states  and  empires  is  suggestive  of  the  same  consolation  as  in  ver.  3. 

5.  What  aileth  thee,  0  sea,  that  thou  fleest — 0  Jordan  (that)  thou  turnest 
back  ?  By  a  fine  poetical  apostrophe,  the  Psalmist,  instead  of  simply  stat- 
ing the  cause  of  these  effects,  puts  the  question  to  the  natural  objects  which 
thus  witnessed  and  attested  the  divine  presence.  The  first  phrase  literally 
means,  what  (is)  to  thee,  the  nearest  approach  that  the  Semitic  dialects  can 
make  to  our  expression,  what  have  you,  which  in  some  languages,  the  French 
for  instance,  is  the  usual  equivalent  to  what  ails  you  ? 

6.  Ye  mountains,  (that)  ye  skip  like  rams — ye  hills,  like  the  young  of  sheep  ? 
The  sentence  is  continued  from  the  foregoing  verse,  being  still  dependent  on 
the  question  there  asked.  In  this  interrogation  the  terms  of  ver.  3,  4,  are 
studiously  repeated.     The  young  of  sheep,  literally  sons  of  the  flock. 

7.  From  before  the  Lord  tremble,  O  earth,  from  before  the  God  of  Jacob. 
As  in  other  cases  of  rhetorical  interrogation,  the  writer  or  speaker  answers 
his  own  question.  The  imperative  mood  is  here  peculiarly  significant,  in- 
cluding both  a  recollection  and  prediction ;  as  if  he  had  said,  the  earth  might 
well  tremble  at  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  may  well  tremble  at  it  still. 
From  before  is  better  than  at  the  presence  of,  because  the  very  form  of  the 
expression  necessarily  suggests  the  ideas  of  recoil  and  flight.  Before  is  it- 
self a  compound  term  in  Hebrew,  meaning  to  the  face  of.  The  word  trans- 
lated Lorrf  is  the  simple  or  primitive  form  of  Adhonai,  and  is  applied  both  to 
God  and  man,  in  the  sense  of  lord  or  master.    See  Exod.  xxiii.  17,  Mai.  iii.  1. 

8.  Turning  the  rock  (into)  a  pool  of  water,  the  flint  to  springs  of  water. 
This  refers  to  the  miraculous  supply  of  water  in  the  desert.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  cvii.  85,  and  compare  Exod.  xvii.  6,  Num.  xx.  11,  Deut.  viii.  15, 
xxxii.  13,  Isa.  xli.  18.  The  connection  with  the  preceding  verse  is  still 
more  marked  in  the  original,  the  first  words  of  which  strictly  mean  the  (one) 
turning,  &c.  The  reader  is  left  to  draw  for  himself  the  natural  and  obvious 
conclusion,  that  the  God,  who  thus  drew  water  from  a  flinty  rock  for  the 
supply  of  Israel,  can  still  educe  the  richest  blessings  from  what  seem  to  be 
the  hardest  and  most  inauspicious  situations.  When  this  thought  is  sup- 
pHed,  the  psalm  no  longer  seems  unfinished  or  abrupt  in  its  conclusion. 

Psalm  115 

God  is  entreated  by  his  people  to  vindicate  not  their  honour  but  his  own, 
ver.  1,  2,  which  is  contrasted  with  the  impotence  of  idols  and  their  worship- 


Psalm  115:] -7  All 

pers,  ver.  3-8,  and  urged  as  a  reason  why  his  people  should  trust  in  him, 
for  a  large  increase,  ver.  9-15,  and  a  fulfilment  of  his  purpose  to  glorify 
himself  by  the  praises  of  the  living,  not  the  dead,  ver.  16-17,  in  the  promo- 
tion of  which  end  the  church  declares  her  resolution  to  co-operate  for  ever, 
ver.  18.  The  general  tenor  of  the  psalm,  thus  stated,  and  its  particular 
contents,  make  it  perfectly  well  suited  to  the  state  of  things  in  which  the 
series  is  supposed  to  have  been  written,  namely,  that  succeeding  the  return 
from  exile,  but  before  the  actual  rebuilding  of  the  temple. 

1.  Not  unto  us,  Jehovah,  not  unto  us,  but  to  thy  name  give  glory,  for  thy* 
mercy,  for  thy  truth.  The  glory  meant  is  not  that  of  former  but  of  future 
deeds.  The  implied  petition  is,  that  God  would  interpose  for  the  deUver- 
ance  of  his  people,  not  to  do  them  honour,  but  to  glorify  himself,  and 
especially  to  vindicate  his  mercy  and  fidelity,  which  seemed  to  be  dis- 
honoured by  his  desertion  of  the  chosen  people.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxix.  9, 
and  compare  Num.  xiv.  16,  Isa.  xliii,  7,  25,  xlviii.  9,  11,  Dan.  ix.  18.  The 
favour  sought  is  the  completion  of  the  work  of  restoration,  still  imperfect, 
though  auspiciously  begun. 

2.  Why  should  the  nations  say,  Where  now  is  their  God  ?  Why  should 
they  have  occasion  so  to  ask  ?  The  form  of  expression  is  borrowed  from 
Ps.  Ixxix.  10,  with  the  addition  of  (S3)  now,  which  is  not  a  particle  of  time, 

but  of  entreaty,  or,  in  this  connection,  of  triumphant  demand.  Where, 
pray,  is  their  God  ?  This  verse  is  explanatory  of  the  one  before  it,  by  shew- 
ing that  there  really  was  need  of  something  to  silence  the  reproaches  of  the 
heathen,  a  description  exactly  corresponding  to  the  state  of  the  Jews  at  the 
Restoration. 

3.  And  our  God  (is)  in  heaven;  all  that  he  pleased  he  has  done.  The 
and,  though  foreign  from  our  idiom,  adds  sensibly  to  the  force  of  the  ex- 
pression. They  ask  thus,  as  if  our  God  were  absent  or  had  no  existence ; 
and  yet  all  the  while  our  God  is  in  heaven,  in  his  glorious  and  exalted 
dwelling-place.  Compare  Ps.  ii.  4,  xi.  4,  ciii.  19.  The  same  phrase,  but 
in  the  future  tense,  is  used  by  Solomon  (Eccles.  viii.  3).  The  same  idea  is 
expressed  in  other  words.  Gen.  xviii.  14,  Job  xxiii.  13. 

4.  Their  idols  (are)  silver  and  gold,  the  work  of  the  hands  of  man.  Here 
begins  the  contrast  between  the  true  God  and  all  others.  Their  idols,  those 
of  the  Gentiles,  who  reproach  us  with  the  absence  or  indifference  of  our 
God.  For  the  associations  coupled  with  the  word  for  idols,  see  above,  on 
Ps.  cvi.  38.  Hands  of  man,  not  of  a  man,  but  .of  mankind,  i.  e.  human 
hands.  With  this  whole  passage  compare  Isa.  xl.  18-20,  xli.  7,  xliv.  9-20, 
xlvi.  5-7,  Jer.  ii.  28,  x.  3-15. 

5.  I'hey  have  a  mouth  and  speak  not ;  they  have  eyes  and  see  not.  As  the 
verb  to  have  is  wanting  in  the  Hebrew  and  its  cognate  languages  (see  above, 
on  Ps.  cxiv.  5),  it  is  not  a  literal  translation  of  the  original  expression, 
(there  is)  a  mouth  to  them,  (there  are)  eyes  to  them.  The  future  includes 
not  only  a  simple  affirmation,  they  speak  not,  they  see  not,  but  the  future  and 
potential  sense,  they  never  will  or  can  speak  or  see. 

6.  They  have  ears  and  hear  not,  they  have  a  nose  and  smell  not.  The 
antithesis  is  that  expressed  in  Ps.  xciv.  9,  that  God  is  the  former  of  the 
eye  and  the  planter  of  the  ear  in  man ;  much  more  than  can  he  see  and  hear 
himself. 

7.  They  have  hands,  and  feel  not ;  they  have  feet,  and  walk  not  ;  they  do 
not  mutter  in  their  throat.  The  sameness  of  this  long  enumeration,  the 
force  of  which  is  logical  and  not  poetical,  is  partially  reUeved  by  a  change 
in  the  form  of  the  original,  which  cannot  well  be  imitated  in  translation. 


478  Psalm  115:8 -14 

Their  hands,  and  they /eel  not ;  their  feet,  and  they  walk  not.  Some  make 
the  first  words  in  each  clause  nominatives  absolute ;  their  hands — they  feel 
not  ;  their  feet — they  walk  not.  But  in  the  preceding  parts  of  the  descrip- 
tion, the  verbs  relate  not  to  the  particular  members,  but  to  the  whole  per- 
son. It  is  better,  therefore,  to  supply  a  verb — their  hands  (are  there),  and 
(yet)  they  feel  not — their  feet  (are  there),  and  (yet)  they  go  not.  The  Eng- 
lish feel  is  to  be  taken  in  its  physical  and  outward  sense,  corresponding  to 
the  Latin  palpo,  here  used  by  the  Vulgate  and  Jerome.  A  less  equivocal 
translation  would  be  touch.  The  other  verb  denotes  all  piogressive  move- 
ments of  the  body,  comprehended  in  the  English  go.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
civ.  8.  The  meaning  of  the  last  clause  is,  that  they  cannot  even  make  the 
faintest  and  most  inarticulate  guttural  noise,  like  the  lower  animals ;  much 
less  speak  as  men  do.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  28,  Ixxi.  24. 

8.  Like  them  shall  be  those  who  made  them,  every  one  who  trusts  in  them. 
The  last  clause  forbids  the  application  of  the  first  to  the  mere  artificers,  as 
Buch,  and  fastens  it  on  those  who  trust  in  idols,  whether  made  by  them  or 
by  others  for  them.  However  formidable  now,  they  shall  hereafter  be  as 
powerless  and  senseless  as  the  gods  they  worship.  The  translation  are  is 
contrary  to  Hebrew  usage,  which  requires  the  present  tense  of  the  substan- 
tive verb  to  be  suppressed. 

9.  0  Israel,  trust  thou  in  Jehovah  ;  their  help  and  their  shield  [is)  He, 
This  is  the  practical  appUcation  of  the  conti-ast  just  presented.  Since  idols 
are  impotent  and  God  almighty,  it  is  folly  to  fear  them  or  their  servants ; 
it  is  worse  than  folly  not  to  trust  in  Him.  The  last  clause  is  borrowed 
firom  Ps.  xxxiii.  20.  After  addressing  Israel  directly  in  the  first  clause,  he 
resumes  the  third  person  in  the  second,  and,  as  if  speaking  to  himself, 
assigns  the  reason  for  the  exhortation.  The  first  clause  is,  as  it  were, 
uttered  in  a  loud  voice,  and  the  second  in  a  low  one. 

10.  0  house  of  Aaron,  trust  ye  in  Jehovah  ;  their  help  and  their  shield 
(is)  He.  Before  the  exile  this  particular  address  to  the  priests  would  have 
been  surprising.  It  is  perfectly  natural,  however,  after  the  return  from 
Babylon,  when  the  priests  bore  so  large  a  proportion,  not  only  to  the  other 
Levites,  but  to  the  whole  nation,  and  naturally  exercised  a  paramount 
influence  in  its  afiairs. 

11.  Fearers  of  Jehovah,  trust  ye  in  Jehovah  ;  their  help  and  their  shield 
(is)  He.  He  turns  again  to  the  people  at  large,  vho  are  here  described  as 
fearers  of  Jehovah,  not  in  reference  to  the  actual  character  of  all  the  indi- 
vidual members,  but  to  the  high  vocation  of  the  body.  See  above,  Ps, 
xxii.  24  (23),  cxi.  5. 

12.  Jehovah  hath  remembered  i«  ;  he  will  bless,  he  will  bless  the  house  of 
Israel ;  he  will  bless  the  house  of  Aaron.  The  exhortation  to  confide  in  God 
does  not  imply  that  he  has  yet  done  nothing.  He  has  already  shewn 
his  gracious  recollection  of  us  by  beginning  to  bless  us,  and  he  will  still  go 
on  to  bless  us ;  an  idea  simply  but  beautiftilly  expressed  by  the  repetition 
of  the  verb,  the  efiect  of  which  is  spoiled  in  the  common  version  by  need- 
lessly supplying  us. 

13.  He  will  bless  thefenrers  of  Jehovah,  the  small  with  the  great.  There 
is  no  need  of  explaining  the  great  to  be  the  priests  and  the  small  the  laity. 
It  is  much  more  natural  to  understand  this  as  an  instance  of  a  common 
Hebrew  idiom,  which  combines  small  and  great  in  the  sense  of  all,  just  as 
neither  good  nor  evil  means  neither  one  thing  nor  another,  i.  e,  nothing. 
Compare  2  Kipgs,  xviii.  24,  Jer.  xvi.  6,  Kev.  xiii.  16,  xix.  6. 

14.  May  Jehovah  add  to  you,  to  you  and  to  your  children  I    This  implies 


Psalm  115:15 -18  479 

a  previous  diminution  of  the  people,  such  ag  really  took  place  in  the  Baby- 
lonish exile.  The  optative  meaning  of  the  verb,  both  here  and  in  Gen. 
XXX.  24,  is  clear  from  Deut.  i.  11,  2  Sam.  xxiv.  3.  The  Hebrew  preposi« 
tion  strictly  means  upon  you,  and  conveys  the  idea  of  accumulation  much 
more  strongly.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxi.  14,  where  we  have  an  example  of 
the  same  construction. 

15.  Blessed  are  ye  of  Jehovah,  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth.  Ye  are  the 
people  blessed  of  old  in  the  person  of  your  father  Abraham,  by  Melchizedek, 
priest  of  the  Most  High  God,  saying,  "  Blessed  be  Abraham  of  the  Most 
High  God,  creator  of  heaven  and  earth,"  Gen.  xiv.  19.  Of  Jehovah,  lite- 
rally to  Jehovah,  as  an  object  of  benediction  to  him.  Or  the  Hebrew  pre- 
position, as  in  many  other  cases,  may  be  simply  equivalent  to  our  hy.  The 
creative  character  of  God  is  mentioned,  as  ensuring  his  ability,  no  less  than 
his  willingness,  to  bless  his  people. 

16.  The  heavens  {are)  heavens  for  Jehovah,  and  the  earth  he  has  given  to 
the  sons  of  man.  This  verse  suggests  another  reason  why  God  would  in- 
crease them,  namely,  that  although  he  reserved  heaven  for  himself,  ho 
designed  the  earth  to  be  filled  and  occupied  by  man,  and  hence  in  the 
primeval  blessing  on  mankind,  as  originally  uttered,  and  as  repeated  after 
the  flood  (Gen.  i.  28,  ix.  1),  the  command  to  increase  is  coupled  with  that 
to  fill  the  earth.  Now  if  it  is  not  God's  will  that  the  race  should  be  dimi- 
nished and  reduced  to  nothing,  much  less  can  such  be  his  intention  with 
respect  to  his  own  people.  The  form  of  expression  in  the  first  clause  is 
unusual.  The  construction  given  in  the  English  Bible  {the  heaven,  even  the 
heavens,  are  the  Lord's)  is  entirely  gratuitous,  the  distinction  of  numbers 
(heaven,  heavens),  and  the  emphatic  even,  being  both  supplied  by  the  trans- 
lators. The  Hebrew  word  is  plural  in  both  cases,  and  is  indeed  used  only 
in  that  number. 

17.  (It  is)  not  the  dead  (that)  are  to  praise  Jah,  and  not  all  (those)  going 
down  in  silence.  This  may  be  regarded  as  a  further  reason  for  expecting 
the  divine  protection.  God  has  chosen  a  people,  from  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  to  praise  him,  not  when  dead  but  living,  not  in  the  silence  of 
the  grave,  but  with  their  voices  in  the  present  life.  Thus  understood,  the 
verse  teaches  nothing  as  to  the  employments  of  the  disembodied  spirit,  or 
of  soul  and  body  in  the  future  state.  All  that  is  affirmed  here  (and  per- 
haps in  other  places  like  it)  is  that  the  praises  of  the  chosen  people,  as 
such,  must  be  limited  to  this  life.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5),  xxx.  10  (9) 
Ixxxviii.  11-13  (10-12),  and  compax'e  Isa.  xxxviii.  18.  Silence,  a  poetical 
description  of  the  grave  or  the  unseen  world,  as  in  Ps.  xciv.  17. 

18.  And  (therefore)  we  will  bless  Jah  from  now  even  to  eternity.  Hal- 
lelujah I  As  it  is  not  the  dead  who  are  to  do  it,  and  as  we  are  still  pre- 
served alive,  let  us  answer  our  vocation  and  the  very  end  of  our  existence. 
The  insensible  transition  from  temporal  to  eternal  praise  is  altogether 
natural.  The  hallelujah  refers  back  to  the  expression  praise  Jah  {yehalle- 
lujah)  in  ver.  17.  As  if  he  had  said,  Let  us  do  what  the  dead  can  not, 
shout  Hallelujah ! 

Psalm  116 

The  Church  declares  her  resolution  to  praise  Jehovah  for  the  deliverance 
which  she  has  experienced,  ver.  1,  2,  and  which  is  then  described  with 
some  particularity,  ver.  3-10,  followed  by  a  declaration  of  the  way  in  which 


480  Psalm  116:1 -6 

the  Church  means  to  express  her  gratitude,  ver.  11-19.  The  Septuagint 
and  Vulgate,  which  combine  the  two  preceding  psalms  as  one,  divide  the 
one  before  us  into  two,  with  as  httle  reason  in  the  one  case  as  the  other. 
The  state  of  things  referred  to  in  this  psalm,  as  one  of  mingled  joy  and 
grief,  and  its  peculiarities  of  language,  all  combine  to  fix  its  date  imme- 
diately after  the  return  from  Babylon. 

1.  /  love — because  Jehovah  hears  my  voice,  my  supplications.  The  com- 
mon version  gives  the  sense  correctly,  but  by  a  transposition  of  Jehovah, 
avoids  the  singular  peculiarity  of  form  in  the  original.  The  object  of  the 
verb  I  love  is  easily  supplied  from  the  remainder  of  the  sentence.  Compare 
Ps.  xviii.  2  (1),  Deut.  vi.  6.  Both  verbs  maybe  translated  in  the  present, 
though  of  different  tenses  in  the  Hebrew.  The  preterite  form  of  the  first 
(/  have  loved)  implies  that  the  occasion  had  already  been  afforded ;  the 
future  form  of  the  second  {he  will  hear),  that  it  was  continued  and  would 
be  continued.  The  last  word,  according  to  its  etymology,  means  prayers 
for  grace  or  favour. 

2.  For  he  has  inclined  his  ear  to  me,  and  in  my  days  1  will  call  {upon 
him).  The  original  idea  of  the  figure  in  the  first  clause  seems  to  be  that 
of  leaning  forward  to  catch  a  sound  otherwise  too  faint  to  be  distinctly 
audible.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxi.  3  (2),  and  compare  Ps.  xvii.  6,  Ixxi.  2, 
Ixxviii.  1,  cii.  8.  In  my  days  is  commonly  understood  to  mean  through 
all  the  days  of  my  life,  or  as  long  as  I  Hve.  Compare  Isa.  xxxix.  8,  and 
see  above,  on  Ps.  civ.  38.  /  will  call  might  be  understood  to  mean,  I  will 
still  pray  to  him  who  has  hitherto  answered  my  petitions.  But  to  call  upon 
God  is  applied  not  only  to  prayer  but  to  thanksgiving,  as  appears  from  ver. 
13  below,  where  indeed  we  have  the  execution  of  the  purpose  here  avowed. 

8.  The  bands  of  death  enclosed  me,  and  the  pangs  of  hell  found  me  ;  dis- 
tress and  grief  1  find.  Here  begins  the  description  of  the  sufierings  from 
which  God  had  delivered  him.  The  expressions  are  borrowed  from  Ps. 
xviii.  5,  6  (4,  5).  The  twofold  use  of  the  yerh  find  in  this  verse  is  analo- 
gous to  that  of  the  synonymous  verbs  catch  and  seize  in  English,  when  a 
man  is  said  to  catch  a  disease,  and  the  disease  is  said  to  seize  the  man. 
Compare  Ps.  cxix.  148  with  Prov.  vi.  83.  Bell,  in  the  wide  sense  corre- 
sponding to  sheol,  the  grave,  death,  or  the  state  of  the  dead.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5). 

4.  And  on  the  name  of  Jehovah  I  call;  ah  now,  Jehovah,  deliver  my 
soul !  The  future  in  the  first  clause  may  be  strictly  translated  (7  will  call) 
as  expressing  the  determination  which  he  formed  in  the  midst  of  his  dis- 
tress. See  above  on  Ps.  xviii.  5,  7  (4,  6).  Ah  now  corresponds  exactly, 
both  in  origin  and  meaning,  to  the  intensive  particle  of  entreaty  {7M^  for 

Uiik  from  Hhi  and  Ki),  which  the  common  version  paraphrases,  I  beseech 

thee.  One  of  the  elements  of  which  it  is  compounded  occurs  above,  Ps. 
cxv.  2. 

5.  Gracious  {is)  Jehovah  and  righteous,  and  our  God  shews  pity.  With 
the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  cxi.  4,  cxii.  4.  The  last  word  in  Hebrew  is 
the  active  participle  of  the  verb  to  pity,  to  compassionate,  and  is  here  used 
to  denote  a  habit  as  distinguished  from  a  momentary  feeling. 

6.  A  preserver  of  the  simple  {is)  Jehovah  ;  I  was  brought  low,  and  to  me 
he  brought  salvation.  Here  again  the  first  word  is  an  active  participle, 
keeping  the  simple,  i.  e.  habitually  watching  over  them.  For  the  meaning 
of  the  simple,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xix.  8  (7).  The  word  brought,  twice  used 
in  translating  this  verse,  has  nothing  distinctly  corresponding  to  it  in  the 


Psalm]  16:7 -]3  481 

Hebrew,  but  by  a  fortuitous  coincidence,  enters  into  two  English  phrases, 
by  which  the  original  verbs  may  best  be  represented.  The  verb  translated 
brought  low  means  to  be  reduced,  in  person,  strength,  or  circumstances. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxix.  8,  and  compare  the  cognate  adjective  in  Ps.  xU. 
2  (1).  The  other  is  the  common  Hebrew  verb  to  save,  here  expressed  by 
a  circimilocution,  for  the  purpose  of  retaining  the  original  construction  with 
the  preposition  to,  which  also  occurs  above,  Ps.  Ixxii.  4,  Ixxxvi.  16. 

7.  Return,  0  my  soul,  unto  thy  rest,  for  Jehovah  hath  bestowed  upon  thee 
(favour).  By  calling  on  his  soul,  which  had  been  agitated  and  alarmed,  to 
return  to  its  repose,  he  impUes  the  cessation  of  the  danger.  Best,  hteraUy 
rests  or  resting-places,  implying  fuhiess  or  completeness  of  repose.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxiii.  2.     For  the  sense  and  usage  of  (TDi)  the  last  verb, 

see  above,  on  Ps.  xiii.  6  (5),  and  compare  Ps.  vii.  5  (4),  ciii.  10.  The  un- 
usual grammatical  forms  in  this  verse  are  similar  to  those  in  Ps.  ciii.  2,  5. 

8.  For  thou  hast  delivered  my  soul  from  death,  my  eye  J'roin  weeping,  my 
foot  from  falling.     By  a  sudden  apostrophe,  God  is  now  addressed  directly. 

The  first  and  last  members  of  the  sentence  are  borrowed  from  Ps.  hri. 
14  (13).  The  second  bears  some  resemblance  to  Ps.  Ivi.  9  (8)  and  Jer. 
xxxi.  16. 

9.  1  will  walk  before  Jehovah  in  the  land  of  life  (or  of  the  living).  This 
is  also  borrowed  from  Ps.  Ivi.  14  (13),  with  the  substitution  of  land  (Ute- 
rally  lands)  for  light.  Compare  Ps.  xxvii.  18.  The  hope  here  expressed 
is  in  contrast  with  Pa.  cxv.  17. 

10.  /  believed,  for  (thus)  /  speak ;  I  was  afflicted  greatly.  I  must  have 
exercised  faith,  or  I  could  not  thus  have  spoken.  The  Septuagint  version, 
retained  in  the  New  Testament  (2  Cor.  iv.  13),  clothes  the  same  essential 
meaning  in  a  different  form,  I  believed,  therefore  have  1  spoken.  It  was 
because  his  faith  enabled  him  to  speak,  so  that  his  speaking  was  a  proof  of 
faith. 

11.  I  said  in  my  terror.  All  mankind  {are)  false.  The  form  of  expres- 
sion in  the  first  clause  is  borrowed  from  Ps.  xxxi.  23  (22).  But  instead  of 
being  a  confession  of  error  it  is  here  rather  a  profession  of  faith.  Even  in 
the  midst  of  his  excitement,  terror,  panic,  he  could  turn  away  from  all 
human  aid  and  trust  in  God  alone.  The  proposition,  all  mankind  are  false, 
i.  e.  not  to  be  trusted  or  relied  upon,  implies  as  its  complement  or  converse, 
therefore  God  alone  is  to  be  trusted.  See  the  same  contrast  stated  more 
explicitly  in  Ps.  cxviii.  8,  and  compare  Ps.  Ixii.  9,  10  (8,  9),  cviii.  18  (12), 
cxlvi.  8,  4. 

12.  How  shall  I  requite  to  Jehovah  all  his  hestouments  upon  me.  Be- 
tween this  verse  and  that  before  it,  we  must  supply  the  thought  that  his 
faith  was  rewarded  and  justified  by  the  event.  This  is  indeed  implied  in 
the  interrogation  now  before  us.  How,  Uterally  what,  i.  e.  (in)  what  {way), 
or  {by)  what  {means)  f  See  Gen.  xliv.  16.  The  mmsn&lyfOYd  bestowmenls 
is  here  used  to  represent  a  Hebrew  one  occurring  only  here,  but  evidently 
formed  from  the  verb  QDil)  to  confer  or  bestow  upon,  employed  in  ver.  7 
above.     The  pecuUar  form  both  of  the  noun  and  pronoun  (\1^7-')DJlJri)  is 

regarded  by  the  highest  philological  authorities  as  fixing  the  date  of  the 
composition  after  the  Captivity. 

13.  The  cup  of  salvations  I  wiU  take  up,  and  on  the  name  of  Jehovah 
will  call.  This  is  commonly  explained  by  a  reference  to  the  Jewish  tradi- 
tion of  a  cup  of  thanksgiving  which  accompanied  or  followed  the  thank- 


482  Psalm  116:14  -  19 

oflferings.  But  we  read  of  no  such  cup  in  Scripture,  and  its  origin  may 
probably  be  traced  to  the  rabbinical  interpretation  of  this  very  passage, 
Interpreted  by  Scriptural  analogies,  it  simply  means,  I  will  accept  the  por- 
tion God  allots  me.  For  this  figurative  use  of  cup,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xi.  6, 
xvi.  5.  The  plural  form,  salvations,  denotes  fulness  or  completeness,  as  in 
Ps.  xviii.  52  (51),  liii.  7  (6).  TaJce  up,  as  if  from  the  table  where  the 
hand  of  God  has  placed  it ;  or  lift  up,  towards  heaven  as  a  gesture  of 
acknowledgment. 

14.  My  vows  tiO  Jehovah  will  I  pay — in  the  presence  of  all  his  people. 
The  word  now,  in  the  common  version,  misleads  the  English  reader,  who 
can  scarcely  fail  to  understand  it  as  an  adverb  of  time,  meaning  at  present, 
immediately,  without  delay,  whereas  it  is  the  particle  of  entreaty  (Ki)  used 

in  Ps.  cxv.  2,  and  here  employed  to  modify  the  bold  avowal  of  a  purpose, 
by  makiag  it  dependent  on  divine  permission.  As  if  he  had  said  :  my  vows 
to  Jehovah  I  will  pay — let  me  do  it  in  the  presence  (I  entreat)  of  all  his 
people.  The  same  meaning  is  attached  by  some  to  the  augmented  or 
paragogic  form  of  the  word  translated  presence,  and  which  strictly  means  the 
front  or  forepart.  Both  these  peculiarities  are  reckoned  among  the  indica- 
tions of  a  later  age  of  Hebrew  composition. 

15.  Precious  in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah  {is)  the  death  of  his  gracious  ones  (or 
saints).  The  idea  and  expression  are  borrowed  from  Ps.  Ixxii.  14,  where 
the  same  thing  is  said  of  their  blood.  The  word  for  death  has  the  same 
peculiarity  of  form  as  that  for  presence  in  ver.  14,  and  is  construed  in  the 
same  way  with  the  preposition  to,  the  death  to  his  saints,  i.  e.  the 
death  belonging  to  them,  which  they  die.  These  are  regarded  by  the 
critics  as  additional  tokens  of  the  age  in  which  the  psalm  was  written.  The 
verse  assigns  the  reason  for  the  preceding  vow,  to  wit,  that  God  counts  the 
death  of  his  people  too  costly  to  be  lightly  or  gratuitously  suffered. 

16.  Ah  now,  Jehovah — -for  I  {am)  thy  servant,  I  [am)  thy  servaut,  the 
son  of  thy  handmaid  ;  thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds.  The  expression  of  en- 
treaty at  the  beginning  has  reference  to  some  thing  not  expressed,  though 
easily  supplied,  namely  permission  thus  to  testify  his  gratitude.  Ah  now, 
Lord  (suffer  me  thus  to  do)  for  I  am  thy  servant,  &c.  The  additional 
phrase,  son  of  thy  handmaid,  is  much  stronger  than  thy  servant,  and  de- 
scribes him  as  a  home-born  slave.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxvi.  16.  In  the 
last  clause  we  have  another  instance  of  a  preposition  (7)  intei'posed  between 
the  active  verb  and  its  object,  in  a  way  unlmown  to  the  older  Hebrew.  It 
is  possible,  however,  to  translate  the  words,  thou  hast  freed  {me)  as  to  {i.  e. 
from)  my  bonds. 

17.  To  thee  will  I  sacrifice  a  sacrifice  of  thanks,  and  on  the  name  of 
Jehovah  will  I  call.  The  sense  is  not,  I  will  offer  thanks  instead  of  an 
oblation,  but  an  oblation  really  expressive  of  thanksgiving  and  appointed 
for  that  purpose. 

18.  ]\Iy  vows  to  Jehovah  will  I  pay  in  the  presence  (I  entreat)  of  all  his 
people.     An  exact  repetition  of  ver.  14,  with  all  its  singularities  of  form. 

19.  In  the  courts  of  the  house  of  Jehovah,  in  the  midst  of  thee,  Jerusalem. 
Hallelujah !  This  verse  completes  the  one  before  it,  and  explains  the  phrase, 
before  all  his  23eople.  Some  regard  it  as  a  proof  that  the  psalm  was 
composed  after  the  actual  rebuilding  of  the  temple.  But  in  Ezra  ii.  68, 
iii.  8,  we  find  the  designation  house  of  God  applied  to  the  consecrated  site. 
The  use  of  the  word  courts  is  still  more  natural,  because  it  originally 
means  enclosures,  which  might  be  and  no  doubt  were  defined,  long  before 
the  temple  was  rebuilt.     This  explanation  seems  to  be  confirmed  by  the 


Psalms  117—118:]  483 

addition  of  the  last  clause.     In  the  courts  of  the  Lord's  house,  that  is,  on 
the  consecrated  spot  in  the  midst  of  thee,  0  Jerusalem,  the  Holy  City. 

Psalm  117 

This,  which  is  the  shortest  psalm  in  the  collection,  has  evidently  no  in- 
dependent character  or  even  meaning  of  its  own,  but  was  designed  to  be 
a  chorus  or  doxology  to  a  longer  composition.  Its  position  is  sufficiently 
accounted  for  by  the  assumption,  that  it  was  primarily  meant  to  serve  the  pur- 
pose just  described  with  reference  to  the  psalm  or  to  the  trilogy  immediately 
preceding  ;  while  its  being  separately  written  as  an  independent  psalm  may 
have  arisen  from  the  purpose  to  use  it  sometimes  in  a  different  connection, 
with  which  view  it  would  naturally  be  left  moveable,  like  the  doxologies  in 
our  modern  books,  which  may  be  attached  to  any  psalm  or  hymn,  at  the 
discretion  of  the  person  who  conducts  the  service. 

1.  Praise  Jehovah,  all  ye  nations;  laud  him,  all  ye  peoples.  The  last  word 
is  a  different  plural  from  that  in  Gen.  xxv.  16,  Num.  xxv.  15,  and  belongs, 
no  doubt,  to  the  later  Hebrew.  Here,  as  in  Ps.  xlvii.  2  (1),  Ixvi.  8,  xc\-iii.  4, 
the  whole  world  is  invited  to  praise  God  for  his  favours  shewn  to  Israel. 

2.  For  mighty  over  us  has  been  his  mercy,  and  the  truth  of  Jehovah  (is)  to 
eternity.  Hallelujah  !  The  verb  at  the  beginning  means  not  merely  to  be 
great,  but  to  be  strong  or  powerful.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ciii.  11.  The  pre- 
position over  suggests  the  idea  of  protection,  or,  if  translated  on,  that  of 
favour  descending  from  above. 

Psalm  118 

After  an  invitation  to  praise  God  for  his  goodness  to  his  people,  ver. 
1-4,  the  occasion  of  this  praise  is  more  particularly  stated,  namely,  that  he 
has  delivered  Israel  from  great  distress,  and  thereby  proved  himself  worthy  of 
their  highest  confidence,  ver.  5-14.  After  another  statement  of  the  favour 
just  experienced,  ver.  15-18,  the  people  are  described  as  entering  the 
sanctuary,  there  to  give  thanks  and  implore  the  divine  blessing  on  the  en- 
terprise in  which  they  are  engaged,  ver.  19-29.  The  ideal  speaker,  through- 
out the  psalm,  is  Israel,  as  the  Church  or  chosen  people.  The  deliverance 
celebrated  cannot  be  identified  with  any  one  so  naturally  as  with  that  from 
the  Babylonish  exile.  Some,  on  account  of  supposed  allusions  to  the  temple 
as  already  built,  refer  the  psalm  to  the  times  of  Nehemiah.  Others,  with  more 
probability,  though  not  with  absolute  conclusiveness,  infer  from  the  tone  of 
lively  joy  and  thankfulness  pervading  the  whole  composition,  that  it  was 
written  and  originally  sung  soon  after  the  return  ;  and  from  the  allusions 
in  ver.  22,  25,  that  it  has  reference  to  the  founding  of  the  second  temple, 
and  is  the  very  psalm,  or  one  of  the  psalms  mentioned  in  the  history,  Ezra 
iii.  10,  11,  where  its  first  and  last  words  are  recited.  The  mention  of 
David  in  that  passage  is  accounted  for  by  the  assumption  that  this  psalm 
was  sung  only  as  a  part  of  the  whole  series,  which  opens  with  a  Davidic 
trilogy,  Ps.  cviii.-cx. 

1.  Give  thanks  unto  Jehovah,  for  {he  is)  good,  for  unto  eter)uty  (is)  his 
mercy.  The  opening  formula  is  common  to  this  psalm  with  Ps.  cvi.  and 
cvii.  Its  elements  are  also  found,  combined  with  others,  in  Ps.  c.  4,  5. 
With  the  second  member  of  the  sentence  compare  Ps.  xxv.  8,  Ixxiii.  1. 


484  Psalm  118:2 -9 

2.  Oh  that  Israel  would  say — -for  unto  eternity  (is)  his  mercy.  The  first 
clause  of  this  translation  is  a  paraphrase  of  the  original,  to  which  the 
particle  of  entreaty  (S3)  gives  a  strong  optative  meaning.    Here,  as  in  Ps. 

cxvi.  14,  18,  the  common  version  (now)  is  equivocal.  That  version  also 
has  that  instead  of  for,  in  the  last  clause  of  this  and  the  two  next  verses. 
This  translation  is  perfectly  grammatical,  and  makes  the  sentence  more 
complete  in  itself.  But  besides  that  it  breaks  the  studied  uniformity  of  the 
context  by  varying  the  version  of  the  particle  03),  the  dependence  of  the 

clause  on  the  preceding  verse,  required  and  denoted  by  the  use  of  the  word 
for,  is  really  essential  to  the  writer's  object.  It  is  as  if  he  had  said,  the 
reason  for  thus  urging  man  to  praise  Jehovah  is  because  his  mercy  endureth 
for  ever,  and  oh  that  Israel  would  join  in  affirming  this  reason.  Oh  that 
Israel  would  say  (I  will  give  thanks),  for  his  mercy  endureth  for  ever. 

3,  4.  Oh  that  the  house  of  Aaron  would  say — 'for  unto  eternity  (is)  his 
mercy. ^  Oh  that  the  fearers  of  Jehovah  would  say — 'for  unto  eternity  (is) 
his  mercy.'  The  succession  of  Israel,  the  house  of  Aaron,  and  the  fearers 
of  Jehovah,  in  this  and  the  following  verses,  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  cxv. 
9-11.  This  and  the  trine  repetitions  in  ver.  10-12,  15,  16,  compared 
with  that  in  Ps.  cxv.  12, 13,  are  corroborations  of  the  assumed  affinity 
between  the  psalms  of  this  whole  series,  both  in  origin  and  purpose. 

6.  Out  of  anguish  I  invoked  Jah  ;  heard  me  in  a  wide  place  Jah.  The 
first  noun  is  a  rare  one,  common  to  this  place  and  Ps.  cxvi.  3,  another  in- 
dication of  affinity.  Heard,  in  the  pregnant  sense  of  heard  favourably, 
heard  and  answered.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  22  (21).  As  the  word  tran- 
slated anguish  originally  means  pressure,  confinement,  the  appropriate 
figure  for  relief  from  it  is  a  wide  room,  ample  space,  enlargement.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  iv.  2  (1).  To  answer  in  a  wide  place  is  to  grant  his 
prayer  by  bringing  him  forth  into  such  a  place. 

6.  Jehovah  (is)  for  me  ;  I  will  not  fear  ;  what  can  man  do  to  me?  In- 
stead of /or  me,  i.  e.  in  my  favour,  on  my  side,  the  Hebrew  (v)  may  also 

be  translated  to  me,  i.  e.  is  or  belongs  to  me,  is  mine.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ivi.  5,  10,  12  (4,  9,  11).  Man  does  not  here  mean  a  man,  but  mankind, 
or  Man  as  opposed  to  God. 

7.  JehovaJi  is  for  me,  among  my  helpers,  and  I  shall  look  upon  my  haters. 
Here  again,  the  first  clause  may  be  rendered,  Jehovah  is  to  me  (or  I  have 
Jehovah)  among  or  with  my  helpers.  With  this  last  expression  compare 
Ps.  xlv.  10  (9),  xcix.  6.  The  construction  in  the  last  clause  is  the  idio- 
matic one  meaning  to  see  with  joy  or  triumph,  or  to  see  their  punishment 
and  subjugation.  See  above,  on  Ps.  liv.  9  (7),  and  with  the  whole  verse 
compare  Ps.  liv.  6  (4).  As  the  ideal  speaker  is  the  ancient  church  or 
chosen  people,  the  haters  or  enemies  here  meant  are  primarily  heathen 
persecutors  and  oppressors. 

8.  It  is  good  to  confide  in  Jehovah  (more)  than  to  trust  in  man.  This 
and  the  next  verse  affirm  clearly  and  fiilly  what  is  more  obscurely  intimated 
in  Ps.  cxvi.  11.  As  the  Hebrew  has  no  distinct  form  of  comparison,  this 
is  the  nearest  possible  approach  to  saying,  it  is  better.  Than,  literally 
from,  away  from,  implying  difference,  and  then  comparison,  but  not  ex- 
pressing it.  The  verb  confide  is  the  expressive  one  originally  meaning  to 
take  refuge  or  find  shelter.     See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  12. 

9.  Il  is  good  to  confide  in  Jehovah  (more)  than  to  trust  in  nobles.  This 
merely  strengthens  the  foregoing  declaration,  by  rendering  it  more  specific 
and  emphatic.     The  Lord  is  more  to  be  confided  in,  not  merely  than  the 


Psalm  118:10- 13  485 

mass  of  men,  but  than  their  chiefs.  Nobles  is  a  better  translation  than 
j.rinces,  because  it  keeps  up  the  association  with  the  adjective  sense  noble, 
generous,  hberal,  spontaneous,  which  is  otherwise  lost  sight  of.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  li.  14  (12).  Even  the  Persian  patrons  and  protectors  of  the 
Jews  had  not  entirely  deserved  their  confidence ;  nor  at  all,  in  comparison 
with  Jehovah  their  covenanted  God. 

10.  All  the  nations  surround  me  ;  in  the  name  of  Jehovah — that  I  will 
cut  them  off.  The  hyperbolical  expression,  all  the  nations,  is  less  strange 
than  it  might  otherwise  appear,  because  (D^il)  nations  had  now  begun  to  be 

familiarly  applied  to  the  gentiles  or  heathen,  not  as  organized  bodies  merely, 
but  as  individuals,  especially  when  numerous.  There  is  nothing  unnatural, 
therefore,  in  the  use  of  this  expression  to  describe  the  heathen  adversaries 
of  the  Jews  at  the  period  of  the  Kestoration,  not  excepting  the  Samaritans, 
who,  though  they  claimed  to  be  a  mixed  race,  were  really  heathen,  both  in 
origin  and  character.  Another  way  in  which  the  hyperbole  may  be  ex- 
plained, or  rather  done  away,  is  by  supposing  the  first  clause  to  be  sub- 
stantially although  not  formally  conditional.  Should  all  nations  (or  thoug 
all  nations  should)  surround  me.  The  strongest  sense  may  then  be  put 
upon  the  words  all  nations,  as  the  act  ascribed  to  them  is  merely  hypothe- 
tical. The  construction  of  the  last  clause  is  unusual  and  doubtful.  Some 
arbitrarily  make  the   ^3  a  particle  of  affirmation,  yea,  yes,  verily,  &c. 

Others  gain  the  same  sense  by  explaining  the  whole  phrase  to  mean,  (it  is 
true,  or  it  is  certain)  that  I  will  cut  them  off.  The  same  use  of  the  particle 
is  thought  to  be  exemplified  in  Isa.  vii.  9.  Perhaps  the  best  solution  is  the 
one  afforded  by  the  Hebrew  usage  of  suppressing  the  principal  verb  in  oaths 
or  solemn  affirmations.  If  this  may  be  omitted  even  when  there  is  nothing 
to  denote  the  character  of  the  expression,  and  when  the  form  of  the  expres- 
sion itself  is  liable  to  misconstruction,  as  for  instance  in  the  formula  with 
if,  much  more  may  it  be  omitted  where  the  sense  of  the  expression  is  quite 
clear,  and  its  juratory  or  imprecatory  character  denoted  by  accompanying 
words.  The  sense  will  then  be,  in  the  name  of  Jehovah  (I  swear  or 
solemnly  affirm)  that  I  will  cut  them  off.  This  last  verb  always  means  to 
cut,  and  except  in  Ps.  xc.  6,  where  one  of  its  derived  forms  is  used,  to 
circumcise.  It  was  here  used,  as  some  suppose,  to  suggest  that  the  uncir- 
cumcised  enemies  of  Israel,  as  they  are  often  called,  should  be  cut  or  cut 
off"  in  another  sense.  Compare  the  play  upon  the  corresponding  Greek 
words  in  Phil.  iii.  2,  3. 

11.  They  surround  me,  yea  they  surround  me;  in  the  name  of  Jehovah 
(I  declare)  that  I  will  cut  them  off.  The  same  sentence  is  repeated  with  a 
slight  variation,  which  consists  in  the  omission  of  the  subject  and  the 
iteration  of  the  verb,  rendered  more  emphatic  by  a  change  of  form.  The 
word  translated  yea  means  also,  likewise,  but  cannot  be  so  used  in  the 
English  idiom.  The  climax  indicated  may  be,  that  the  act  described  is  no 
longer  hypothetical  but  actual.  They  surround  me;  yes,  they  really,  in 
fact,  surround  me. 

12.  They  surround  me  like  bees  ;  they  are  quenched  as  a  fire  of  thorns  ;  in 
the  nams  of  Jehovah  (I  declare)  that  luill  cut  them  off.  This  completes  the 
trina  repetition  so  characteristic  of  these  psalms.  The  point  of  comparison 
with  bees  is  their  swarming  multitude  and  irritating  stings.  Compare  Deut. 
i.  44.  That  with  thorns  is  the  rapidity  and  ease  with  which  they  are  both 
kindled  and  extinguished.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Iviii.  10  (9). 

13.  Thou  didst  thrust,  thrust  at  me,  to  (make  me)  fall,  and  Jehovah 


486  Psalm  118:14 -19 

helped  me.  By  a  lively  apostrophe  the  enemy  is  here  addressed  directly, 
that  is,  the  hostile  heathen  power,  from  whose  oppression  Israel  had  just 
been  rescued.  See  above,  on  ver.  7.  The  verb  to  thrust  or  strike  at  is  the 
root  of  the  noun  translated /a?/m^  in  Ps.  Ivi.  14  (13),  cxvi.  8. 

14.  3fy  strength  and  song  (is)  Jah,  and  he  has  become  my  salvation. 
These  words  are  from  Exod.  xv.  2.  The  first  clause  is  also  borrowed  by 
Isaiah  (xii.  2).  My  strength  and  song,  my  protection  or  deliverer,  and  as 
such  the  object  of  my  praise.  Become  my  salvation,  literally  has  been  to  me 
for  salvation,  a  strcoiger  though  synonymous  expression  for  my  saviour. 

15.  T/ie  voice  of  joy  and  salvation  in  the  tents  of  the  righteous — the  right 
hand  of  Jehovah  has  made  strength.  The  word  translated  joy  means  properly 
the  audible  expression  of  it  by  shout  or  song,  and  is  sometimes  applied  even  to 
a  cry  of  distress.  Compare  Ps.xxx.  6  (5),xlii.  5(4),xlvii.  2(l),withPs.  xvii.l, 
Ixi.  2  (1).  Joy  and  salvation  are  related  as  cause  and  effect,  joy  occasioned 
by  salvation.  Tents,  a  poetical  expression  for  dwellings.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xci.  10.  The  righteous,  the  true  Israel,  the  people  of  God,  as  such 
considered.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiii.  1.  The  substantive  verb  (is)  may  be 
supplied  in  this  verse,  so  as  to  make  it  a  complete  proposition  ;  or  it  may 
be  a  kind  of  exclamation,  as  if  he  had  said.  Hark!  the  voice  of  joy,  &c. 
Compare  Isa.  xl.  3,  6.  The  last  clause  may  then  be  understood  as  contain- 
ing the  words  uttered  by  the  voice.  The  idiomatic  phrase  at  the  end  may 
either  mean  that  God  has  acquired  or  exerted  strength.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ix.  14  (12),  cviii.  14. 

16.  The  right  hand  of  Jehovah  is  raised,  the  right  hand  of  Jehovah  makes 
strength.  This,  with  the  last  clause  of  ver.  15,  makes  another  of  the  trip- 
lets or  trine  repetitions,  which  are  characteristic  of  these  psalms.  See 
above,  on  ver.  2-4,  10—12.  Instead  of  is  raised  some  read  raises  or  exalts, 
which  is  equally  grammatical,  as  the  active  and  passive  forms  in  this  case 
are  coincident.  The  meaning  then  is,  that  his  right  hand  raises  or  exalts 
his  people,  as  the  other  clause  says  that  his  right  hand  gains  or  exercises 
strength  in  their  behalf.  It  seems  more  natural,  however,  to  explain  it  as 
an  instance  of  a  common  figure  which  describes  God's  hand  as  raised,  when 
he  exerts  his  power. 

17.  I  shall  not  die  but  live,  and  recount  the  works  of  J  ah.  The  existence 
thus  to  be  preserved  is  that  of  Israel,  and  the  last  clause  describes  the  final 
cause  of  that  existence,  which  is  here  stated  as  a  ground  of  confidence,  and 
is  elsewhere  urged  as  an  argument  in  prayer.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cxv.  17, 
cxvi.  9,  15,  and  compare  Ps.  Ixxi.  20.  The  original  construction  of  the 
first  clause  is,  I  shall  not  die,  for  I  shall  live. 

18.  Surely  has  Jah  chastened  me,  but  to  death  did  not  give  me.  This 
verse,  though  simple  in  its  structure  and  transparent  in  its  meaning,  is 
highly  idiomatic  in  its  form.  The  adverb  used  in  the  translation  represents 
the  emphatic  repetition  of  the  verb  in  Hebrew,  which  is  sometimes  imitated 
in  the  English  Bible  (chastening  has  Jah  chastened  me),  but  seldom  so  as  to 
convey  the  whole  idea.  Of  such  a  repetition  we  have  had  an  instance  in 
ver.  13.  Another  unavoidable  departure  from  the  original  form  consists  in 
using  but  for  and,  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  clause.  Did  not  give,  give 
up,  give  over  or  abandon.  The  chastisement  here  mentioned  must  be  the 
calamity  from  which  the  people  had  been  recently  deUvered,  and  in  which 
we  have  already  seen  good  grounds  to  recognise  the  Babylonish  conquest, 
domination  and  captivity. 

19.  Open  ye  to  me  the  gates  of  righteousness,  I  will  come  in  hy  them,  I 
mil  thank  Jah.    This  may  have  been  intended  to  accompany  the  entrance  of 


Psalm  118:20-23  487 

the  priests  and  people  into  the  sacred  enclosure,  for  the  purpose  of  laying 
the  foundation  of  the  temple,  as  when  David  pitched  the  tabernacle  on 
Mount  Zion.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiv. 

20.  This  {is)  the  gate  (that  belongs)  to  Jehovah  ;  the  righteous  shall  come 
in  by  it.  Or  the  meaning  may  be,  since  this  is  the  Lord's  gate,  let  the 
righteous  (and  no  others)  enter  at  it.  Many  interpreters  find  obvious  indi- 
cations here  of  double  or  responsive  choirs,  by  which  the  psalm  was  to  be 
Bung.  But  this,  though  possible,  is  not  a  necessary  supposition,  nor  is 
there  any  certain  trace  of  such  a  usage  oi  arrangement  elsewhere  in  the 
book  of  Psalms.     See  above,  pp.  109,  110,  112. 

21.  I  will  thank  thee,  for  thou  hast  answered  me,  and  hast  become  'my 
salvation.  This  verse  assigns  the  reason  for  their  entrance.  Answered,  in 
the  specific  sense  of  answering  or  granting  prayer.  See  above,  on  ver.  6. 
The  last  clause  is  from  ver.  14. 

22.  TJie  stone  (which)  the  builders  rejected  has  become  the  head  of  the 
corner.  This  is  a  proverbial  expression,  and  as  such  applicable  to  any  case, 
in  which  what  seemed  to  be  contemptible  has  come  to  honour.  This  mode 
of  expressing  the  idea  was  most  probably  suggested  by  the  founding  of  the 
temple.  There  is  no  need,  however,  of  supposing  any  actual  dispute  among 
the  Jewish  builders  in  relation  to  tbe  corner  stone  of  the  sacred  edifice.  The 
sight  of  the  stone,  or  the  act  of  laj-ing  it,  would  be  sufiicient  to  suggest  the 
proverb  and  its  application  to  the  happy  change  experienced  by  Israel,  so 
lately  blotted  from  the  list  of  nations,  and  regarded  by  the  heathen  as  un- 
worthy even  of  an  humble  place  in  the  proud  fabric  of  consolidated  empire, 
but  now  restored  not  only  to  a  place,  but  to  the  highest  place  among  the 
nations,  not  in  point  of  power,  wealth,  or  worldly  glory,  but  as  the  chosen 
and  peculiar  people  of  the  Most  High  God.  As  this  psalm  was  sung  by 
the  people  at  the  last  Jewish  festival  attended  by  our  Saviour,  ho  applied 
this  proverb  to  himself,  as  one  rejected  by  the  Jews  and  by  their  rulers,  yet 
before  long  to  be  recognised  as  their  Messiah  whom  they  had  denied  and 
murdered,  but  whom  God  had  exalted  as  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  to  give 
repentance  to  Israel  and  remission  of  sins  (Acts  v.  31).  This,  though  really 
another  appUcation  of  the  proverb  in  its  general  meaning,  has  a  certain 
affinity  with  its  original  application  in  the  verse  before  us,  because  the  for- 
tunes of  the  ancient  Israel,  especially  in  reference  to  great  conjunctures,  bore 
a  designed  resemblance  to  the  history  of  Christ  himself,  by  a  kind  of  sym- 
pathy between  the  Body  and  the  Head.  Even  the  temple,  which  suggested 
the  original  expression,  did  but  teach  the  doctrine  of  divine  inhabitation, 
and  was  therefore  superseded  by  the  advent  of  the  Son  himself.  The  head 
of  the  corner  means  the  chief  or  comer-stone  of  the  foundation,  even  in  Zech. 
iv.  7,  where  it  is  translated  head  stone.  The  application  of  the  verse  before  us 
made  by  Christ  himself  (Matt.  xxi.  42)  is  renewed  by  Peter  (Acts.  iv.  11.) 

23.  From  Jehovah  is  this  ;  it  is  wonderfully  done  in  our  eyes.  This 
signal  revolution  in  the  condition  of  the  chosen  people  is  not  the  work  of 
man  but  of  God.  From  the  Lord,  i.  e.  proceeding  from  him  as  its  author. 
7s  this,  literally  has  been,  i.  e.  happened,  come  to  pass.  In  the  last  clause 
it  is  said  to  be  not  merely  wonderful,  but  wonderfully  done,  the  Hebrew 
word  being  a  passive  participle,  which  strictly  means  distinguished,  made  to 
difier,  made  strange,  strangely  done.  Its  plural  is  continually  used  as  a 
noun  in  application  to  God's  wondrous  works  or  doings.  This,  no  less  than 
the  proverb  to  which  it  is  attached,  was  as  appropriate  to  the  case  of  the 
Messiah  as  to  that  of  his  people,  and  is  accordingly  applied  in  the  same 
manner  by  himself  (Matt.  xxi.  42). 


488  Psalm  118:24-27 

24.  This  is  the  day  Jehovah  has  made,  we  will  rejoice  and  triumph  in  it. 
By  the  day  we  are  here  to  understand  the  happier  times  which  Israel, 
through  God's  grace,  was  permitted  to  enjoy.  This  day  he  is  said,  as  the 
author  of  this  blessed  revolution,  to  have  made,  created.  Some  understand 
by  day  the  festival  or  celebration,  at  which  the  psalm  was  intended  to  be 
sung.  The  day,  in  this  sense,  God  is  said  to  have  made  or  instituted,  not 
so  much  by  positive  appointment  as  by  having  providentially  afforded  the 
occasion  for  it.  In  a  still  higher  sense,  the  words  may  be  applied  to  the 
new  dispensation,  as  a  glorious  change  in  the  condition  of  the  church,  com- 
pared with  which  the  restoration  from  captivity  was  nothing,  except  as  a 
preUminary  to  it  and  a  preparation  for  it.  There  is  no  allusion  to  the 
weekly  Sabbath,  except  so  far  as  it  was  meant  to  be  a  type  of  the  rest  of 
the  church  from  the  heavy  burdens  of  the  old  dispensation. 

25.  Ah  now,  Jehovah,  save,  we  beseech  thee!  Ah  now,  Jehovah,  prosper, 
we  beseech  thee !  The  circumlocution,  we  beseech  thee,  is  the  only  form  in  which 
the  force  of  the  supplicatory  particle  (^<J)  can  be  expressed,  without  the 

risk  of  its  being  mistaken  for  an  adverb  of  time.    The  whole  phrase  (niVK/'in 

MU)  save,  we  pray,  became  a  standing  formula  of  supplication  with  reference 

to  great  public  interests  or  undertakings,  and  reappears  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment under  the  form  Hosanna.  See  Matt.  xxi.  9,  where  we  find  it,  in  the 
acclamations  of  the  multitude,  combined  with  other  expressions  from  this 
same  psalm  which,  as  we  have  seen,  they  were  accustomed  to  sing  at  their 
great  festivals.     See  above,  on  ver.  22. 

26.  Blessed  be  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  Jehovah  I  We  bless  you 
from  the  house  of  Jehovah.  According  to  the  accents,  the  construction  of 
the  first  clause  is,  blessed,  in  the  name  of  Jehovah,  be  he  that  cometh.  This 
agrees  exactly  with  the  frequent  mention  of  blessing  in  the  name  of  Jehovah. 
See  below,  Ps.  cxxix.  8,  and  compare  Num.  vi.  27,  Deut.  xxi.  5,  2  Sam. 
vi.  18.  He  that  cometh  is  commonly  and  not  improbably  supposed  to  have 
meant  primarily  the  people  or  their  representatives,  to  whom,  as  they  ap- 
proach the  sacred  spot,  these  words  were  to  be  uttered.  There  were  other 
thoughts,  however,  which  the  words  could  hardly  fail  to  suggest,  for  ex- 
ample that  of  Israel  coming  back  from  exile,  that  of  God  coming  back  to 
his  forsaken  people,  and  at  least  in  the  most  enlightened  minds,  that  of  the 
great  Deliverer,  to  whose  coming  all  the  rest  was  but  preparatory,  to  whom 
the  name  i^jlTl  or  6  i^yoiuiw^  was  afterwards  given  as  a  standing  appellation, 

in  allusion  either  to  this  passage  or  to  Mai.  iii.  1,  or  to  both,  and  to  whom 
this  very  sentence  was  applied  by  the  multitude  who  witnessed  and  attended 
Christ's  triumphal  entrance  into  the  Holy  City.     See  Matt.  xxi.  9. 

27.  Mighty  {is)  Jehovah  and  hath  given  light  to  us.  Bind  the  sacrifice 
with  cords  as  far  as  the  horns  of  the  altar.  The  first  word  does  not  express 
the  general  idea  of  divinity,  but  that  of  divine  power,  which  is  no  doubt 
essential  to  the  writer's  purpose.  It  was  the  power  of  Jehovah  which  had 
turned  the  night  of  Israel  to  day,  and  illumined  the  darkness  of  their  sore 
distress  with  the  light  of  his  returning  favour.  The  figure  is  borrowed  from 
the  pillar  of  fire,  the  token  of  Jehovah's  presence  with  his  people  in  the 
wilderness.  See  Exod.  xiii.  21,  xiv.  20,  Neh.  ix.  12.  The  last  clatise  has 
been  the  subject  of  a  good  deal  of  dispute.  It  is  commonly  admitted  that 
On)  a  Hebrew  word,  which  properly  denotes  a  periodical  or  stated  festival, 

is  here  put  for  the  victim  offered  at  it,  as  in  Exod.  xxiii.  18,  the  fat  of  my 
sacrifice  is  in  Hebrew  the  fat  of  my  festival  C'SH),  and  in  2  Chron.  xxx.  22, 


Psalm  118:28,29  489 

another  word  for  festival  (lyta)  is  used  in  precisely  the  same  way,  being 

governed  by  the  verb  to  eat,  although  this  singular  expression  is  avoided  in 
the  English  Bible,  by  the  use  of  the  word  "  throughout."  Those  who 
agree  in  this,  however,  are  at  variance  in  relation  to  the  act  required.  As 
the  word  translated  cords  is  sometimes  applied  to  the  thick  boughs  or 
branches  of  a  tree  (Ezek.  xix.  11,  xxxi.  3,  10,  14),  some  understand  the 
sense  to  be.  Bind  the  sacrifice  with  branches,  sacrilicial  wreaths.  But  this 
practice,  and  the  meaning  put  upon  the  Hebrew  word,  are  both  denied  by 
others  who  allege,  moreover,  the  repeated  combination  of  the  same  verb  and 
noun  in  the  sense  of  tying,  making  fast,  with  cords.  See  Judges  xv.  13, 
xvi.  11,  Ezek.  iii.  25.  The  English  Bible  makes  the  clause  refer  to  the 
fastening  of  the  victim  to  the  altar.  To  this  it  is  objected  that  the  prepo- 
position  (1^)  means  as/aras,  and  impUes  a  verb  of  motion,  expressed  or  under- 
stood. To  avoid  this  difficulty,  some  of  the  latest  writers  understand  the 
words  to  signify  the  conducting  of  the  victim  bound  until  it  reaches  the 
altar  as  the  place  of  sacrifice.  Hold  fast  the  sacrifice  with  cords,  until  it 
comes  to  the  horns  of  the  altar,  poetically  put  for  the  altar  itself,  not  only 
as  its  prominent  or  salient  points,  but  as  the  parts  to  which  the  blood,  the 
essential  vehicle  of  expiation,  was  applied.  Thus  understood  the  clause  is 
merely  an  invitation  to  fulfil  the  vow  recorded  in  Ps.  cx\'i.  14,  17,  18. 

28.  My  God  art  thou,  and  I  will  thank  thee;  my  God,  I  will  exalt  thee. 
The  Hebrew  words  for  God  are  not  the  same.  The  second  is  that  commonly 
so  rendered,  while  the  first  is  that  used  in  ver.  27,  and  denoting  the  divine 
omnipotence. 

29.  Give  thanks  unto  Jehovah,  for  {He  is)  good,  for  unto  eternity  (is)  his 
mercy.  In  these  words  we  are  brought  back  to  the  point  from  which  we 
started,  and  the  circle  of  praise  retiurns  into  itself. 


Psalm  119 

There  is  no  psalm  in  the  whole  collection  which  has  more  the  appear- 
ance of  having  been  exclusively  designed  for  practical  and  personal  improve- 
ment, without  any  reference  to  national  or  even  to  ecclesiastical  relations, 
than  the  one  before  us,  which  is  wholly  occupied  with  praises  of  God's  word 
or  written  revelation,  as  the  only  source  of  spiritual  strength  and  comfort, 
and  with  prayers  for  grace  to  make  a  profitable  use  of  it.  The  prominence 
of  this  one  theme  is  sufficiently  apparent  from  the  fact,  to  which  the  Masora 
directs  attention,  that  there  is  only  one  verse  which  does  not  contain  some 
title  or  description  of  the  word  of  God.  But  notwithstanding  this  pecuUar 
character,  the  position  of  the  psalm  in  the  collectton,  and  especially  its  jux- 
taposition with  respect  to  Ps.  cviii.-cxviii.,  its  kindred  tone  of  mingled 
gratitude  and  sadness,  and  a  great  variety  of  minor  verbal  correspondences, 
have  led  some  of  the  best  interpreters  to  look  upon  it  as  the  conclusion  of 
the  whole  series  or  system  of  psalms,  supposed  to  have  been  written  for  the 
use  of  the  returned  Jews,  at  or  near  the  time  of  the  founding  of  the  second 
temple.  The  opinion,  held  by  some  of  the  same  writers,  that  the  ideal 
speaker,  throughout  this  psalm,  is  Israel,  considered  as  the  church  or  chosen 
people,  will  never  commend  itself  as  natural  or  likely  to  the  mass  of  readers, 
and  is  scarcely  consistent  with  such  passages  as  ver.  68,  74,  79,  and  others, 
where  the  speaker  expressly  distinguishes  himself  as  an  individual  from  the 
body  of  the  people.     The  same  difficulty,  in  a  less  degree,  attends  the 


490  Psalm  119:1 -6 

national  interpretation  of  the  psalms  immediately  preceding.  Perhaps  the 
best  mode  of  reconciling  the  two  views  is  by  supposing  that  this  psalm  was 
intended  as  a  manual  of  pious  and  instructive  thoughts,  designed  for  popular 
improvement,  and  especially  for  that  of  the  younger  generation  after  the 
return  from  exile,  and  that  the  person  speaking  is  the  individual  believer, 
not  as  an  isolated  personality,  but  as  a  member  of  the  general  body,  with 
which  he  identifies  himself  so  far,  that  many  expressions  of  the  psalm  are 
strictly  applicable  only  to  the  whole  as  such  considered,  while  others  are 
appropriate  only  to  certain  persons  or  to  certain  classes  in  the  ancient 
Israel.  To  this  design  of  popular  instruction,  and  especially  to  that  of  con- 
stant repetition  and  reflection,  the  psalm  is  admirably  suited  by  its  form 
and  structure.  The  alphabetical  arrangement,  of  which  it  is  at  once  the 
most  extended  and  most  perfect  specimen,  and  the  aphoristic  character, 
common  to  all  alphabetic  psalms,  are  both  adapted  to  assist  the  memory,  as 
well  as  to  give  point  to  the  immediate  impression.  It  follows,  of  course, 
that  the  psalm  was  rather  meant  to  be  a  store-house  of  materials  for  pious 
meditation  than  a  discourse  for  continuous  perusal.  At  the  same  time,  the 
fact  of  its  existence  in  the  Psalter  is  presumptive  proof  that  it  was  used  ia 
pubUc  worship,  either  as  a  whole,  or  in  one  or  more  of  the  twenty-two 
stanzas  into  which  it  is  divided,  corresponding  to  the  letters  of  the  Hebrew 
alphabet,  all  the  eight  verses  of  each  paragraph  beginning  with  the  same 
Hebrew  letter. 

1.  Happy  the  perfect  of  way,  i.  e.  blameless  in  their  course  of  life,  those 
walking  in  the  law  of  Jehovah.  There  seems  to  be  allusion  to  the  precept 
^  Lev.  xviii.  4.  The  common  version  of  the  second  Hebrew  word  {unde- 
jiled)  is  derived  from  the  Vulgate  {immaculati),  which  is  itself  too  confined 
a  version  of  the  Septuagint  (a/iw^ao/).  The  essential  idea  is  that  of  com- 
pleteness or  perfection.  The  form  and  construction  of  the  first  word  are 
the  same  as  in  Ps.  i.  1. 

2.  Happy  the  keepers  of  his  testimonies  (who)  with- a  whole  heart  seek  him. 
Keepers,  observers,  those  obeying.  Testimonies,  the  divine  precepts,  which 
bear  witness  against  sin  and  in  behalf  of  holiness.  With  all  the  heart,  un- 
divided affection.  See  above,  Ps.  cxi.  1,  and  compare  2  Kings  xxiii.  3. 
Seek  him,  the  knowledge  of  his  will  and  the  enjoyment  of  his  favour. 

8.  (Who)  also  do  not  practise  turong,  (but)  in  his  ways  walk.  This  verse 
both  hmits  and  completes  the  one  before  it,  by  shewing  that  no  zeal  in 
seeking  God  can  be  acceptable,  if  coupled  with  a  wicked  Hfe.  In  his  ways, 
not  in  those  of  his  enemies,  nor  even  in  their  own. 

4.  Thou  hast  commanded  thy  precepts,  to  be  kept  strictly.  Commanded, 
given  them  in  charge,  entrusted  others  with  them.  The  literal  meaning  of 
the  last  clause  -is,  to  keep  very  {much),  i.  e.  not  formally  or  superficially, 
but  really  and   thoroughly.     Compare   the  use  of  (Hi^O)  as  a  noun  in 

Deut.  vi.  5. 

6.  0  that  my  ways  were  settled,  to  observe  thy  statutes  !  The  optative 
particle  at  the  beginning  occurs  only  here  and,  with  a  slight  difference  of 
poiutuag,  2  Kings  v.  3.  My  ways,  my  customary  modes  of  acting,  my 
habits.  Settled,  fixed,  confirmed,  established,  in  opposition  to  capricious 
vacillation  and  unsteadiness.  To  observe,  to  watch  for  the  purpose  of  obey- 
ing. The  word  translated  statutes,  according  to  its  etymology,  means 
definite  and  permanent  enactments. 

6.  Then  shall  I  not  be  shamed,  in  my  looking  unto  all  thy  commandments. 
The  then  at  the  beginning  has  respect  to  the  time  mentioned  in  the  last 
clause.     Shamed,  put  to  shame,  defeated,  frustrated,  disappointed  in  one's 


Psalm  119:7 -13  491 

highest  hopes.  In  my  looking  suggests  the  idea  both  of  time  and  of  causa- 
tion, when  I  look  and  becatise  I  look.  The  act  itself  is  that  of  looking 
towards  a  mark  to  be  attained,  or  towards  a  model,  rule,  or  standard,  to  be 
followed  and  conformed  to. 

7.  I  will  thank  thee  with  rectitude  of  heart,  in  my  learning  the  judgments 
of  thy  righteousness.  It  is  only  my  experience  of  thy  righteous  judgments 
that  enables  me  to  praise  thee  as  I  ought ;  a  sentiment  peculiarly  appro- 
priate to  the  period  of  some  great  dehverance,  for  instance  that  of  the 
return  from  exile,  when  the  righteousness  of  God  had  been  so  signally  dis- 
played in  the  destruction  of  his  enemies,  and  in  the  fulfilment  of  his  pro- 
mise to  his  people.  Here  again,  in  my  learning  does  not  mean  merely 
after  I  have  learned,  but  in  the  very  act  and  in  consequence  of  learning. 

8.  Thy  statutes  I  will  keep  ;  Oh  forsake  me  not  utterly.  The  fixed  reso- 
lution to  obey  is  intimately  blended  with  a  consciousness  of  incapacity  to 
do  so,  unless  aided  by  divine  grace.  Utterly,  unto  extremity,  or  still  more 
literally,  until  very  (much).  The  initial  words  of  this  first  stanza  are  all 
difibrent,  except  thatver.  1,  2,  both  begin  with  (>Hi^i^)  happiness  or  happy. 

9.  By  uhat  (means)  can  a  youth  cleanse  his  path,  (so)  as  to  keep  (it)  ac- 
cording to  thy  word  ?  To  cleanse  is  here  to  keep  clean  or  pure  from  the 
stain  of  sin.  Most  interpreters  regard  the  last  clause  as  an  answer  to  the 
question  in  the  first.  But  this  requires  the  infinitive  to  be  construed  as  a 
gerund  [by  keeping),  a  construction  too  rare  and  doubtful  to  be  anywhere 
assumed  without  necessity.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  18,  cxi.  6.  It  is 
much  more  simple  and  agreeable  to  usage  to  regard  the  whole  as  one  inter- 
rogation, and  the  second  clause  as  supplementary  to  the  first.  To  keep 
m&j  then  mean  to  adhere  to  it,  or  rather,  in  accordance  with  the  figure  of 
the  first  clause,  to  preserve  it  clear  or  pure  as  God  requires.  The  answer 
is  suppressed,  or  rather  left  to  be  inferred  from  the  whole  tenor  of  the 
psalm,  which  is,  that  men,  and  especially  the  young,  whose  passions  and 
temptations  are  strong  in  proportion  to  their  inexperience,  can  do  nothing 
of  themselves  but  are  dependent  on  the  grace  of  God.  The  omission  of  an 
an  answer,  which  is  thus  suggested  by  the  whole  psalm,  rather  strengthens 
than  impairs  the  impression  on  the  reader. 

10.  With  my  whole  heart  have  I  sought  thee ;  let  me  not  err  from  thy  com- 
mandments. While  the  first  clause  alleges  his  sincerity  in  seeking  God, 
the  second  and  third  owns  his  dependence  on  him  for  success  and  safety. 

11.  In  my  heart  have  I  hid  thy  saying,  that  I  may  not  sin  against  thee. 
The  first  phrase  means  within  me,  as  opposed  to  a  mere  outward  and  cor- 
poreal possession  of  the  written  word.  Not  in  my  house,  or  in  my  hand, 
but  in  myself,  my  mind,  with  special  reference,  in  this  case,  to  the  memory. 
Hid,  not  for  concealment,  but  for  preservation.  The  word  saying,  else- 
where used  to  signify  God's  promise,  here  denotes  his  precept,  as  it  does 
in  ver.  67  below.  Against  thee,  Hterally  as  to,  with  respect  to  thee.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  li.  6  (4). 

12.  Blessed  (be)  thou,  Jehovah  !  Teach  me  thy  statutes  I  The  doxology 
seems  designed  to  break  the  uniformity  of  this  series  of  aphorisms,  by  an 
occasional  expression  of  strong  feeling.  At  the  same  time,  it  furnishes  a 
kind  of  ground  for  the  petition  in  the  last  clause.  Since  thou  art  the 
blessed  and  eternal  God,  have  pity  on  my  weakness,  and  instruct  me  in  the 
knowledge  of  thy  will. 

13.  With  my  lips  have  1  recounted  all  the  judgments  of  thy  mouth.  I 
have  not  confined  the  knowledge  of  thy  precepts  to  my  own  mind,  but  im- 


492  Psalm  119:14 -24 

parted  it  to  others.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xl.  10,  11  (9,  10).  Judgments, 
judicial  decisions,  determinations  as  to  what  is  right  and  binding,  a  descrip- 
tion perfectly  appropriate  to  the  divine  precepts.  0/  thy  mouth,  which  thou 
hast  uttered.  There  seems  to  be  allusion  to  the  phrase  with  my  lips  in  the 
first  clause. 

14.  In  the  way  of  thy  testimonies  I  rejoice  as  over  all  wealth.  Not 
merely  in  the  knowledge  of  God's  will,  but  in  the  doing  of  it,  in  treading 
the  path  which  he  prescribes  for  us.  Over  may  be  simply  equivalent  to  in, 
or  intended  to  suggest  the  additional  idea  of  superiority,  above,  (or  more 
than)  all  wealth.  As  over,  as  I  do  over  all  the  wealth  I  have,  or  as  I  should 
do  over  all  wealth  if  I  had  it. 

15.  In  thy  precepts  will  I  meditate,  and  look  (at)  thy  paths.  Not  only  of 
thy  precepts  or  concerning  them,  but  in  them,  while  engaged  in  doing  them. 
Look  has  the  same  sense  as  in  ver.  6. 

16.  In  thy  statutes  I  will  delight  myself;  I  will  not  forget  thy  word. 
Delight  or  enjoy  myself,  seek  my  pleasure,  find  my  happiness.  Here  ends 
the  second  stanza,  in  which  all  the  verses  except  one  (ver.  12)  begin  not 
only  with  the  same  letter  but  the  same  word,  the  preposition  (2)  in. 

17.  Grant  to  thy  servant  (that)  I  may  live,  and  I  will  keep  thy  word. 
Grant  to,  bestow  upon,  thy  servant  this  favour.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xiii. 
6  (5).  There  may  be  an  allusion  to  the  way  in  which  the  law  connects  Ufe 
and  obedience.     See  Lev.  xviii.  5,  Deut.  vi.  24. 

18.  Uncover  my  eyes  and  I  toill  look — wonders  out  of  thy  law!  The  last 
clause  is  a  kind  of  exclamation  after  his  eyes  have  been  uncovered.  This 
figure  is  often  used  to  denote  inspiration,  or  a  special  divine  communication. 
Out  of  thy  law,  i.  e.  brought  out  to  view,  as  if  from  a  place  of  concealment* 

19.  A  stranger  {am)  I  in  the  earth  ;  hide  not  from  me  thy  commandments. 
A  stranger,  an  exile,  one  without  friends  or  home,  a  poetical  description  of 
calamity  in  general,  not  without  allusion  to  the  captivity  both  in  Babylon 
and  Egypt,  and  to  the  consequent  mention  of  strangers  in  the  Law  as 
objects  of  compassion.  The  prayer  in  the  last  clause  is,  that  God  will  not 
withhold  from  him  the  knowledge  of  his  will. 

20.  My  soul  hreaketh  with  longing  for  thy  judgments  at  every  time.  The 
Hebrew  verb  occurs  only  here,  but  its  meaning  is  determined  by  the  cognate 
dialects.  The  word  translated  longing  belongs  also  to  the  later  Hebrew. 
Its  verbal  root  occurs  below  in  ver.  40,  174.  Judgments  includes  God's 
precepts  mentioned  in  ver.  19,  and  his  penal  inflictions  on  the  wicked  men- 
tioned in  ver.  21. 

21.  Thou  hast  rebuked  the  proud,  the  accursed,  those  wandering  from  thy 
commandments.  Compare  Ps.  ix.  6  (5).  Kebuked,  not  merely  by  word  but 
by  deed,  i.  e.  punished. 

22.  Boll  from  off  me  reproach  and  contempt,  for  thy  testimonies  I  have 
kept.  The  first  verse  coincides  in  form  with  that  at  the  beginning  of  ver. 
18,  but  is  from  a  difierent  root.  There  is  an  obvious  allusion  to  the  rolling 
off  of  the  reproach  of  Egypt,  Joshua  v.  9. 

23.  Also  princes  sat  and  at  me  talked  together,  and  thy  servant  muses  of 
thy  statutes.  This  is  one  of  the  expressions  in  the  psalm  not  literally  appli- 
cable to  the  individual  believer,  and  regarded  therefore  as  a  proof  of  its 
national  design  and  import.  The  princes  are  then  the  chiefs  of  the  sur- 
rounding nations.     The  also  (DJl)  seems  to  be  inserted  merely  on  account  of 

the  alphabetical  arrangement  which  requires  the  letter  gimel. 

24.  Also  thy  testimonies  {are)  my  delights,  the  men  of  my  counsel.      He 


Psalm  119:25 -31  493 

calls  them  his  counsellors,  in  opposition  to  the  malignant  counsels  of  the 
enemy.  Delights,  enjoyments,  happiness,  the  plural  form  denoting  fulness 
and  completeness.  Two  of  the  verses  in  the  stanza  ending  here  begin  with 
(DJ)  also,  and  two  with  pj),  though  in  different  senses. 

25.  My  soul  cleaveth  unto  the  dust ;  quicken  thou  me  according  to  thy 
word.  The  first  clause  seems  intended  to  suggest  two  consistent  but  dis- 
tinct ideas,  that  of  deep  degradation,  as  in  Ps.  xHv.  26  (25),  and  that  of 
death,  as  in  Ps.  xxii.  30  (29).  The  first  would  be  more  obvious  in  itself, 
and  in  connection  with  the  parallel  referred  to  ;  but  the  other  seems  to  be 
indicated  as  the  prominent  idea  by  the  correlative  petition  in  the  last  clauf  e. 
Quicken,  i.  e.  save  me  alive,  or  restore  me  to  Ufe,  the  Hebrew  word  being  a 
causative  of  the  verb  to  live.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  4  (3).  Thy  'word, 
the  promise  annexed  to  thy  commandment,  as  in  ver.  28  below. 

26.  My  ways  have  I  recounted,  and  thou  hast  answered  me  ;  teach  me  thy 
statutes.  The  first  clause  is  not  to  be  restricted  to  a  confession  of  sin, 
though  that  may  be  included,  but  extended  to  a  statement  of  his  cares, 
anxieties,  and  affairs  in  general.  Hence  the  correlative  expression,  thou 
hast  answered  me,  the  Hebrew  verb  being  specially  appropriated  to  the  hear- 
ing or  answering  of  prayer,  i.  e.  granting  what  it  asks.  The  last  clause 
expresses  a  desire  to  testify  his  gratitude  for  God's  compassion  by  obeying 
his  commandments,  with  the  usual  acknowledgment  that  these  cannot  be 
executed  without  divine  assistance,  or  even  known  without  divine  instruction. 

27.  The  ivay  of  thy  precepts  make  me  understand,  and  I  will  muse  of  thy 
wonders.  The  first  clause  expresses  the  same  wish,  arising  from  the  same 
consciousness  of  weakness,  as  in  ver.  26.  The  verb  in  the  last  clause  is 
one  of  those  in  the  usage  of  which  the  ideas  of  speech  and  meditation  run 
continually  into  one  another.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Iv.  18  (17),  Ixix.  13  (12), 
Ixxiv.  4,  7  (3,  6),  cv.  2. 

28.  My  soul  weeps  from  sorrow ;  raise  me  up  according  to  thy  word. 
The  meaning  of  the  first  verb  seems  to  be  determined  by  Job  xvi.  20,  where 
the  same  thing  is  predicated  of  the  eye.  The  oldest  versions  make  it  mean 
to  slumber  (LXX.  svvsra^sv.  Vulg.  dormitavit),  which  would  make  the 
clause  remarkably  coincident  with  Luke  xxii.  45. 

29.  The  way  of  falsehood  remove  from  me,  and  thy  law  grant  unto  me 
graciously.  The  way  mentioned  in  the  first  clause  is  that  of  unfaithfalnesa 
to  God's  covenant,  or  of  apostasy  from  it.  See  above,  ver.  21.  Remove, 
a  causative  in  Hebrew,  meaning  make  to  depart.  The  common  version  of 
the  last  verb,  as  above  given,  is  a  correct  paraphrase  of  the  Hebrew  verb 
(iJn)  to  be  gracious,  to  act  graciously,  and  here  still  more  specifically,  to 

give  graciously,  to  bestow  as  a  free  favour.  To  give  the  law  is  still,  as  in 
the  preceding  verses,  to  make  it  known  by  a  divine  illumination. 

30.  The  way  of  truth  have  I  chosen  ;  thy  judgments  have  I  set  (before  me). 
Truth,  in  the  sense  of  faithfulness,  fidelity  to  obligations,  the  opposite  of 
the  falsehood  mentioned  in  ver.  29.  His  own  choice  coincides  with  the 
divine  requisitions.  Judgments,  as  in  ver.  7,  13,  above.  /  have  set,  i.  e. 
before  me,  as  an  end  to  be  aimed  at,  and  a  rule  to  be  followed.  The 
Hebrew  verb  occurs  above,  Ps.  xviii.  34  (33),  xxi.  6  (5),  Ixxxix.  20  (19), 
and  the  full  phrase,  Ps.  xvi.  8.     The  Septuagint  renders  it  here,  /  havenot 

forgotten. 

31.  I  have  cleaved  unto  thy  testimonies,  0  Jehovah,  put  me  not  to  shams. 
The  first  verb  is  the  same  with  that  in  ver.  25.  XJrtto,  literally  in,  as  if 
implying  a  complete  absorption  in  the  object.    See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  2.    Testi- 


494  Psalm  119:32 -39 

monies,  precepts,  as  in  ver.  2.  Shame  me  not,  suflFer  not  my  hopes  to  be 
disappointed  and  confounded.  The  Hebrew  verb  is  a  causative  of  that  in 
ver.  6. 

32.  77ie  way  of  thy  commandments  will  I  run,  for  thou  wilt  enlarge  my 
heart.  The  verb  to  run  expresses  a  more  zealous  obedience  than  the  usual 
expression  walk.  To  enlarge  is  sometimes  to  relieve  from  confinement. 
See  above  on  Ps.  cxviii.  5.  But  the  whole  phrase,  to  enlarge  the  heart, 
Beems,  especially  in  this  connection,  to  denote  a  change  in  the  afiections 
leading  to  more  prompt  obedience.  Of  the  eight  verses  in  this  stanza  five 
begin  with  the  noun   C^TjT)  way  or  its  plural,  and  two  with  the  verb 

Q?^"^)  to  cleave. 

83.  Guide  me,  Jehovah,  (in)  the  way  of  thy  statutes,  and  I  will  keep  it  (to 
the)  end.  The  first  verb  is  here  used  ia  its  primary  sense  of  shewing  or 
pointing  out  the  way,  from  which  is  deduced  the  secondary  one  of  teaching. 
Keep  it,  observe  it,  adhere  to  it,  keep  in  it.  The  last  word  in  Hebrew, 
which  occurs  above,  in  difierent  senses  and  connections,  Ps.  xix.  12  (11), 
xl.  16  (15),  Ixx.  4  (3),  is  used  adverbially  here  and  in  ver.  112  below. 

84.  MaJce  me  understand  (it)  and  I  will  keep  thy  law,  and  will  observe  it 
vnth  a  whole  heart.  The  first  verb  is  too  vaguely  rendered  in  the  English 
versions  (give  me  understanding).  It  has  here  the  same  sense  as  in  ver. 
27,  and  the  object  is  to  be  supplied  from  the  next  member  of  the  sentence. 
The  form  of  the  last  verb  is  one  expressing  strong  desire  and  fixed  deter- 
mination.    With  a  whole  heart,  or  unth  all  (my)  heart,  as  in  ver.  2. 

85.  Make  me  tread  in  the  path  of  thy  commandments,  for  in  it  do  I  delight. 
The  first  verb  is  the  causative  of  that  used  in  Ps.  vii.  13  (12),  xi.  2,  xxxvii. 
14,  xci.  13.  1  delight,  have  delighted,  not  at  present  merely  but  in  time 
past. 

36.  Incline  my  heart  unto  thy  testimonies,  and  not  to  gain.  Here  again 
the  sense  of  absolute  dependence  or  divine  influence  is  strongly  implied. 
Testimoriies,  as  in  ver  31.  Gain,  profit,  lucre,  as  in  Ps.  xxx.  10  (9),  but 
here  put  for  overweening  love  of  it,  supreme  devotion  to  it. 

37.  Turn  away  my  eyes  from  seeing  falsehood ;  in  thy  ways  quicken  me. 
The  first  verb  strictly  means  to  cause  to  pass  (or  turn)  away.  Falsehood  is 
not  the  word  so  rendered  in  ver.  29,  but  the  negative  term  (l^lliO  meaning 

vanity,  nonentity,  and  here  applied  to  all  objects  of  religious  trust  besides 
God.  These  the  Psalmist  desires  not  even  to  see,  much  less  to  gaze  at 
with  dehght  and  confidence.  See  above,  Ps.  xxxi.  7  (6),  xl.  5  (4),  Ix.  13 
(11),  Ixii.  10  (9).  Quicken  me,  save  me  or  make  me  alive,  as  in  ver.  25. 
In  thy  ways,  by  leading  me  in  the  way  of  thy  commandments. 

38.  Make  good  to  thy  servant  thy  word  which  (thou  hast  spoken)  to  thy 
fearers.  The  first  verb  means  to  cause  to  stand,  to  set  up,  to  establish,  to 
confirm,  and  in  this  connection  to  fulfil  or  verify.  To  thy  servant,  not 
merely  to  me,  but  to  me  who  am  thy  servant,  in  a  special  and  emphatic  sense, 
which  is  applicable  either  to  the  chosen  people  as  a  whole,  or  to  its  indivi- 
dual members.  Thy  word,  as  in  ver.  25,  28.  To  thy  fearers,  literally  to 
thy  fear,  the  abstract  being  put  for  the  concrete  term :  or  it  might  be  ren- 
dered/or thy  fear,  that  thou  mayest  be  feared.     See  below,  on  Ps.  cxxx.  4. 

39.  Turn  away  my  disgrace  which  1  dread,  for  thy  judgments  {are)  good. 
The  first  word  is  the  same  with  that  in  ver.  37,  meaning  make  (or  cause)  to 
pass  away.  In  this  connection  it  might  either  mean  to  remove  or  to  avert ; 
bnt  the  latter  agrees  better  with  the  next  phrase,  which  I  dread.     The 


Psalm  119:40-46  495 

original  is  not  the  common  Hebrew  word  for  fear,  but  one  used  by  Moses 
in  precisely  the  same  sense  as  here.  See  Deut.  ix.  19,  xxviii.  60,  and  com- 
pare Job  ix.  28.  Thy  judgments  are  good,  i.  e.  prompted  and  controlled 
by  infinite  goodness,  and  should  therefore  fall  upon  the  wicked,  not  the 
righteous. 

40.  Behold,,  I  long  for  thy  precepts  ;  in  thy  righteoxisness  quicken  me. 
The  first  word  is  equivalent  to  see  (or  thou  seest)  that  it  is  so,  and  involves 
an  appeal  to  the  divine  omniscience.  The  first  verb  is  the  root  of  the  noun 
longing  in  ver.  20.  To  long  for  God's  precepts  is  to  long  for  the  know- 
ledge of  them  and  for  grace  to  obey  them.  The  last  clause  prays  that  since 
God's  judgments  are  good  (ver.  39),  instead  of  killing  they  may  make  alive. 
See  above,  on  ver.  17,  25,  37.  In  the  stanza  closing  with  this  verse,  only 
one  initial  word  is  repeated,  namely  (l^yn)  cause  to  pass  or  turn  away. 

41.  And  let  thy  mercies  come  (unto)  me,  0  Jehovah,  thy  salvation,  accord- 
ing to  thy  word.  That  the  stanzas  were  not  meant  to  be  regarded  as  dis- 
tinct and  independent  compositions,  is  clear  from  the  copulative  {and)  at 
the  beginning  of  this  verse.  Mercies,  suited  to  my  various  necessities. 
Come  to  me,  or  upon  me,  or  into  me,  which  are  the  ideas  commonly  expressed 
by  this  verb  when  construed  directly  with  a  noun.  See  above,  Ps.  xxxv.  8, 
xxxvi.  12  (11),  c.  4.  Salvation  is  in  apposition  with  mercies,  being  that  in 
which  all  other  gifts  and  favours  are  summed  up  and  comprehended.  With 
the  last  words  compare  ver.  38  above. 

42.  And  (then)  /  will  answer  my  reviler  a  word  ;  for  I  trust  in  thy  word. 
The  best  answer  to  the  calumnies  and  insults  of  his  enemies  is  that  afforded 
by  his  manifest  experience  of  God's  favour,  and  the  practical  vindication 
thereby  afforded.  The  addition  of  tvord,  which  in  our  idiom  is  superfluous, 
may  have  some  reference  to  its  use  in  the  corresponding  clause.  As  if  he 
had  said.  Only  let  thy  word  be  fulfilled,  and  I  shall  have  a  word  to  say  in 
answer  to  my  enemies. 

43.  A?id  take  not  out  of  my  mouth  (this)  word  of  truth  utterly,  for  in  thy 
judgments  do  I  hope.  Deprive  me  not  of  this  conclusive  answer  to  my 
enemies,  by  withholding  that  providential  vindication  of  my  character  and 
practical  attestation  of  thy  favour  towards  me,  which  I  confidently  look  for. 
The  first  verb  is  used  in  its  primary  sense  (Gen.  xxxii.  12),  from  which 
comes  the  usual  but  secondary  one  of  snatching  out  of  danger,  extricating, 
saving.  For  the  literal  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  phrase  translated  utterly, 
see  above,  on  ver.  8.  The  last  phrase  in  the  verse  means,  for  thy  judgments 
I  have  waited,  i.  e.  confidently  looked  for  their  appearance. 

44.  And  I  will  observe  thy  laio  always,  tmto  eternity  amd  perpetuity. 
Not  merely  for  a  time,  or  for  the  purpose  of  securing  this  triumph  over  his 
enemies,  but  for  ever,  to  express  which  idea  the  three  strongest  terms 
afi'orded  by  the  language  are  combined.  As  the  keeping  of  the  law,  so  often 
mentioned  in  this  psalm,  has  evident  reference  to  the  present  life,  the  strong 
promise  of  perpetual  obedience,  in  the  verse  before  us,  is  considered  by 
some  writers  as  a  proof  that  the  ideal  speaker  is  not  an  individual  beUever, 
but  the  church  or  chosen  people. 

45.  And  1  will  walk  in  a  wide  place,  for  thy  precepts  have  I  sought. 
Free  from  the  pressure  and  confinement  to  which  he  had  been  previously 
subject.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cxviii.  5.  Sought  thy  precepts,  i.  e.  sought  to 
know  them  and  to  do  them.  Compare  the  combination,  k^ep  and  seek,  in 
1  Chron.  xxviii.  8. 

46.  And  I  will  speak  of  thy  testimonies  hifore  kings,  and  will  not  he  ashamed. 


496  Psalm  119:47 -50 

Here  again  some  eminent  interpreters  have  found  an  indication  of  the 
national  design  and  meaning  of  the  whole  psalm,  as  the  individual  believer 
could  not  be  expected  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth  in  such  a  presence.  He 
might,  however,  do  so,  as  one  of  the  component  parts  of  the  whole  body. 
But  the  words  are  really  expressive  only  of  a  readiness  to  declare  the  divine 
testimony  against  sin,  in  any  presence,  even  the  most  august,  if  it  should 
be  necessary.  This  passage  seems  to  have  been  present  to  our  Saviour's 
mind  when  he  uttered  the  prediction  in  Mat.  x.  18.  Ashamed  has  here  its 
strict  sense,  as  denoting  a  painful  feeling  of  humiliation. 

47.  And  I  will  delight  myself  in  thy  commandments  which  I  love.  I  will 
not  obey  them  merely  from  a  selfish  dread  of  punishment  or  painful  sense 
of  obligation,  but  because  I  love  them  and  derive  my  highest  happiness 
from  doing  them.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xix.  12  (11).  The  first  verb  has  the 
same  sense  as  in  ver.  16.  The  past  tense  of  the  last  verb  (I  have  loved) 
represents  his  love  to  God's  commandments  as  no  new-bom  and  capricious 
passion,  but  a  settled  habit  and  affection  of  his  soul. 

48.  And  I  will  raise  my  hands  to  thy  commandments  which  I  love,  and 
I  will  muse  of  thy  statutes.  The  raising  of  the  hands  is  a  symbol  of  the 
Taising  of  the  heart  or  the  affections  to  some  elevated  object.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xxviii.  2.  Which  I  love,  or  have  loved,  as  in  ver.  47,  the  terms  of 
which  are  studiously  repeated  with  a  fine  rhetorical  eflect,  which  is  further 
heightened  by  the  and  at  the  beginning,  throwing  both  verses,  as  it  were, 
into  one  sentence.  As  if  he  had  said,  I  will  derive  my  happiness  from  thy 
commandments,  which  I  love  and  have  loved,  and  to  these  commandments, 
which  I  love  and  have  loved,  I  will'lift  up  my  hands  and  heart  together.  For 
the  meaning  of  the  last  clause,  see  above,  on  ver.  27.  The  connective  force 
of  the  conjunction  and  must  not  be  urged  in  this  verse,  as  it  was  needed  to 
supply  the  initial  vau,  a  letter  with  which  scarcely  any  Hebrew  words  begin. 

49.  Remember  (thy)  word  to  thy  servant,  hecause  thou  hast  made  me  to 
hope.  The  obvious  meaning  of  the  first  clause  is,  remember  the  word 
(spoken)  to  thy  servant.  But  Hebrew  usage  makes  it  probable,  that  the 
first  and  last  words  of  the  clause  are  to  be  construed  together,  so  as  to 
mean  remember  for  thy  servant,  i.  e.  for  his  benefit,  as  in  Ps.  xcviii.  8, 
cvi.  45.  Word  is  then  absolutely  put  for  promise,  as  in  Ps.  Ivi.  11  (10), 
and  the  meaning  of  the  whole  clause  is,  remember  thy  promise  in  com- 
passion to  thy  servant.  The  common  version  of  the  last  clause  {upon 
which,  dc.)  is  forbidden  by  the  facts,  that  the  Hebrew  verb  is  never  con- 
strued elsewhere  with  the  preposition  on,  and  that  Hebrew  usage  would 

require  a  different  combination  {vb}f  'Wi^)  to  convey  the  sense  Supposed. 

That  the  one  here  used  ("nifK  by)  may  mean  because,  is  clear  from  Deut. 
xxix.  24,  2  Sam.  iii.  30.  The  same  verb  that  means  to  hope  in  ver.  43  is 
used  as  a  causative,  to  make  hope,  here  and  in  Ezek.  xiii.  6. 

50.  This  (is)  my  comfort  in  my  suffering,  and  thy  word  quickens  me. 
The  reference  to  continued  sufiering  in  the  first  clause,  and  to  its  partial 
cessation  in  the  second,  agrees  well  with  the  condition  of  the  chosen  people 
when  restored  from  exile.  The  terms,  however,  are  so  chosen  as  to  be 
equally  appropriate  to  personal  afflictions,  restorations,  and  deliverances. 
The  word  for  comfort  occurs  elsewhere  only  in  Job  vi.  10,  where  it  has 
precisely  the  same  form.  Thy  word  includes  thy  decree  or  order  and  thy 
promise.  Quickens,  saves  alivcj  or  restores  to  Ufe,  according  to  the  prayer 
in  ver.  25,  37,  40.     The  past  tense  (has  quickened)  impUes  that  the  con- 


Psalm  119:51 -56  497 

Bervative  or  restorative  effect  has  already  been  experienced,  though  not  yet 
perfected. 

51.  Proud  {ones)  deride  me  greatly ;  from  thy  law  I  swerve  not  Both 
verbs  are  in  the  past  tense,  which  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  derision 
here  complained  of,  although  recent,  had  now  ceased  or  been  abated.  The 
clause  agrees  well  with  the  scOrn  excited  in  the  heathen  neighbours  of  the 
restored  Jews  by  what  seemed  to  be  their  mad  attempt  to  build  the  temple. 
The  omission  of  a  connective  makes  the  antithesis  more  pointed.  Swerved, 
dechned,  or  turned  aside.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xliv.  19  (18),  and  tompare  Ps. 
xl.  5  (4).  The  first  word  in  the  verse  is  one  commonly  applied  to  pre- 
sumptuous high-handed  sinners.     Sec  above,  on  Ps.  xix.  14  (13). 

52.  /  liave  remembered  thy  judgments  from  eternity,  Jehovah,  and  con- 
soled myself.  His  faith  and  hope  under  present  trials  are  sustained  by 
recollection  of  the  past.  Thy  judgments,  not  merely  the  punishments 
inflicted  on  thy  enemies,  but  all  the  exhibitions  of  thy  righteousness  in 
outward  act,  including  the  deliverances  of  thy  people.  From  eternity,  or 
from  an  indefinite  antiquity,  which  is  the  primary  meaning  of  the  Hebrew 
word.  There  is  no  reason  for  discarding  the  reflexive  form  of  the  last  verb, 
as  some  versions  do,  especially  as  it  suggests  the  idea,  ijot  of  a  mere  passive 
reception  of  the  comfort,  but  of  an  active  effort  to  obtain  it. 

53.  Bage  has  seized  me  from  wicked  (men)  abandoning  thy  law.  No 
English  word  is  strong  enough  to  represent  the  first  one  in  the  Hebrew  of 
this  verse  except  rage  or  fury.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xi.  6.  It  here  denotes 
the  highest  pitch  of  indignant  disapproval.  From,  i.  e.  arising  or  proceed- 
from,  because  of.  Forsaking  thy  law,  not  only  refusing  in  practice  to  obey 
it,  but  avowedly  abjuring  its  authority. 

54.  Songs  for  me  have  been  thy  statutes  in  the  house  of  my  sojournings. 
Instead  of  abjuring  them  as  presumptuous  sinners  do,  I  make  them  the 
subject  of  my  thankful  and  triumphant  songs  (Isa.  xxiv.  16),  even  while  I 
sojourn  as  a  pilgrim  and  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land.  The  house  of  my 
sojournings,  i.  e.  the  house  where  I  sojourn,  is  an  imitation  of  the  phrase, 
land  of  sojournings,  which  occurs  so  often  in  the  patriarchal  history.  See 
Gen.  xvii.  8,  xxviii.  4,  xxxvi.  7,  xxxvii.  1 .  Pilgrimage  is  less  exact,  because 
it  suggests  the  idea  of  locomotion  rather  than  of  rest.  The  statutes  of  God 
are  thus  rejoiced  in,  not  as  mere  requisitions,  but  as  necessarily  including 
promises. 

55.  /  remember  in  the  night  thy  name,  Jehovah,  and  observe  thy  law. 
The  night  is  mentioned  as  the  natural  and  customary  season  of  reflection 
and  self-recollection,  and  also  as  the  time  when  pains  of  every  kind  are 
usually  most  acute.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xci.  5.  With  this  clause  and  the 
verse  preceding  compare  Job  xxxv.  10.  Thy  name,  i.  e.  all  that  is  denoted 
by  thy  names,  and  more  especially  by  the  one  here  mentioned,  thy  eternal 
self-existence  and  thy  covenant  relation  to  thy  people. 

56.  This  has  been  to  me,  for  thy  precepts  I  have  kept.  The  usual  inter- 
pretations, this  I  had  because  I  kept  thy  precepts,  and  this  I  have  (namely) 
that  I  keep  thy  precepts,  are  almost  unmeaning.  When  taken  in  connection 
with  the  one  before  it,  the  true  sense  of  the  verse  appears  to  be,  that  what 
he  was  thus  wont  to  promise  or  resolve,  he  had  performed.  The  substan- 
tive verb  is  to  be  taken  in  the  sense  which  it  so  often  has  in  history.  This 
has  happened  to  me,  come  to  pass,  been  verified  in  my  experience.  In  the 
stanza  which  here  ends,  three  verses  begin  with  some  form  of-  the  verb  (")!)?) 

to  remember,  and  two  with  the  pronoun  (/^hit)  this. 


498  Psalm  119:57 -62 

57.  My  portion,  0  Jehovah,  I  have  said,  {is)  to  keep  thy  words.  This 
construction  is  rejected  by  Hengstenberg  and  others,  as  forbidden  by  the 
accents  and  the  analogy  of  Ps.  xvi.  5,  Ixxiii.  26.  But  as  the  same  words  may 
either  express  the  sense  here  given  or  my  portion  (is)  Jehovah,  we  are  at 
liberty  to  choose  the  one  best  suited  to  the  context,  even  in  opposition  to 
the  accents,  which  cannot  be  regarded  as  an  ultimate  authority.  In  favour 
of  the  sense  first  given  is  its  perfect  agreement  with  the  close  of  the  pre- 
ceding stanza.  In  reference  to  the  resolution  there  recorded  and  described 
as  having  been  fulfilled,  he  here  adds,  thus  have  I  said  (declared  my  pur- 
pose), 0  Lord,  to  obey  thy  words. 

68.  I  have  sought  thy  favour  with  all  (my)  heart ;  he  gracious  unto  me 
according  to  thy  word.  In  the  first  clause,  we  have  a  repetition  of  the  sin- 
gular and  striking  idiom  used  in  Ps.  xlv.  13  (12),  and  explained  by  some 
as  meaning  strictly  to  soothe  or  stroke  the  face,  and  by  others  to  soften  or 
subdue  it,  i.  e.  the  hostihty  or  opposition  expressed  by  it.  With  all  {my) 
heart,  or  with  a  whole  heart,  as  in  ver.  2,  34,  above.  Thy  word  or  saying, 
i.  e.  thy  promise.  The  original  expression  is  not  (I^T),  the  one  so  constantly 
employed  in  this  psalm,  but  (HIDK),  that  used- in  ver.  10, 41,  and  derived 
from  tiie  verb  (■^D^<)  to  say. 

59.  I  have  thought  on  my  ways,  and  turned  back  my  feet  to  thy  testimonies. 
The  first  verb  here  means  thought  over,  pondered,  as  in  Ps.  Ixxvii.  6  (5). 
My  ways,  i.  e.  as  appears  from  the  last  clause,  my  departures  from  thy  tes- 
timonies or  commandments.  See  above,  on  ver.  2,  14,  31,  36,  46.  The 
common  version  of  the  last  verb  {turned),  although  correct,  is  not  sufficient 
to  convey  the  full  force  of  the  Hebrew  word,  which  is  a  causative,  meaning 
to  bring  back  or  make  to  return,  and  implying  previous  departure,  whereas 
the  primitive  verb  turn  carries  with  it  no  such  implication.  While  this 
verse  is  exactly  descriptive  of  the  process  of  personal  conviction  and  conver- 
sion, it  is  also  strikingly  appropriate  to  the  effects  of  the  captivity  on  Israel, 
as  a  church  and  nation. 

60.  /  hastened,  and  delayed  not,  to  observe  thy  commandments.  This  con- 
tinues the  account  of  his  conversion,  begun  in  the  preceding  verse.  The 
first  clause  exemplifies  the  idiomatic  combination  of  a  positive  and  negative 
expression  of  the  same  idea.  The  second  verb  is  peculiarly  expressive,  and 
seems  to  be  applied,  in  the  most  ancient  Hebrew  books,  to  a  trifling  and 
unreasonable  tarrying  in  great  emergencies.  See  Gen.  xix.  16,  xliii.  10, 
Exod.  xii.  39.  In  this  respect,  as  well  as  in  relation  to  its  singular  redupli- 
cated form,  the  Hebrew  verb  bears  some  analogy  to  certain  familiar  terms 
in  English,  which  are  colloquially  used  in  the  same  manner. 

61.  The  hands  of  wicked  men  environed  me,  (but)  thy  law  I  did  not  forget. 
As  descriptive  of  personal  experience,  this  may  be  translated  in  the  present 
{environ  me,  forget  not)  ;  but  in  order  to  include  a  reference  to  the  Baby- 
lonish exile,  and  the  preservation  of  the  people  from  apostasy  at  that  event- 
ful crisis,  the  preterite  forms  of  the  original  must  be  preserved.  The  figure 
of  the  first  clause  is  borrowed  from  Ps.  xviii.  5,  6  (4,  5),  but  with  the 
substitution  of  a  verbal  form  used  only  here,  and  represented  by  the  word 
environed.  The  relation  of  the  clauses,  to  denote  which  in  Enghsh  hut  has 
been  supplied,  is  the  same  as  in  ver.  51  above. 

62.  At  midnight  1  will  rise  to  give  thanks  unto  thee  on  (account  of)  the 
judgments  of  thy  righteousness.  The  first  phrase,  which  literally  means  the 
half  (or  halving)  of  the  night,  is  borrowed  from  the  history  of  the  midnight 
massacre  in  Egypt,  Exod.  xi.  4,  xii.  29,  to  which  there  is  also  a  historical 
allusion,  as  a  signal  instance  of  divine  interposition  and  miraculous  deliver- 


Psalm  119:63 -66  499 

ance.  A  similar  allusion  may  be  traced  in  Job  xxxiv.  20.  The  judgments 
of  thy  righteousness,  tby  judgments  of  righteousness,  thy  righteous  judgments, 
cannot  be  altogether  different  in  meaning  from  the  very  same  words  in  ver.  7, 
as  supposed  by  some  interpreters,  who  there  explain  the  phrase  to  mean 
God's  precepts  or  his  requisitions,  here  his  penal  inflictions.  The  solution 
of  the  difficulty  lies  in  this,  that  the  words  mean  neither  of  these  things 
specifically,  but  something  which  comprehends  them  both,  viz.,  the  actual 
manifestations  of  God's  righteousness,  in  word  or  deed,  by  precept  or  by 
punishment. 

63.  A  fellow  (rtw)  I  to  all  uho  fear  thee,  and  to  the  keepers  of  thy  precepts. 
Not  merely  a  companion  or  frequenter  of  their  company,  but  an  associate, 
a  congenial  spirit,  one  of  the  same  character.  Compare  the  use  of  the  same 
Hebrew  word  in  Ps.  xlv.  8  (7),  where  the  plural  is  translated  fellows  in  the 
English  Bible.  The  verse  before  us  is  one  of  those  which  it  seems  most 
difficult  to  understand  of  Israel  as  a  whole  ;  for  in  what  sense  was  the  church 
or  chosen  people  a  companion  of  those  fearing  God  and  keeping  his  com- 
mandments, when  all  the  people  in  the  world  of  that  description  were  em- 
braced within  her  own  communion  ?  The  force  of  this  objection  is  so  great 
that  Hengstenberg  applies  the  description  to  the  pious  ancestors  of  the 
returned  Jews,  and  refers  to  Mai.  iii.  24  (iv.  6).  The  necessity  of  such  a 
forced  construction  goes  far  to  confirm  the  exegetical  hypothesis,  already 
stated  as  most  probably  the  true  one,  that  the  psalm  was  intended  to  express 
the  feelings  of  an  individual  believer,  but  that  some  of  its  terms  are,  from 
parity  of  circumstances,  equally  descriptive  of  what  had  been  experienced 
by  the  house  of  Israel  as  a  church  and  nation. 

64.  Of  thy  mercy,  0  Jehovah,  full  is  the  earth  ;  thy  stattites  teach  me. 
Since  thy  mercy  fills  the  whole  earth,  let  it  reach  to  me,  enabling  me  to 
understand  thy  will  and  to  obey  it.  The  relation  of  the  clauses  is  not  unlike 
that  in  ver.  12.  The  stanza  closing  with  this  verse  is  the  first  in  which  the 
initial  words  of  all  the  verses  are  entirely  different.  See  above,  on  ver.  8, 
16,  24,  32,  40,  48,  56. 

65.  Good  hast  thou  done  to  thy  servant,  0  Jehovah,  according  to  thy  word 
The  common  version  of  the  first  clause  (thou  hast  dealt  well  with  thy  servant) 
is  equally  correct,  and  has  the  advantage  of  retaining  the  preposition  with, 
which  may  be  used  in  English  after  deal,  but  not  after  do.  The  sense 
expressed  by  both  translations  is  the  same,  to  wit,  thou  hast  treated  him 
graciously  or  kindly.  According  to  thy  word,  i.  e.  the  promise  annexed  to 
thy  commandments,  as  in  ver.  25,  28  (compare  ver.  41,  58).  This  verse 
is  equally  appropriate  as  a  personal  thanksgiving,  and  an  acknowledgment 
of  national  deliverances,  such  as  that  from  Babylon. 

66.  Goodness  of  judgment  and  knowledge  teach  me,  for  in  thy  command- 
ments I  believe.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew  is  not  (3*110)  the  adjective  good, 
as  in  ver.  65,  but  (mO)  the  corresponding  abstract  noun  meaning  goodness, 
as  in  Ps.  xxv.  7,  xxvii.  13,  xxxi.  20  (19).  That  it  here  denotes  not  moral 
but  intellectual  excellence,  is  determined  by  the  addition  of  (DJ^Q)  a  word 
originally  meaning  taste,  and  then  transferred  to  reason,  judgment,  under- 
standing. See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiv.  1.  Teach  me  good  judgment,  i.e.  im- 
part it  by  divine  instruction.  Judgment  and  knowledge  may  be  here  dis- 
tinguished as  in  common  parlance,  the  one  denoting  the  faculty  employed, 
the  other  the  result  of  its  exertion.  The  knowledge  meant  is  that  continually 
prayed  for  in  this  psalm,  to  wit,  the  knowledge  of  God's  willi  The  connec- 
tion of  the  clauses  seems  to  be,  that  he  has  faith  and  would  fain  have 


500  Psalm  119:67 -71 

knowledge  ;  he  takes  God's  precepts  upon  trast,  but  then  prays  that  he 
may  understand  them.  To  believe  in  God's  commandments  is  to  believe 
that  they  are  his,  and  therefore  right  and  binding. 

67.  Before  I  suffered  I  (was)  going  astray,  and  now  thy  saying  I  observe. 
Going  astray,  wandering,  erring,  i.e.  habitually,  ever  straying.  And  now 
(on  the  contrary),  where  our  idiom  would  require  a  but.  The  saying  of 
God  is  what  he  says,  including  both  commands  and  promises,  which  indeed 
are  represented  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  especially  in  this  psalm,  as  insepa- 
rable. Observe,  attend  to,  keep  in  view,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
object,  trusting  the  promise,  obeying  the  command.  The  last  verb  strictly 
means  /  have  observed,  implying  that  the  salutary  fruit  of  the  affliction  was 
already  realised  and  still  continued.  The  sentiment  of  this  verse  has  been 
echoed,  and  its  very  words  repeated,  by  the  godly  sufferers  of  every  age,  a 
strong  proof  that  it  was  meant  to  be  so  used.  At  the  same  time  it  furnishes 
an  exquisite  description  of  the  effect  produced  upon  the  Jews,  as  a  body,  by 
the  Babylonish  exile,  and  especially  the  end  which  it  for  ever  put  to  their 
continual  lapses  into  idolatry,  by  which  their  early  history  was  characterised, 
and  with  respect  to  which  the  whole  race  might  well  have  said,  Before  I 
suffered  I  was  (ever)  straying. 

68.  Good  (art)  thou  and  doing  good — teach  me  thy  statutes !  Good,  both 
essentially  and  actively  or  practically ;  good  in  thyself  and  good  to  others. 
The  participle,  as  in  ver.  67,  denotes  habitual,  constant  action,  (ever)  doing 
good.  It  is  characteristic  of  this  psalm,  that  the  petition  founded  on  the 
goodness  of  God's  nature,  on  his  beneficence,  and  even  on  his  infinite  per- 
fection, is  still,  teach  me  thy  statutes  !  Make  me  acquainted  with  thy  will, 
and  shew  me  how  to  do  it !     See  above,  on  ver.  12,  64. 

69.  Proud  {men)  have  forged  a  he  against  me  ;  I,  with  all  {my)  hearty 
mil  keep  thy  precepts.  Proud,  presumptuous,  overbearing  sinners,  as  in 
ver.  51.  Forged  expresses  the  essential  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word,  but  not 
its  figurative  foi-m,  which  seems  to  be  that  of  sewing,  analogous  to  that  of 
weaving,  as  applied  to  the  same  thing,  both  in  Hebrew  and  in  other  lan- 
guages. We  may  also  compare  our  figurative  phrase,  to  patch  up,  which, 
however,  is  not  so  much  suggestive  of  artifice  or  skill  as  of  the  want  of  it. 
The  connection  of  the  clauses  is,  that  all  the  craft  and  mahce  of  his  enemies 
should  only  lead  him  to  obey  God  with  a  more  undivided  heart  than  ever. 
See  above,  on  ver.  58.  With  the  same  surprising  skill  and  wisdom  as  in 
many  other  cases  which  have  been  already  mentioned,  this  verse  is  so 
framed  as  to  be  equally  well  suited  to  such  national  and  pubHc  evils  as 
those  described  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  Ezra,  and  to  the  sufferings  of  the 
pious  individual,  arising  from  the  pride  and  spite  of  wicked  enemies. 

70.  Fat  as  grease  {is)  their  heart.  J  {in)  thy  law  delight.  The  con- 
nection of  the  clauses  lies  in  the  figurative  use  of  fat  to  denote  insensibi- 
lity. See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  10,  Ixxiii,  7.  While  they  are  utterly  insensible 
to  spiritual  pleasures,  and  especially  to  those  springing  from  the  knowledge 
of  thy  law,  I  find  therein  my  highest  happiness.  The  verb  in  the  last 
clause  is  a  cognate  form  to  that  in  ver.  16,  47,  and  identical  with  that  in 
Isa.  xi.  8,  where  it  means  to  play,  sport,  or  enjoy  one's  self. 

71.  (It  is)  good  for  me  that  I  icas  made  to  suffer,  io  the  end  that  I 
might  learn  thy  statutes.  The  prayer  so  frequently  repeated,  teach  me  thy 
statutes,  is  now  proved  to  be  sincere  by  a  hearty  acquiescence  in  the  painful 
discipUne  by  which  it  had  been  partially  fulfilled  already.  Good  for  me, 
and  therefore  good  on  God's  part.  The  idea  of  compulsory  subjection  to 
this  salutary  process  is  suggested  by  the  passive  causative  form  of  the  verb 


Psalm  119:72 -79  501 

used  in  ver.  67.  To  the  end  or  intent,  a  phrase  corresponding,  both  in  form 
and  meaning,  to  the  Hebrew. 

72.  Good  for  me  is  the  law  of  thy  mouth,  [more)  than  thousands  of  gold 
and  silver.  For  me,  for  my  use  as  well  as  in  my  estimation.  The  law  of  thy 
mouth,  that  which  thou  hast  uttered.  See  above,  on  ver.  13.  Than,  lite- 
rally from,  away  from,  as  distinguished  from,  as  compared  with,  which  is 
just  the  meaning  of  the  English  than.  The  combination  good  than,  or 
good  from,  is  the  nearest  approach  of  which  the  Hebrew  idiom  admits,  to 
letter  than.  The  indefinite  term  thousands  may  refer  to  weight  or  number, 
to  coin  or  bullion  ;  to  coins  in  general,  or  to  shekels  or  talents  in  particular. 
While  this  verse  primarily  expresses  the  changed  estimate  which  Israel 
learned  in  exile  to  put  upon  the  law,  it  is  equally  expressive  of  th6  feeling 
cherished  by  aU  true  believers,  in  their  best  estate,  as  to  the  value  of  the 
word  of  God.  Here  ends  the  ninth  stanza,  of  which  five  verses  begin  vrith 
the  word  {yjiiH)  good. 

73.  Thy  hands  made  me  and  fashioned  me  ;  make  me  understand  and 
let  me  learn  thy  commandments.  As  I  owe  my  existence  to  thy  power,  so 
too  I  rely  upon  thy  grace  for  spiritual  illumination.  Compere  Deut.  xxxii.  6. 
Fashioned,  literally  fixed,  established,  i.  e.  framed  my  constitution  as  it  is. 

74.  Thy  fearers  shall  see  me  and  rejoice  ;  for  in  thy  word  have  I  hoped. 
Compare  Ps.  v.  12  (11),  xxxiv.  3  (2).  They  shall  rejoice  in  my  case,  as  a 
new  proof  that  they  who  trust  in  God  cannot  be  disappointed.  The  literal 
meaning  of  the  last  clause  is,  because  for  thy  word  I  have  waited,  i.  e. 
patiently  and  trustfully  awaited  its  fulfilment. 

76.  I  know,  Jehovah,  that  righteouness  are  thy  judgments,  and  (m)  faith- 
fulness thou  hast  ajlicted  me  (or  made  me  suffer).  Thy  judgments,  thy 
sovereign  decisions  and  their  execution,  are  righteousness  itself,  i.  e.  per- 
fectly righteous.  So  in  the  next  clause,  for  in  faithfulnes  we  may  read  as 
faithfulness  itself,  as  one  absolutely  faithful  to  his  promise  and  engage- 
ments. This  confession  would  be  untrue,  if  those  who  made  it  were  not 
conscious  of  their  guilt  and  ill-desert.     Compare  Deut.  xxxii.  4. 

76.  Oh  that  thy  mercy  might  be  for  my  comfort,  according  to  thy  saying  to 
thy  sei-vanl.  The  optative  expression,  oh  that,  is  here  used  to  represent  the 
Hebrew  particle  of  entreaty  (KJ)>  correctly  paraphrased  in  the  EngUsh  Bible, 

I  pray  thee.  For  my  comfort,  literally  <o  comfort  {or  console)  me.  Thy 
saying,  that  which  thou  hast  said  or  promised.  To  thy  servant,  to  me 
as  thy  servant,  and  as  such  in  covenant  with  thee.  This  description  is 
equally  appropriate  to  the  body  and  its  members. 

77.  Let  thy  compassions  come  unto  me  (or  upon  me),  and  I  shall  live,  for 
thy  law  (is)  my  delights.  The  construction  in  the  first  clause  is  like  that  in 
ver.  41.  And  I  shall  live,  or  as  we  might  express  it,  that  I  may  live.  See 
above,  on  ver.  17.  He  pleads  what  he  has  received  already  as  a  ground 
for  asking  more.  The  plural  (delights)  expresses  fulness  and  completeness, 
or  perhaps  implies  that  this  joy  is  equal  or  superior  to  all  others,  or 
includes  them  all.  The  Hebrew  noun  is  derived  from  the  verb  in  ver. 
16,  47,  70. 

78.  Shamed  be  the  proud,  for  falsely  have  they  wronged  me  ;  I  will  muse  of 
thy  precepts.  Falsely,  literally  falsehood,  i.  e.  in  or  by  it.  Wronged,  lite- 
rally bent,  perverted.     With  the  last  clause  compare  ver.  27,  48. 

79.  Let  them  return  to  me  that  fear  thee  and  know  thy  testimonies.  Let 
thy  servants  who  have  looked  upon  me  as  abandoned  by  thee  now  restore 
to  me  their  confidence.     The  various  reading  in  the  last  clause  {''J/'V  aitd 


502  Psalm  119:80-87 

Ijjl^)  does  not  affect  the  meaning  of  the  sentence,  except  that  the  reading 
in  the  text  may  be  included  in  the  wish,  let  them  know  thy  testimonies,  i.  e. 
let  them  learn  from  my  experience  to  understand  thy  precepts  better. 

80.  Let  my  heart  he  jterfect  in  thy  statutes,  to  the  end  that  I  may  not  he 
ashamed.  In  thy  statutes,  in  the  knowledge  and  the  practice  of  them,  or  as 
it  is  expressed  in  Ps.  xix.  12  (11),  in  keeping  them.  Shamed,  put  to  shame 
by  the  frustration  of  my  highest  hopes.  See  above,  on  ver.  6.  Two  of 
the  verses  in  this  stanza  begin  with  the  same  Hebrew  word  OH^)- 

81.  For  thy  salvtttion  faints  my  soul  ;  for  thy  word  do  I  wait.  Both 
verbs  are  in  the  preterite,  implying  that  it  is  so  and  has  been  so.  Faints, 
is  spent  or  wasted.  This  strong  expression  for  intense  desire  is  borrowed 
from  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  3  (2).     With  the  last  clause  compare  ver.  74. 

82.  My  eyes  fail  for  thy  saying,  so  that  I  say,  when  wilt  thou  comfort 
me  ?  The  first  verb  in  Hebrew  is  the  same  with  the  first  in  the  preceding 
verse.  Thy  saying,  the  fulfilment  of  thy  promise.  The  Hebrew  noun  is 
derived  from  the  following  verb,  to  say,  so  as  to  say,  so  that  I  say.  It 
might  also  be  translated,  but  with  less  exactness,  while  I  say. 

83.  For  1  have  been  like  a  bottle  in  the  smoke  ;  thy  statutes  I  have  not 
forgotten.     The  bottle  meant  is  one  of  skin,  still  common  in  the  east.     The 

comparison  is  not  entirely  clear.  Some  suppose  that  the  blackening  and 
shrivelling  effect  of  the  smoke  upon  the  skin  is  simply  used  as  a  figure  for 
distress.  Others  understand  the  words  as  conveying  the  additional  idea, 
that  as  wine- skins  are  not  meant  to  be  involved  in  smoke,  so  distress  is 
not  the  normal  or  natural  condition  of  God's  people.  Others,  assuming 
that  the  skins  were  intentionally  smoked  by  way  of  seasoning,  suppose  the 
principal  idea  to  be  that  of  painful  but  salutary  discipline.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  clause  relates,  in  some  way,  to  the  afflictions,  either  of 
the  chosen  people,  or  of  individual  beUevers,  or  of  both.  The  meaning  of 
the  last  clause  is  that,  notwithstanding  these  afflictions,  the  sufferer  has  not 
forgotten  God's  commandments. 

84.  Sow  many  are  the  days  of  thy  servant  ?  When  wilt  thou  execute  upon 
my  persecutors  judgment  ?  The  shortness  of  life  is  indirectly  urged  as  an 
argument  for  speedy  action.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxix.  5,  14  (4,  13), 
Ixxviii.  39,  Ixxxix.  48,  49  (47,  48).  Execute  judgment^  or  do  justice,  as  in 
Ps.  ix.  5  (4). 

85.  Proud  {men)  dig  for  me  pits,  which  (are)  not  according  to  thy  law. 
The  presumptuous  sinners  (ver.  51,  69,  78)  who  are  his  enemies  use  the 
most  treacherous  means  for  his  destruction,  without  regard  to  the  divine 
conunand  or  prohibition.     See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  16  (15),  Ivii.  7  (6). 

86.  All  thy  commandments  (are)  faithfulness  ;  falsely  do  they  persecute 
me  ;  help  thou  me.  The  promises  annexed  to  God's  commandments  are 
infallible.  Falsely,  as  in  ver.  78,  falsehood,  i.  e.  in  falsehood,  without 
right  or  reason,  or  with  (by  means  of)  falsehood,  as  their  instrument.  The 
verb  agrees  with  the  remoter  antecedent  {persecutors)  in  ver.  84. ' 

87.  They  almost  consumed  me  in  the  land,  and  I  did  not  forsake  thy 
precepts.     The  verb  consumed  or  destroyed  (!)73)  and  the  phrase  in  the 

land  both  occur  in  reference  to  the  Canaanites,  2  Chron.  viii.  8.  The 
translation  in  the  earth  (ver.  19)  is  admissible,  but  less  significant  and  less 
in  keeping  with  the  national  import  of  the  psalm.  The  second  clause,  as 
usual  in  such  cases,  declares  that  notwithstanding  his  afflictions,  he  still 
sought  to  know  and  do  the  will  of  God. 


Psalm  119:88-96  503 

88.  According  to  thy  mercy  quicken  me,  and  I  will  keep  the  testimony  of 
thy  mouth.  Restore  me  to  life,  or  save  me  alive,  as  in  ver.  25,  37,  40.  Of 
thy  mouth,  as  in  ver.  11,  72.  This  closes  the  eleventh  stanza  and  the  first 
half  of  the  psalm.  Two  of  these  eight  verses  begin  with  difi"erent  forms 
of  the  verb  (n^D)  to  fail  or  faint,  and  three  (including  ver.  84)  with  the 
particle  (^)  as  or  like. 

89.  To  eternity,  Jehovah,  thy  word  is  settled  in  heaven.  The  translation, 
eternal  (art  thou),  Lord,  is  contrary  to  usage,  which  requires  the  pronoun, 
in  that  case,  to  be  expressed.  Settled,  literally  made  to  stand,  i.  e.  unal- 
terably fixed.  In  heaven,  beyond  the  reach  of  all  disturbing  causes.  See 
above,  Ps.  Ixxxix.  3  (2). 

90.  To  generation  and  generation  (is)  thy  faithfulness  ;  thou  hast  fixed  the 
earth  and  it  stands.  Resolved  into  our  idiom,  the  meaning  of  this  verse  is,  that 
the  truth  of  God's  promises,  or  his  fidelity  to  his  engagements,  is  secured 
by  the  same  divine  perfection,  which  brought  the  world  at  first  into  exist- 
ence, and  has  ever  since  preserved  it.  The  verb  translated  y?xecZ  is  not  the 
one  employed  in  ver.  89,  but  that  used  in  Ps.  vii.  10  (9),  ix.  8  (7),  xl.  3  (2), 
xlviii.  9  (8),  Ixviii.  10  (9),  xc.  17,  xcix.  4,  cvii.  36.  The  sense  prepared 
is  rare  and  doubtful,  and  too  feeble  for  this  context. 

91.  For  thy  judgments  they  stand  to-day,  for  all  are  thy  servants.  The 
subject  of  the  first  verb,  though  obscure,  is  probably  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  mentioned  in  the  two  preceding  verses.  These  stand,  continue  to 
exist,  for  the  execution  of  God's  judgments,  with  reference,  perhaps,  to  the 
destruction  wrought  by  fire  firom  heaven,  by  the  opening  of  the  earth,  &c. 
All,  hterally  the  whole,  to  i:av,  the  universe  ;  but  the  construction  of  this 
with  the  plural  servants  would  be  harsh  in  English.  The  same  expression 
is  applied  in  Ps.  xiv.  3  to  all  mankind,  but  here  to  the  material  universe. 
Thy  servants,  the  instruments  employed  to  execute  thy  will. 

92.  Unless  thy  law  were  my  delights,  then  should  I  perish  in  my  affliction. 
The  verse  admits  also  of  the  construction  in  the  English  Bible,  which 
refers  it  to  a  remoter  past,  and  represents  the  danger  as  escaped,  whereas 
the  first  construction  implies  a  continued  stat6  of  sufiering.  The  law  of 
God,  as  usual  in  this  psalm,  is  here  viewed,  not  as  a  body  of  mere  requisi- 
tions, but  as  a  covenant,  a  law  accompanied  by  promises. 

93.  To  eternity  I  will  not  forget  thy  precepts,  for  in  them  hast  thou  quick- 
ened me.  In  them,  or  by  them,  which  is  really  included  in  the  other, 
meaning  in  the  practice  of  them  and  by  means  of  them.  Quickened,  as  in 
ver.  17,  25,  37,  40,  50. 

94.  Thine  am  I — save  me — -for  thy  j)recepts  I  have  sought.  The  original 
form  of  the  first  clause  is,  to  thee  (am)  I.     Sought,  as  in  ver.  2,  10,  45. 

95.  For  me  have  wicked  (men)  waited,  to  destroy  me ;  thy  testimonies  vdll  I 
understand.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  Ivi.  7  (6).  Consider, 
though  correct,  is  an  inadequate  translation  of  the  last  verb,  which  denotes 
a  fixed  and  intelUgent  attention.  The  only  efiect  of  his  enemies'  malignant 
plots  is  a  still  more  serious  contemplation  of  God's  precepts. 

96.  To  all  perfection  I  have  seen  an  end,  (but)  uide  is  thy  command  exceed- 
ingly. By  end  we  are  not  to  understand  the  end  of  its  existence,  but  the 
limit  or  boundary  of  its  extent.  To  all  other  perfection  (so  called)  I  can 
see  an  end,  but  that  required  and  embodied  in  thy  law  is  boundless.  All 
the  verses  of  this  stanza  except  one  (ver.  92)  begin  with  the  preposition  (7) 
to  or  for,  as  all  those  of  the  second  do  with  (2)  in. 


504  Psalm  119:97 -102 

97.  How  I  Inve  thy  Imv !  All  the  day  it  is  my  meditation,  i.  e.  the  sub- 
ject of  my  solitary  musing.  This  continual  representation  of  God's  law, 
not  as  a  mere  rule,  but  as  an  object  of  affection  and  a  subject  of  perpetual 
reflection,  is  characteristic  of  the  Psalms,  and  appears  at  the  very  threshold 
of  the  whole  collection.     See  above,  on   Ps.  i.  2. 

98.  (More)  than  wy  enrvties  do  thy  commandments  make  me  wise  ;  for  to 
eternity  it  is  mine  (or  to  me).  This  is  the  construction  of  the  first  clause 
preferred  by  the  latest  interpreters,  although  it  requires  a  singular  verb  to  be 
construed  vath  a  plural  noun.  But  as  the  same  irregularity  exists  in  the 
construction  of  the  pronoun  in  the  second  clause,  however  the  first  may  be 
explained,  it  is  best  to  explain  both  anomaUes  alike,  i.  e.  partly  by  the  rela- 
tive position  of  the  words,  and  partly  by  the  aggregate  sense  in  which  com- 
mandments  is  here  used  as  equivalent  to  law,  and  which,  agreeably  to 
general  usage,  may  sufficiently  account  for  its  construction  with  a  verb  and 
pronoun  in  the  singular.  As  analogous  cases  have  been  cited,  2  Sam. 
xxii.  23 — "(as  for)  his  statutes,  I  depart  not  from  it " — and  2  Kings  xvii.  22 
— "  the  sins  of  Jeroboam  which  he  did,  they  departed  not  from  it."  As  the 
sins  of  Jeroboam  were  concentrated  in  one,  so  the  statutes  of  Jehovah 
might  be  viewed  as  one  great  comprehensive  precept.  The  meaning  of  the 
last  clause  is  not  merely,  it  is  ever  with  me,  but  it  is  for  ever  to  me,  i.  e. 
mine,  my  inalienable,  indefeasible  possession.     See  above,  ver.  94. 

99.  (More)  than  all  my  teachers  I  act  uisely,  for  thy  testimonies  {are)  a 
meditation  to  me.  My  teachers,  my  superiors  in  natural  and  worldly  wisdom. 
As  the  Hebrew  verb  has  always  elsewhere  an  active  meaning,  it  is  better  to 
retain  it  here,  the  rather  as  it  indicates  more  clearly  that  the  wisdom  which 
he  boasts  was  practical,  experimental.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  10,  xiv.  2, 
xxxii.  8  (7),  xli.  2  (1)  Ixiv.  10  (9),  ci.  2.  The  essential  meaning  of  the 
last  clause  is  the  same  with  that  of  ver.  97,  but  the  use  of  the  expression 
(*^)  suggests  the  same  idea  of  possession  that  is  expressed  in  ver.  98.    Thy 

testimonies  are  mine,  belong  to  me,  as  an  object  of  incessant  contemplation. 

100.  (More)  than  old  men  I  understand,  because  thy  precepts  I  have  kept. 
The  first  verb  is  the  same,  and  has  the  same  sense  as  in  ver.  95.  The  am- 
biguous Hebrew  word  (D''2pt)  cannot  be  expressed  by  any  one  in  modem 

English,  as  it  may  mean  either  old  men  in  the  proper  sense,  whose  greater 
experience  entitled  them  to  be  considered  wiser  than  their  juniors ;  or  the 
ancients,  those  of  former  generations,  who  are  popularly  looked  upon  as 
wiser  than  their  children  and  successors.  One  of  these  senses  suits  the 
personal,  the  other  the  national  design  and  application  of  the  psalm.  In 
either  case,  there  is  really  no  boast  of  superior  intelligence,  as  a  distinguish- 
ing endowment,  but  merely  an  assertion,  in  a  striking  form,  that  the  highest 
wisdom  is  to  do  the  will  of  God.     See  above,  on  Ps.  cxi.  10. 

101.  From  every  evil  path  I  refrain  my  feet,  to  the  intent  that  I  may  keep 
thy  xoord.  Of  the  two  ideas  conveyed  by  word,  that  of  command  is  here 
predominant,  but  not  exclusive  of  the  other.  To  keep  God's  word  is 
primarily  to  obey  his  precept,  but  secondarily  to  verify  his  promise.  This 
verse  teaches  clearly  that  the  keeping  of  God's  word  is  something  incom- 
patible with  treading  any  evil  path. 

102.  From  thy  judgments  I  do  not  depart,  hecatise  thou  guidest  me.  We 
have  here  another  word  of  comprehensive  meaning,  in  which  Sometimes 
one  phrase  of  the  essential  idea  is  presented  prominently,  sometimes  an- 
other. The  divme  judgments,  in  this  psalm,  are  always  the  external  ehibi- 
tions  of  the  divine  righteousness,  in  word  or  deed,  by  precept  or  by  punishment. 


Psalm  119:103 -107  505 

Here,  of  course,  the  former  are  especially  intended.  The  figure  of  a  way, 
though  not  expressed,  is  still  indicated  by  the  verbs  depart  and  guide.  As 
to  the  latter,  see  above,  on  ver.  83.  From  this  verse  it  is  doubly  clear  that 
he  claims  nothing  as  belonging  to  himself,  or  as  accomplished  in  his  own 
strength,  but  ascribes  all  to  the  power  and  grace  of  God.  The  preterite 
forms,  in  this  and  the  preceding  verse,  merely  make  the  past  more  pro- 
minent than  the  future,  as  an  accessory  idea  to  the  present. 

103.  How  sweet  to  my  palate  are  thy  sayings,  sweeter  than  honey  to  my 
mouth  I  As  the  Hebrew  verb  occurs  only  here,  it  is  better  to  follow  the 
rabbinical  tradition  and  the  ancient  versions,  which  make  the  idea  to  be  that 
of  sweetness,  than  the  uncertain  etymological  deductions  of  the  lexicons, 
which  make  it  to  be  that  of  smoothness.  The  passive  form  may  possibly 
denote  that  the  Psalmist's  relish  for  God's  word  was  not  a  native  but  ac- 
quired taste.  Some  interpreters  unreasonably  give  to  word  the  sense  of 
law,  excluding  that  of  promise  altogether,  whereas  both  must  unavoidably 
have  been  suggested  to  a  Hebrew  reader.  The  original  word  means  neither 
more  nor  less  than  that  which  God  has  said.  The  figures  of  this  verse  are 
borrowed  from  Ps.  xix.  11  (10). 

104.  From  thy  precepts  I  get  understanding;  therefore  I  hate  every  path 
of  falsehood.  The  common  version  of  the  first  verb  comes  as  near  to  the 
exact  sense  of  the  original  as  any  other  English  word  or  phrase.  The 
Hebrew  verb  is  the  same  that  occurs  above,  ver.  95,  100.  As  he  knows 
no  wisdom  independent  of  the  truth,  he  hates  falsehood  as  the  height  of 
folly,  and  regulates  his  life  accordingly.  All  the  verses  of  this  stanza 
begin  either  with  the  exclamation  (HD)  how,  or  with  the  preposition  (]D) 
from,  than. 

105.  A  lantern  for  my  foot  is  thy  word,  and  a  light  for  my  path.  To  the 
figure  of  a  path,  so  frequently  presented  in  this  psalm  aheady,  is  now  added 
that  of  a  Ught,  to  make  it  plain  amidst  surrounding  darkness.  The  paral- 
lelism is  completed  by  adding  the  generic  term,  light,  to  the  specific  one, 
lamp  or  lantern.  Far  my  foot,  i.  e.  to  guide  it.  For  my  path,  i.  e.  to 
Bhew  it. 

106.  I  have  sworn,  and  will  perform  (my  oath),  to  observe  the  Judgments 
of  thy  righteousness.  The  second  verb  occurs  above,  ver.  28,  in  its  primary 
sense  of  raising  up,  or  causing  to  stand  upright.  In  the  later  books,  par- 
ticularly that  of  Esther,  it  occurs  very  often  in  the  sense  of  ratifying  or 
confirming,  and  might  here  be  rendered,  1  confirm  (my  oath  already  made). 
In  either  case,  it  merely  strengthens  the  expression  which  precedes  it.  Ob- 
serve, keep,  or  obey,  as  in  ver.  4,  5,  8,  &c.  Thy  righteous  judgments,  as  m 
ver.  7,  62.  Considered  as  the  language  of  the  whole  church  or  nation,  this 
verse  may  have  reference  to  the  covenant  entered  into  at  mount  Sinai  and 
renewed  in  the  plains  of  Moab,  while  as  a  personal  profession,  it  has  its 
counterpart  in  the  experience  of  every  true  believer. 

107.  I  am  afflicted  even  to  extremity;  Jehovah,  quicken  me  according  to 
thy  word.  That  the  first  clause  does  not  relate  merely  to  past  sufferings 
(/  was  afflicted),  seems  to  follow  from  the  prayer  in  the  last  clause,  which 
may,  however,  be  understood  as  a  petition  for  deliverance  from  the  deaden- 
ing effects  of  a  calamity  already  past,  such  as  the  Babylonish  exile,  the 
enfeebling  influence  of  which,  notwithstanding  incidental  benefits,  continued 
to  be  felt  for  ages.  The  first  verb  in  Hebrew,  with  the  idea  of  suffering, 
always  suggests  that  of  humiliation.  Even  to  extremity,  the  same  words 
that  occur  above,  in  ver.  8,  43,  51.     The  meaning  of  the  last  clause  is,  be- 


506  Psalm  119:108- 116 

stow  upon  me  that  life  which  is  promised  ia  the  Law  to  those  who  keep  it. 
See  Lev.  xviii.  5,  Deut.  vi.  24. 

108.  Tke  free-will  offerings  of  my  mouth  accept,  I  fray  thee,  0  Jehovah, 
and  thy  judgments  teach  me,  For  tlie  meaning  of  the  first  Hebrew  word  see 
above,  on  Ps.  ex.  8.  It  is  here  a  figure  for  prayers  and  praises,  as  appears 
from  the  addition  of  my  mouth.  The  verb  accept  is  one  continually  used  in 
the  Law,  with  respect  to  sacrificial  offerings.  See  above,  on  Ps.  li.  18  (16), 
and  compare  Ps.  1.  14.  The  recurrence  of  the  prayer,  thy  judgments  teach 
me,  shews  that  the  writer's  object  was  to  make  everything  tend  to  this  con- 
clusion, and  that  however  a  sentence  may  begin,  it  cannot  be  complete 
without  a  repetition  of  this  favourite  idea. 

109.  My  soul  is  in  my  hand  always,  and  (yet)  thy  law  I  have  not  forgotten. 
The  sense  of  the  strong  figure  in  the  first  clause  is  clear  from  Judges 
xii.  13,  1  Sam.  xix.  5,  xxviii.  21,  where  he  who  risks  or  jeopards  his  own 
life,  in  war  or  otherwise,  is  said  to  put  his  soul  into  his  hand,  as  if  to  have 
it  ready  to  give  up  or  throw  away  at  any  moment.  The  same  expression 
reappears  in  Job  xiii.  14.  The  meaning  of  the  whole  verse  is,  that  even 
amidst  the  deadly  perils  which  environed  him,  he  still  remembered  the 
divine  law,  as  an  object  of  supreme  affection. 

110.  Wicked  (men)  have  laid  a  snare  for  me,  and  [yei]  from  thy  precepts 
I  have  not  strayed.  Laid  for  me,  literally  given  to  me,  as  we  might  speak 
of  a  snare  as  presented  to  a  person,  i.  e.  set  before  him.  The  devices  and 
temptations  of  the  wicked  were  as  powerless  as  all  the  other  causes  previ- 
ously mentioned,  in  leading  him  away  from  the  path  of  truth  and  safety. 

111.  /  inherit  thy  testimonies  to  eternity,  for  the  joy  of  my  heart  are  they. 
The  first  verb  means  to  take  as  a  possession  or  inheritance,  and  is  here 
used  in  allusion  to  those  places  of  the  Pentateuch  where  it  is  applied  to  the 
possession  of  the  promised  land.     See  for  example  Exod.  xxiii.  30. 

112.  /  incline  my  heart  to  do  thy  statutes  to  eternity,  (even  to)  the  end. 
The  preterite  form  of  the  first  verb  represents  the  effort  as  already  made, 
but  still  continued.  For  the  meaning  of  the  last  word,  see  above,  on 
ver.  33.  This  stanza,  like  the  eighth,  has  a  different  initial  word  in  every 
verse. 

113.  Waverers  I  hate,  and  thy  law  1  love.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew 
occurs  only  here.  According  to  the  most  probable  etymology,  it  means 
men  of  divided  and  unstable  minds.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xii.  3  (2),  and 
compare  James  i.  8. 

114.  My  hiding-place  and  my  shield  (art)  thou — -for  thy  word  I  wait,  i.e. 
for  the  falfilment  of  thy  promise.  See  above,  on  ver.  81.  The  first  word 
in  the  verse  means  properly  a  secret  or  a  secret  place.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xxvii.  6,  xxxii.  7,  Ixi.  5  (4),  xci.  1.  The  shield  is  a  favourite  figure  for 
protection.     See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  4  (3),  vii.  11  (10),  xviii.  3,  31,  (2,  30). 

115.  Depart  from  me,  evil  doers,  and  I  will  keep  the  commandments  of  God. 
The  first  clause  is  borrowed  from  Ps.  vi.  9  (8).  The  meaning  in  both  cases 
seems  to  be,  that  he  has  no  fear  of  their  enmity.  The  reason  given  in  this 
case  is,  because  he  is  resolved  to  do  the  will  of  God,  and  is  therefore  sure 
of  his  protection. 

116.  Uphold  me  according  to  thy  promise,  and  let  me  live,  and  let  me  not 
he  ashamed  of  my  hope.  Promise,  literally  saying,  that  which  thou  hast 
said,  as  in  ver.  82.  Let  me  live  might  also  be  translated  and  I  shall  live, 
or  paraphrased  that  1  may  live.  See  above,  on  ver.  17.  Of  my  hope, 
literally  from  my  hope,  which  some  understand  in  a  privative  sense  away 


Psalm  119:117 -125  507 

from,  deprived  of,  without  my  hope,  i.  e.  without  having  it  fulfilled. 
Ashamed  of  my  hope  'does  not  convey  the  sense  so  fully  as  shamed  in  my 
hope,  frustrated,  disappointed,  in  my  expectations. 

117.  Sustain  me  and  I  shall  he  saved,  and  I  will  look  to  thy  statutes 
ahoays.  The  first  verb  is  nearly  synonymous  with  that  at  the  beginning  of 
ver.  116,  and  the  same  that  occurs  above,  Ps.  xx.  3  (2),  xU.  4  (3),  xciv.  18, 
civ.  15.  I  shall  be  saved,  or  let  me  be  saved,  or  that  I  may  be  saved,  pre- 
cisely as  in  the  preceding  verse.  The  strict  future  sense  is  here  to  be  pre- 
ferred, as  the  verb  is  not  both  preceded  and  followed  by  a  prayer,  as  in  the 
other  case.  Look  to,  have  respect  to,  regard,  as  the  rule  of  my  conduct. 
The  construction  of  the  verb  and  proposition  is  the  same  as  in  Exod.  v.  9. 

118.  Thou  despisest  all  [those)  straying  from  thy  statutes,  for  a  lie  (is) 
their  deceit.  They  are  objects  not  only  of  disapprobation  but  of  scorn,  be- 
cause in  attempting  to  deceive  others  they  deceive  themselves.  Their 
deception  of  others  is  a  lie  to  themselves. 

119.  (As)  dross  hast  thou  made  to  cease  all  the  wicked  of  the  earth  ; 
therefore  I  love  thy  testimonies.  The  purifying  tendency  of  God's  judgments 
is  itself  a  reason  for  deUghting  in  them.  The  verb  in  the  first  clause,  which 
occurs  in  its  primary  sense  in  Ps.  viii.  3  (2),  is  applied  to  the  purging  out  of 
leaven  at  the  passover  (Exod.  xii.  15),  and  to  the  extirpation  of  wild  beasta 
(Lev.  xxvi.  6). 

120.  My  flesh  shudders  from  dread  of  thee,  and  of  thy  judgments  I  am 
afraid.  The  first  verb  in  Hebrew  occurs  only  here,  but  is  universally 
admitted  to  denote  some  bodily  efiect  of  fear,  such  as  trembling,  shuddering, 
or  the  instinctive  creeping  of  the  flesh.  Afraid  of,  in  the  last  clause,  does 
not  fully  represent  the  Hebrew  phrase,  which  denotes  not  mere  apprehension 
of  something  still  future  or  absent,  but  terror  in  view  of  something  actually 
present.  Judgments  has  its  usual  wide  sense,  but  with  special  reference, 
in  this  case,  to  God's  penal  visitations.  Here  ends  the  fifteenth  stanza,  in 
which,  as  in  the  one  before  it,  every  verse  has  a  distinct  initial  word. 

121.  I  do  justice  and  righteousness;  leave  me  not  to  my  oppressors.  The 
first  verb  is  in  the  past  tense,  I  have  done  and  I  still  do.  Do  justice,  not 
in  the  restricted  or  forensic  sense  of  redressing  wrong  judicially,  but  in  the 
wide  sense  of  executing  justice  or  reducing  it  to  practice. 

122.  Be  surety  for  thy  servant  for  good  ;  let  not  the  proud  oppress  me. 
The  sense  and  construction  of  the  first  verb  are  precisely  the  same  as  in 
Gen.  xhii.  9,  xliv.  32.  Compare  Job  xvii.  3,  and  see  my  note  on  Isa. 
xxxviii.  14.  It  means  not  merely  take  me  under  thy  protection,  but  be- 
come answerable  for  me,  stand  between  me  and  those  who,  under  any  pre- 
text, even  that  of  legal  right,  may  seek  to  oppress  me.  For  good,  i.  e.  for 
my  good,  for  my  safety  or  deliverance.  Compare  Deut.  vi.  24,  x.  18, 
XXX.  9.  This  is  noted  in  the  masora  as  the  only  verse  in  which  the  word  of 
God,  or  some  equivalent  expression,  is  not  found. 

123.  My  eyes  fail  for  thy  salvation,  and  for  the  word  of  thy  righteousness. 
With  the  first  clause  compare  ver.  82.  The  word  of  thy  righteousness,  thy 
word  of  righteousness,  thy  righteous  word,  the  promise  of  a  righteous  God 
who  cannot  lie. 

124.  Deal  with  thy  servant  according  to  thy  mercy,  and  thy  statutes  teach 
me.  The  first  words  strictly  mean  do  with  thy  servant,  which  may  be  an 
ellipsis  for  do  good  to  him,  or  deal  kindly  witii  him,  as  in  ver.  65.  See 
above,  onPs.  cix.  21. 

125.  Thy  servant  {am)  I ;  make  me  understand  and  let  me  know  thy  testi- 


508  Psalm  119:126- 130 

monies.  That  thy  servant  is  not  a  mere  periphrasis  for  7  or  rwe  in  ver.  122 
and  elsewhere,  appears  from  the  first  clause  of  the  verse  before  us,  where  it 
constitutes  the  predicate  of  the  proposition.  In  the  second  clause,  we  have 
the  same  choice  of  constructions  as  in  ver.  116,  117.  Let  me  know,  or 
{then)  I  shall  know,  or  that  I  may  knoiv,  all  implying  one  another,  and 
amounting  to  the  same  thing. 

126.  (It  is)  time  for  Jehovah  to  do — they  break  thy  law.  The  absolute 
use  of  do,  without  an  object,  or  leaving  it  to  be  suggested  by  the  context,  is  a 
peculiar  Hebrew  idiom.  See  above,  on  Ps.  22  (21).  We  may  here  supply 
justice  from  ver.  121  (compare  ver.  84) ;  or  more  indefinitely,  whatever 
should  be  done  ;  or  more  indefinitely  still,  it  is  time  to  do  (something),  i.  e. 
to  act,  which  is  substantially  the  meaning  of  the  common  version  {time  to 
work).  Eetaining  the  order  of  the  Hebrew  words,  the  sense  would  seem  to 
be,  it  is  time  to  do  (something)  for  Jehovah,  i.  e.  for  his  people  to  do  it. 
But  the  direct  address  to  God  in  the  last  clause,  and  the  whole  tenor  of  the 
context,  make  it  more  probable  that  God  himself  is  here  entreated  to  do 
something  for  the  vindication  of  his  broken  law.  The  verb  in  the  last  clause 
is  to  be  construed  indefinitely  ;  they,  i.  e.  men  in  general,  or  the  wicked  in 
particular.     With  this  clause  compare  Isa.  xxiv.  6. 

127.  Therefore  I  love  thy  commandments  {more)  than  gold  and  {more) 
than  fine  gold.  The  first  word  refers  not  to  the  immediately  preceding  verse 
but  to  the  whole  previous  description  of  the  excellence  of  God's  command- 
ments. The  comparison  in  the  last  clause,  like  that  in  ver.  103,  is  bor- 
rowed from  Ps.  xix.  11  (10). 

128.  Therefore  all  (thy)  precepts  (as  to)  all  (things)  I  think  right ;  every 
way  of  falsehood  do  I  hate.  The  therefore  is  co-ordinate  with  that  in 
the  preceding  verse,  and  to  be  explained  in  the  same  manner.  Both 
were  probably  occasioned  by  the  alphabetical  arrangement  here  requiring 
an  initial  ayin.  Precepts  of  course  mean  those  of  God,  as  word  means 
his  word  in  ver.  49.  The  construction  here  is  very  foreign  from  our 
idiom,  and  by  no  means  easily  translated  into  it.  The  Uteral  meaning 
of  the  words  is,  all  precepts  of  all,  which  some  understand  to  mean  of  all 
kinds,  as  in  ver.  14  and  Ps.  cxviii.  10.  But  others  deny  that  all  has 
this  sense,  even  in  the  places  cited,  and  explain  it  here  to  mean  concerning 
all,  on  all  subjects.  The  clause  is  then  condemnatory  of  all  partial  dis- 
tinctions between  God's  commandments,  which  may  be  the  way  of  falsehood 
specially  intended  in  the  last  clause.  Compare  Mat.  v.  17-19.  The  verb 
in  the  first  clause  always  elsewhere  means  to  make  straight,  to  go  straight, 
or  to  direct  aright ;  but  the  best  interpreters  agree  in  making  it  here  mean, 
to  think  right  or  approve.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  as  to  all  these  points, 
the  true  sense  of  this  difficult  clause  seems  to  be  given  in  the  English  Bible. 
With  the  last  clause  compare  ver.  104.  In  the  sixteenth  stanza,  which  here 
closes,  two  of  the  verses  begin  with  (]3"7y)  therefore,  and  two  with  difierent 

forms  of  the  verb  (Hll^y)  to  do. 

T     T 

129.  Wonderful  {are)  thy  testimonies  ;  therefore  my  soul  keepeth  them. 
The  first  word  in  Hebrew  is  a  plural  form  of  that  in  Ps.  Ixxvii.  12,  15 
(11,  14),  Ixxviii.  12,  Ixxxviii.  11  (10),  and  properly  means  wonders,  i.e. 
miracles  or  prodigies  of  moral  excellence.  My  soul,  not  merely  I,  but  I 
with  all  my  heart  or  soul. 

180.  The  opening  of  thy  words  enlightens,  making  the  simple  understand. 
The  common  version  of  the  first' word  {entrance)  is  inaccurate,  and  the  one 


Psalm  119:131  -  137  509 

here  given,  though  exact,  is  ambiguous.  The  clause  does  not  refer  to  the 
mechanical  opening  of  the  book  by  the  reader,  but  to  the  spiritual  opening 
of  its  true  sense,  by  divine  illumination,  to  the  mind  which  naturally  cannot 
discern  it.  For  the  Scriptural  usage  of  the  word  translated  simple,  see 
above,  on  Ps.  xix,  8  (7),  cxvi.  6. 

131.  My  mouth  I  stretch  and  pant,  because  for  thy  commandments  I  long. 
The  first  verb  usually  means  to  gape  or  yawn,  but  these  verbs  are  intransi- 
tive in  English,  and  cannot  be  construed  with  the  noun  directly.  For  the 
meaning  of  the  next  verb,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ivi.  2,  3  (1,  2),  Ivii.  4  (3). 
Both  are  figurative  expressions  of  the  idea  conveyed  directly  by  the  third 
verb,  which  occurs  nowhere  else,  but  differs  only  in  a  single  letter  from  the 
verb  of  the  sam.e  meaning  used  in  ver.  40,  174,  which  also  is  pecuUar  to 
this  psalm. 

132.  Turn  to  me,  and  he  gracious  to  me,  as  (is)  drie  to  the  lovers  of  thy 
name.  The  first  verb  does  not  mean  to  return  or  come  back,  but  to  turn 
round  to  or  towards  an  object  from  which  the  looks  have  been  averted.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  cii.  18  (17).  Be  gracious  or  merciful,  shew  favour  to  or 
favour  me.     As  is  due  to,  or  according  to  the  right  of,  the  lovers,  &c.     The 

Hebrew  word  (lOS^O)  has  here  the  meaning  of  the  Latin  jus,  as  in  Ps. 

■»■  t  • 
Ixxxi.  6  (4).     For  the  meaning  of  the  lovers  of  thy  name,  see  above,  on  Pa. 
V.  12  (11). 

133.  My  steps  estaUish  hy  thy  word,  and  let  not  any  iniquity  rule  over 
me.  Establish,  i.  e.  make  firm,  cause  me  to  walk  safely.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  xl.  3  (2).  By  thy  word  or  saying,  what  thou  hast  said,  i.  e.  by  the 
fulfilment  of  thy  promise.  The  last  clause  might  seem  to  be  a  prayer 
against  the  power  of  his  own  corruption  ;  but  the  frequent  use  of  the  Hebrew 
noun  to  denote  the  mutual  injustice  of  men,  together  with  the  language  of 
the  next  verse,  seems  to  shew  that  this  too  is  a  prayer  against  oppression. 
The  verb  in  this  clause  is  applied  by  Nehemiah  (v.  15),  to  the  oppression 
Buffered  by  the  restored  Jews.  The  Arabic  verb  of  the  same  form  is  the 
root  of  the  royal  title  Sultan. 

134.  Redeem  me  from  the  oppression  of  man,  and  I  will  keep  thy  precepts. 
These  two  verses  are  peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  trials  and  temptations  of 
the  Jews  at  the  time  of  the  Restoration.  The  form  of  the  last  verb  denotes 
strong  desire  and  determination. 

135.  Let  thy  face  shine  upon  thy  servant,  and  teach  me  thy  statutes.  The 
prayer  of  the  first  clause  is  the  same  as  that  which  forms  the  burden  of  Ps. 
Ixxx.  (4,  8,  20).  Thy  servant,  i.  e.  me  who  am  thy  servant ;  hence  the 
first  person  is  immediately  resumed. 

136.  Streams  of  water  run  down  my  eyes,  for  {that)  they  do  not  keep  thy 
lata.  In  the  Hebrew  of  the  first  clause,  eye  is  the  subject,  not  the  object, 
of  the  verb.  See  the  same  or  similar  idiomatic  constructions,  Jer.  ix.  17, 
xiii.  17,  Lam,  i.  16,  iii.  48,  Ezek.  vii.  17.  The  preposition  in  the  last 
clause  is  to  be  construed  with  the  relative  understood,  in  the  sense  of  for 
that,  forasmuch  as,  because.  The  complete  phrase  occurs  above,  ver.  49. 
They  do  not,  i.  e.  men  indefinitely,  others.  Here  ends  the  seventeenth 
stanza,  all  the  verses  of  which  begin  with  different  Hebrew  words. 

137.  Bighteous  {art)  thou,  0  Jehovah,  and  just  thy  judgments.  The 
English  and  the  ancient  versions  make  the  second  adjective  agree  with 
judaments,  although  different  in  number.  This  might  be  justified  by  making 
{1\l)^)  just  a  neuter  adjective  or  substantive,  as  in  Ps.  cxi.  8.     It  is  much 


510  Psalm  119:138 -145 

more  simple  and  agreeable  to  usage  to  apply  the  epithet  to  God  himself,  as 
in  Deut.  xxxii.  4,  and  explain  thy  judgments  as  a  kind  of  adverbial  or  quali- 
fying phrase,  very  common  in  Hebrew,  but  in  our  idiom  requiring  the  inser- 
tion of  a  preposition,  upright  {in  or  as  to)  thy  judgments. 

138.  Thou  hast  commanded  righteousness  thy  testimonies,  and  faithfulness 
— exceedingly.  This  is  another  elliptical  construction,  wholly  foreign  from 
our  idiom.  Some  resolve  it  by  supplying  to  or  to  he  :  thou  hast  commanded 
thy  testimonies  to  (or  to  be)  righteousness,  i.e.  hast  made  them  righteous. 
It  is  simpler,  however,  and  more  like  the  syntax  of  the  verse  preceding,  to 
supply  in  or  with  :  thou  hast  commanded  (in)  righteousness  thy  testimonies, 
&c.  The  very  or  exceedingly  may  belong  to  faithfulness  alone,  or  to  the 
whole  proposition.  The  mention  of  faithfulness  shews  that  the  idea  of 
God's  promisQ  is  included  in  his  testimony.  With  this  verse  compare  ver. 
86,  and  Ps.  xciii.  5. 

189.  My  zeal  consumes  me,  because  my  adversaries  forget  thy  ivord.  The 
verbs  strictly  mean,  has  consumed,  have  forgotten,  but  without  excluding 
the  present,  as  they  might  seem  to  do,  if  rendered  literally  into  English. 
Zeal,  jealous  regard  for  God's  authority  and  honour.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixix.  10  (9).  The  first  Hebrew  verb  occurs  above,  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  17  (16). 
The  last  clause  gives  the  reason  or  occasion  of  his  jealousy.  Adversaries, 
persecutors  or  oppressors.  Thy  word,  includes  thy  promise  to  me  and  thy 
command  to  them. 

140.  Pure  {is)  thy  word — exceedingly,  and  thy  servant  loves  it.  Pure, 
literally  purged,  tried,  assayed,  refined,  like  precious  metal.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xviii.  81  (80).  Saying,  as  elsewhere  in  this  psalm,  alternates  with 
word,  and  has  the  same  comprehensive  meaning.  Thy  servant,  I  as  thy 
servant,  and  because  I  am  so.     Loves  and  has  long  loved. 

141.  Little  {am)  I  and  despised,  (but)  thy  precepts  do  I  not  forget.  How- 
ever proudly  or  however  justly  I  may  be  despised,  I  can  still  lay  claim  to 
one  distinction,  that  I  have  not,  Hke  my  despisers,  forgotten  God's  com- 
mandments. These  words  are  peculiarly  appropriate  to  Israel,  as  a  body, 
at  the  Restoration. 

142.  Thy  righteousness  {is)  right  for  ever,  and  thy  law  {is)  truth.  Right 
is  here  used  as  a  noun,  in  order  to  vary  the  expression  in  EngUsh  as  in 
Hebrew,  where  two  cognate  forms  (Hp'ljf  and  p"T2i)  are  employed.  With 
the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  ciii.  17,  cxi.  3.  The  idea  here  is,  that  God's 
rectitude  is  not  capricious  or  mutable,  as  might  be  inferred  from  the  afflic- 
tions of  his  people,  but  unchangeable  and  to  eternity.  Thy  law,  both  in  its 
precepts  and  its  promises,  is  true,  is  truth  itself. 

143.  Distress  and  anguish  seize  (or  seized)  me  ;  thy  commandments  {are) 
my  delight.  Even  in  the  midst  of  sufiering,  thy  commandments  not  only 
solace  me  but  make  me  happy.  Seize,  literally  _;?nc?,  as  in  Ps.  cxvi.  8. 
Delight,  literally  delights,  a  succedaneum  for  all  other  pleasures.  See 
above,  on  ver.  24. 

144.  Bight  {are)  thy  testimonies  to  eternity  ;  make  me  understand,  and  I 
shall  live.  Bight,  righteousness,  the  second  of  the  nouns  used  in  ver.  142. 
Make  me  understand  {them),  i.  e.  these  thy  testimonies.  And  {then)  I  shall 
live,  which  includes  let  ma  live  and  that  1  may  live.  See  above,  on  ver. 
17,  116.  Three  of  the  verses  in  this  stanza  begin  with  derivatives  of  the 
root  pll. 

145.  I  invoke  {thee)  with  a  whole  heart — answer  me,  Jehovah — thy  statutes 
will  I  keep.     I  have  invoked  thy  favour  with  a  heartfelt  sense  of  its  neces- 


Psalm  119:146- 155  511 

fiity ;  grant  it  to  me,  according  to  my  prayer,  and  I  am  fully  resolved  to 
keep  thy  statutes. 

146.  I  invoke  thee — save  me — and  I  will  observe  thy  testimonies.  The 
pronoun  implied  in  the  preceding  verse  is  here  expressed.  The  augmented 
form  of  the  last  verb  is  emphatic  or  intensive.  I  will  observe  thy  testi- 
monies, I.  e.  obey  thy  precepts  and  believe  thy  promises. 

147.  /  come  before  {thee)  in  the  (morning)  tivilight,  and  I  cry  to  {thee)  ; 
for  thy  words  do  I  wait.  The  first  verb  has  the  same  sense  as  in  Ps. 
xcv.  2.  Compare  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  14  (13).  Early  prayer  implies  importunate 
desire.  The  twilight  meant  is  that  of  morning,  as  in  1  Sam.  xxx.  17,  Job 
idi.  4,  The  second  verb  means  to  cry  for  help.  Its  augmented  form  is 
common  in  verbs  of  speaking,  and  supposed  by  some  grammarians  to  denote 
motion  or  direction  towards  the  object  of  address,  like  the  local  or  directive 
n  in  nouns.  See  Judges  vi.  10,  1  Sam.  xx\-iii.  15,  Neh.  v.  7,  xiii.  11,  17, 
21,  Dan.  ix.  4. 

148.  My  eyes  anticipate  the  watches,  to  muse  of  thy  promise.  Before  the 
stated  hours  of  vigil  he  is  awake  and  ready  for  devout  meditation.  To 
muse,  that  I  may  muse  or  meditate.  See  above,  on  ver.  62,  and  compare 
Ps.  Ixiii.  7  (6),  Ixxvii.  5  (4),  Lam.  ii.  19. 

149.  3Iy  voice  hear  according  to  thy  mercy,  0  Jehovah,  according  to  thy 
judgments  quicken  me.  According  to  the  promises  annexed  to  thy  com- 
mandments. 

150.  Near  are  those  pursuing  crime;  from  thy  law  they  are  far  off. 
Pursuing,  eagerly  devising  and  attempting.  Crime,  malicious  mischief,  as 
in  Ps.  xxvi.  10.  In  the  last  clause  there  is  a  kind  of  play  upon  the  words 
far  and  near,  as  if  he  had  said,  the  nearer  they  are  to  harming  me,  the 
further  are  they  from  obeying  thee. 

151.  Near  {art)  thou,  Jehovah,  and  all  thy  commandments  are  truth. 
The  lusus  verborum  may  be  said  to  be  continued.  As  they  are  near  to 
injure,  thou  art  near  to  save,  and  all  thy  promises  to  those  who  do  thy  will 
are  true,  are  truth  itself. 

152.  Long  have  I  known  from  thy  testimonies  (themselves)  that  thou  unto 
eternity  hast  founded  them.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew  is  a  noun  used 
adverbially,  as  in  Ps.  Iv.  20  (19).  The  precepts  of  the  law  describe  them- 
selves as  everlasting.  See  Exod.  xxvii.  21,  xxviii.  43,  xxxvi.  21,  Lev. 
iii.  17,  vi.  11,  vii.  36,  Num.  x.  8.  This  concludes  the  nineteenth  stanza, 
two  of  the  initial  words  in  which  are  derivatives  of  hilp,  two  of  ^Ip,  three 
of  Dip. 

153.  See  my  suffering  and  deliver  me;  for  thy  law  I  forget  not.  The 
first  petition,  in  the  same  words,  occurs  above,  Ps.  ix.  14  (13).  The  first 
verb  originally  signifies  to  extricate  or  disembarrass.  I  forget  not,  and  have 
not  forgotten,  both  of  which  ideas  would  be  necessarily  suggested  to  a 
Hebrew  reader. 

154.  Strive  my  strife  and  redeem  me  ;  as  to  thy  word,  quicken  me.  With 
the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xliii.  1,  Ixix.  19  (18).  As  to,  according  to,  in 
fulfilment  of,  thy  saying,  that  which  thou  hast  said,  thy  promise.  See 
above,  ver.  41. 

155.  Far  from  the  wicked  (is)  salvation :  because  thy  statutes  they  seek 
not.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew  is  a  masculine  adjective,  and  does  not  agree 
regularly  with  salvation,  which  is  feminine,  but  is  construed  as  a  neuter, 
something  far,  as  the  first  word  in  ver.  72  means  a  good  thing.  Seek  not,  and 
have  not  sought,  i.e.  desired  either  to  know  or  do  thy  will.  See  above,  on  ver.  45. 


512  Psalm  119:156- 165 

156.  Many  (or  manifold  are)  thy  compassions,  0  Jehovah,  according  to 
thy  judgments  quicken  me.  That  the  first  word  means  many,  not  great,  in 
this  connection,  seems  clear  from  the  next  verse.  According  to  thy  judg- 
ments, as  in  ver.  149. 

157.  Many  (are)  my  persecutors  and  oppressors  ;  from  thy  testimonies  I 
decline  not.  The  second  noun  is  often  rendered  adversaries,  as  in  ver.  139, 
but  it  may  here  be  taken  in  its  primary  sense,  which  is  near  akin  to  that  of 
the  preceding  word.    1  decline  not,  and  have  not  declined,  deviated,  swerved. 

158.  /  see  traitors  and  am  sickened — [those)  who  thy  saying  keep  not. 
The  wicked  are  called  traitors  against  God,  their  rightful  sovereign,  as  in 
Ps.  XXV.  8.  The  first  verb  is  the  reflexive  form  of  that  in  Ps.  xcv.  10,  / 
sicken  (or  disgust)  myself.  The  common  version  of  the  relative  (because) 
conveys  an  idea  not  expressed  but  understood.  There  is  no  need  of  departing 
from  the  strict  sense  of  the  pronoun.    See  and  have  seen,  keep  and  have  kept. 

159.  See  how  1  love  thy  precepts,  Jehovah ;  according  to  thy  mercy,  quicken 
me.    See  how,  literally  see  that,  which  is  tantamount  to  saying,  thou  seest  that, 

160.  The  head  of  thy  word  (is)  truth,  and  to  eternity  (is)  every  judgment 
of  thy  righteousness.  Head  is  by  some  explained  as  meaning  the  sum  total, 
by  others  as  synonymous  with  the  cognate  form  (j^^li^MI)  in  Ps.  cxi.  10. 

Every  judgment  of  thy  righteousness,  every  one  of  thy  righteous  judgments. 
Three  verses  of  the  twentieth  stanza  begin  with  some  form  of  the  verb 
(nm)  to  see. 

161.  Princes  persecute  me  without  cause — and  at  thy  words  my  heart  is 
awed.  Both  Hebrew  verbs  are  in  the  past  tense.  The  first  verb,  like  its 
representative,  originally  means  to  follow  after,  to  pursue,  but  is  commonly 
employed  in  a  hostile  sense.  Without  cause  answers  to  a  single  Hebrew 
word  (DijrT)  an  adverb  related  to  the  noun  (]n)  favour,  as  gratis  is  to  gratia 

in  Latin.  So  in  modem  English,  the  idea  here  might  be  expressed  by  the 
one  word  gratuitously.  At  thy  words,  literally  from  them,  i.  e.  because  or 
on  account  of  them.  The  last  verb  is  not  a  passive  in  Hebrew,  but  a  less 
usual  synonym  of  (i^'y)  to  fear,  correctly  paraphrased  in  the  English  ver- 
sions (standeth  in  awe).  The  masoretic  reading  is  thy  word  in  the  singular, 
but,  as  in  most  other  cases,  the  best  critics  now  prefer  the  reading  in  the 
text. 

162.  Rejoicing  (am)  I  over  thy  saying,  like  (one)  finding  much  spoil. 
The  participle  indicates  continued  and  habitual  rejoicing.  Thy  saying, 
that  which  thou  hast  said,  thy  law  with  its  attendant  promises. 

163.  Falsehood  I  hate  and  abhor;  thy  law  I  love.  Hate  and  have  hated, 
love  and  have  loved.  Falsehood  or  lying,  as  in  ver.  29.  The  second  verb 
has  the  same  augmented  and  intensive  form  that  occurs  above,  ver.  147,  158. 

164.  Seven  times  in  the  day  I  praise  thee,  for  the  judgments  of  thy  right- 
eousness. Seven  times  is  a  proverbial  idiom  for  often  or  repeatedly.  The 
use  of  this  form  of  expression  here  is  not  the  efiect  but  the  occasion  of  the 
observance  of  canonical  hours.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Iv.  18  (17).  Praise  thee, 
and  have  been  accustomed  so  to  do.    With  the  last  clause  compare  ver.  160. 

165.  (There  is)  much  peace  to  the  lovers  of  thy  law,  and  there  is  to  them 
no  stumbling-block.  Peace,  in  opposition  to  the  disquietude  inseparable  from 
a  course  of  sin.  A  stumbling-block  is  a  common  scriptural  figure  for  an 
occasion  of  unbehef  or  sinj*  The  idea  here  is,  that  the  best  preservative 
against  temptation  is  a  love  to  God's  commandments.  The  Prayer-Book 
version  (they  are  not  offended  at  it)  and  that  in  the  text  of  the  English 


Psalm  119:166- 172  513 

Bible  {nothing  shall  offend  them)  convey  a  very  different  meaning  from  the 
true  one  to  a  modem  reader.  The  latter  indeed  seems  directly  contradic- 
tory to  ver.  53,  168.  The  correct  sense  is  intelligibly  given  in  the  margin 
of  the  common  version. 

166.  I  hope  for  thy  salvation,  0  Jehovah,  and  thy  commandments  I  do. 
I  hope  and  have  hoped,  do  and  have  done.  In  the  mean  time,  while  expect- 
ing thy  salvation,  I  am  careful  to  perform  thy  will. 

167.  My  soul  observes  thy  testimonies,  and  I  love  them  greatly  (or  exceed- 
ingly). I  observe  them,  pay  particular  regard  to  them,  in  regulating  my 
behaviour,  not  with  a  mere  external  conformity,  but  from  or  with  my  soul, 
because  I  love  them  greatly. 

168.  /  observe  thy  precepts  and  thy  testimonies,  because  all  my  ways  are 
before  thee.  He  does  not  affect  to  be  prompted  by  a  love  exclusive  of  all 
fear,  but  only  of  a  slavish  dread.  He  stands  in  awe  of  God's  omniscience, 
and  is  influenced  by  dread  of  his  disapprobation  to  obey  his  precepts,  as 
well  as  by  attachment  to  the  law  itself.  My  ways,  my  courses  of  conduct, 
mode  of  Ufe,  behaviour.  Before  thee,  open  to  God's  infallible  inspection, 
and  subjected  to  his  judgment.  Two  of  the  verses  in  this  stanza  begin  with 
forms  of  the  verb  {*)DV})  to  observe  or  keep.     It  is  also  worthy  of  remark 

-    T 

that  iif  and  ]i}  are  treated  as  one  letter,  three  of  the  verses  beginning  with 
the  former,  namely,  the  two  first  and  the  sixth. 

169.  Let  my  cry  come  near  before  thee,  0  Jehovah  ;  according  to  thy 
word,  make  me  understand.  The  first  noun  denotes  an  audible  expression 
of  strong  feeling,  whether  sorrowful  or  joyful.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  1, 
XXX.  6  (5).  Come  near  before  thee,  not  only  near  enough  to  be  heard,  but 
into  thy  presence,  so  that  he  who  utters  it  may  be  seen.  A  ccording  to  thy 
word,  thy  commandment  which  requires,  and  thy  promise  which  secures, 
the  understanding  of  thy  will.  See  above,  ver.  25,  65,  107,  and  compare 
Deut.  XXX.  6. 

170.  Let  my  supplication  come  before  thee;  according  to  thy  promise,  free 
me  (or  deliver  me).  The  first  noun,  according  to  its  etymology,  denotes  a 
prayer  for  grace  or  favour.  See  above,  Ps.  vi.  10  (9),  Iv.  2  (1).  In  this 
and  the  preceding  verse,  the  prayer  for  deUverance  from  outward  troubles 
is  subjoined,  and  as  it  were  subordinated,  to  that  for  grace  to  do  the  will 
of  God.     The  same  connection  may  be  traced  in  Ps.  ic.  11-17. 

171.  My  lips  shall  pour  forth  praise;  for  thou  unit  teach  me  thy  statutes. 
The  first  verb  means  to  cause  to  gush  or  flow,  and  is  the  same  with  that  in 
Ps.  xix.  3  (2),  Ixxviii.  2.  It  here  denotes  eager,  abundant,  and  unceasing 
praise.  The  last  clause  expresses  the  confident  expectation  of  the  blessing 
so  often  and  importunately  asked  throughout  the  psalm.  As  if  he  had  said. 
Now  shall  my  Ups  praise,  for  I  am  about  to  receive  what  I  had  prayed  for ; 
thou  wilt,  indeed,  teach  me  thy  statutes.  The  translation  when  thou  hast 
taught  me  (or  shalt  teach  me)  is  less  exact,  less  forcible,  and  really  included 
in  the  other. 

172.  Let  my  tongue  answer  thy  saying — that  all  thy  commandments  are 
right.  The  verb  which  usually  means  to  answer  prayer  (see  above,  ver. 
26,  145)  is  here  used  in  the  sense  of  responding  to  a  precept  or  a  promise 
by  the  language  of  praise  and  acquiescence.  Compare  ver.  42.  There  is  no 
need  of  treating  the  optative  form  of  the  verb  as  a  poetic  licence.  The 
strict  sense  agrees  well  with  the  prayer  in  the  next  verse.  What  is  here 
asked  is  occasion  thus  to  praise  God.  As  the  last  clause  seems  to  assign 
no  pertinent  reason  for  the  prayer  in  the  first,  it  may  be  regarded  as  the 


514  Psalm  120:1 

response  itself.  Let  my  tongue  say  in  answer  to  all  thy  requisitions,  that 
all  thy  commandments  are  right,  or  righteousness  itself,  as  in  ver.  142, 144. 
178.  Let  thy  hand  he  (near)  to  help  me ;  for  thy  precepts  do  I  choose. 
The  word  supplied  in  this  translation  is  not  necessary  to  the  sense,  but  is 
introduced  for  the  purpose  of  retaining  the  original  construction,  he  to  help 
me,  i.  e.  be  my  help,  or  simply  help  me.  The  reason  given  in  the  last 
clause  is,  that  as  he  voluntarily  makes  choice  of  God's  will  as  his  rule  of 
conduct,  he  thereby  renounces  all  other  protection.  The  Hebrew  verb  is  a 
preterite ;  /  choose,  and  have  already  chosen. 

174.  I  long  for  thy  salvation,  0  Jehovah,  and  thy  law  (is)  my  delights. 
I  long  and  have  longed.  With  the  first  clause  compare  ver.  40,  81,  iSl ; 
with  the  second,  ver,  24,  77,  92, 

175.  Let  my  soul  live  and  praise  thee ;  and  let  thy  judgments  help  me. 
This  verse  sums  up  in  conclusion  the  petitions  of  the  whole  psahn.  Save 
me,  and  thereby  give  me  cause  to  praise  thee,  for  the  blessings  which  I  have 
derived  from  the  promises  and  precepts  of  the  law.  Let  my  soid  lire,  be- 
cause it  is  that  which  is  in  danger.     Judgments,  as  in  ver.  149,  156, 

176.  I  wander  like  a  lost  sheep — seek  thy  servant — for  thy  commandments 
I  do  not  forget.  The  English  versions  of  the  first  clause  (Z  have  gone  astray), 
although  they  adhere  strictly  to  the  form  of  the  original,  seem  to  make  the 
primary  idea  that  of  sin,  which  is  really  included,  but  only  as  the  cause  of 
that  which  is  directly  intended,  namely,  misery,  represented  by  the  wander- 
ing of  a  lost  and  helpless  sheep.  Compare  Jer.  1,  6.  Seek  thy  servant,  de- 
liver from  this  wretched  state  one  who  is  still  thy  servant,  and  as  such 
remembers  thy  commandments,  even  in  the  midst  of  his  worst  sufi"erings. 
As  the  preceding  verse  sums  up  the  petitions  of  the  psalm,  so  this  sums  up 
its  complaints  in  the  fii'st  clause  and  its  professions  in  the  last,  connected 
by  the  short  prayer  {seek  thy  seitant)  as  by  a  single  link.  The  predominant 
use  of  the  past  tense,  even  to  the  end,  shews  how  deeply  the  entire  psalm 
is  founded  upon  actual  and  previous  experience.  In  this  last  stanza,  the 
only  initial  word  repeated  is  i^T\F\)  the  verb  of  existence. 


Psalm  120 

1.  A  Song  of  the  Ascents.  To  Jehovah,  in  my  distress,  I  called,  and  he 
answered  me.  This  is  the  first  of  fifteen  psalms  (cxx.-cxxxiv,),  all  bearing 
the  inscription,  song  of  ascents  or  upgoings,  i.e.  sung  during  the  periodical 
journeys  or  pilgrimages  to  Jerusalem  at  the  times  of  the  great  yearly  festivals. 
On  these  occasions  the  people  are  said,  even  in  historical  prose,  to  go  up  to 
Jerusalem,  in  reference  both  to  its  physical  and  moral  elevation.  See  Exod. 
xxxiv.  24, 1  Kings  xii.  27,  28.  The  Hebrew  verb  (nby)  employed  in  such 
connections  is  the  root  of  the  noun  (Dib^'D)  ascents  in  these  inscriptions. 

This  explanation  of  the  title  is  much  more  satisfactory  than  any  other 
which  has  been  proposed.  A  rabbinical  tradition  represents  these  psalms 
as  having  been  sung  by  the  people,  as  they  ascended  the  fifteen  steps  (in 
Hebrew  Jli'D^p),  seven  on  one  side  and  eight  on  the  other,  repeatedly 

mentioned  by  Ezekiel  (xl.  6,  22,  26,  31,  34,  37),  But  apart  fi-om  the 
intrinsic  improbability  of  this  tradition,  some  psalms  in  the  series  were 
evidently  not  meant  to  be  sung  at  the  temple.  No  less  improbable  than 
this  very  ancient  explanation  is  the  modem  one,  that  the  inscription  has 


Psalm  120:2, 3  515 

reference  to  a  peculiarity  of  Btructure,  the  repetition  of  a  phrase  or  clause 
of  one  sentence  in  the  next  with  an  addition,  forming  a  kind  of  climax  or 
progression  in  the  terms  as  well  as  the  ideas.  But  even  admitting  that  this 
peculiarity  of  form  might  be  described  by  (ni/VD)  the  Hebrew  word  in 

question,  this  word  could  not  have  been  prefixed  to  each  of  the  fifteen 
psalms,  when  the  examples  of  the  fact  alleged  are  confined  almost  exclu- 
sively to  one  or  two  of  them.  Much  nearer  to  the  truth  is  the  opinion, 
that  these  psalms  were  intended  to  be  sung  diiring  the  return  from  Babylon, 
which  is  called  an  ascent  (nVyO)  by  Ezra  (vii.  9).     But  this  can  only  be 

maintained  by  arbitrarily  denying  the  genuineness  of  the  titles,  which  ascribe 
four  of  the  psalms  (cxxii.,  cxxiv.,  cxxxi.,  cxxxiii.)  to  David,  and  one  (cxxvii.) 
to  Solomon.  The  position  assigned  to  these,  and  the  difierence  of  tone  be- 
tween them  and  the  rest,  are  ingeniously  accounted  for  by  Hengstenberg's 
hypothesis,  that  these  five  ancient  psalms,  sung  by  the  people,  as  they  went 
up  to  Jerusalem  before  the  captivity,  were  made  the  basis  of  a  whole  series 
or  system,  designed  for  the  same  use  by  an  inspired  wTiter  after  the  Resto- 
ration, who  not  only  added  ten  psalms  of  his  own,  as  appears  from  the 
identity  of  tone  and  diction,  but  joined  them  to  the  old  ones  in  a  studied 
and  artificial  manner,  entirely  inconsistent  with  the  supposition  of  fortuitous 
or  random  combination.  The  one  psalm  by  Solomon  stands  in  the  centre 
of  the  series  or  system  and  divides  it  into  two  equal  parts,  in  each  of  which 
we  find  two  psalms  of  David  and  five  anonymous  or  new  ones,  the  former 
being  separated  and  surrounded  by  the  latter,  an  additional  and  strong 
proof  of  intended  adaptation  to  the  times  when  the  later  psalms  were  written, 
to  which  Hengstenberg  still  further  adds  the  number  and  distribution  of  the 
divine  names  in  the  whole  series  and  its  subdivisions.  The  psalm  imme- 
diately before  is  anonymous,  but  its  tone  and  diction  mark  it  as  belonging  to 
the  period  of  the  Restoration.  It  begins  with  an  acknowledgment  of  that 
gi-eat  mercy,  ver.  1,  followed  by  a  prayer  for  deliverance  from  treacherous 
and  spiteful  enemies,  ver.  2,  and  a  confident  anticipation  of  their  punish- 
ment, ver.  3,  4,  but  closes  with  a  further  lamentation  and  complaint  of 
present  sufferings,  ver.  5-7.  In  this,  as  in  all  the  other  psalms  of  the 
series,  the  ideal  speaker  is  Israel  or  Judah,  considered  as  the  church  or 
chosen  people.  This  first  verse,  although  general  in  its  terms,  is  perfectly 
appropriate  to  the  Captivity,  as  the  distress  out  of  which  the  sufierer  cried 
to  God,  and  to  the  Restoration,  as  the  answer  to  his  prayer.  In  my  dis- 
tress, literally  in  distress  to  me,  an  expression  like  that  in  Ps.  xviii.  7  (6). 
The  augmented  form  of  the  Hebrew  noun  is  like  that  in  Ps.  iii.  3  (2). 

2.  0  Jehovah,  free  my  soul  from  lip  of  falsehood,  from  tongue  of  fraud. 
The  soul  is  particularly  mentioned  as  usual  when  the  life  or  the  existence 
is  in  danger.  The  last  two  nouns  in  Hebrew  are  not  in  construction  but 
in  apposition,  a  tongue  (ivhich  is)  fraud,  equivalent  in  meaning  to  the  same 
English  words  in  an  inverted  order,  fraud-tongues.  See  a  somewhat  similar 
combination,  Ps.  xlv.  5  (4),  Ix.  5  (4).  The"  terms  of  the  description  are 
too  strong  to  be  applied  to  mere  delusive  promises,  and  necessarily  suggest 
the  idea  of  calumnious  falsehood,  as  in  Ps.  xxxi.  19  (18),  cxix.  69,  78. 
The  reality  answering  to  this  description  in  the  case  of  the  restored  Jews 
is  the  spiteful  misrepresentation,  by  which  the  Samaritans  retarded  the  re- 
building of  the  temple,  as  recorded  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  Ezra. 

8.  What  will  he  give  to  titee,  and  what  will  he  add  to  thee,  thou  tongue  of 
fraud  ?  Having  complained  to  God  of  the  false  tongue,  the  ideal  speaker 
turns  to  it  as  ac.ually  present,  and  addresses  it  directly,  speaking  of  God  in 


516  Psalm  120:4 -6 

the  third  person.  The  meaning  of  the  question  is,  what  recompence  can 
you  expect  from  an  infinitely  righteous  God  for  these  malignant  calumnies  ? 
The  peculiar  form  of  the  interrogation  is  derived  from  that  of  an  ancient 
oath,  The  Lord  do  so  to  me  and  more  also,  literally  and  so  add,  i.  e.  fur- 
ther do,  or  in  addition  to  the  thing  in  question.  See  1  Sam.  iii.  17, 
xiv.  44.  As  explained  by  this  allusion,  the  words  have  a  new  force.  "What 
good  or  evil  may  be  imprecated  on  thee,  as  the  consequence  of  these  mali- 
cious falsehoods. 

4.  Arrows  of  a  warrior  sharpened,  [together)  with  coals  of  juniper.  The 
general  idea  of  severe  and  painful  punishment  is  here  expressed  by  the 
obvious  and  intelligible  figures  of  keen  arrows  and  hot  coals.  The  arrows 
of  a  mighty  man,  warrior,  or  hero,  are  those  used  in  battle,  perhaps  with 
an  allusion  to  the  fact,  that  one  of  the  races  mentioned  in  the  next  verse 
excelled  in  archery.  See  Isa.  xxi.  17.  The  word  which  the  rabbinical 
tradition  explains  to  mean  the  juniper,  is  by  modern  lexicographers  identi- 
fied with  the  Arabic  name  of  a  species  of  broom-plant,  which  is  thought,  on 
account  of  its  inflammatory  quality,  to  make  the  best  charcoal.  See  Robin- 
son's Palestine,  vol.  i.  p.  299.  With  the  figures  of  the  verse  before  us 
compare  Ps.  vii.  14  (13),  xviii.  13,  14  (12,  13),  cxl.  11  (10). 

5.  Alas  for  me,  that  I  sojourn  (with)  Meshech,  (and)  dwell  near  the  tents  of 
Kedar  !  The  first  verb  seems  elsewhere,  in  the  same  construction,  to  de- 
note the  act  of  dwelhng  with  one,  Ps.  v.  5  (4).  The  Hebrew  preposition 
in  the  last  clause  properly  means  loith,  and  denotes  association  and  proxi- 
mity. The  English  Bible,  by  twice  employing  our  preposition  in,  obscures 
the  meaning  of  both  clauses,  which  is  not  that  the  people  were  in  the  power  or 
even  in  the  midst  of  the  enemies  here  mentioned,  but  compelled  to  reside 
near  them  and  to  suffer  from  their  neighbourhood.  Meshech  is  the  name 
given  in  Gen.  x.  2  to  the  Moschi,  a  barbarous  people  inhabiting  the  moun- 
tains between  Colchis,  Armenia,  and  Iberia.  Kedar  was  one  of  the  sons 
of  Ishmael  (Gen.  xxv,  13),  whose  name  is  sometimes  used  to  designate  an 
Arabian  tribe  (Isa.  xxi.  16,  xlii.  11),  and  in  later  Hebrew  the  Arabians 
generally.  As  these  races,  dwelling  far  off,  in  the  north  and  south,  were 
never  in  immediate  or  continued  contact  with  the  IsraeUtes,  they  are  pro- 
bably named  as  types  and  representatives  of  warlike  barbarism,  just  as  the 
names  Goths,  Vandals,  Huns,  Turks,  Tartars,  Cossacks,  have  at  difierent 
times  been  used  proverbially  in  English,  to  describe  those  supposed  to  ex- 
hibit the  same  character,  however  unconnected  or  remote  in  genealogy  and 
local  habitation.  A  slight  approach  to  the  same  usage  was  produced 
among  ourselves  by  the  revolutionary  war,  in  reference  to  the  national 
names,  British  and  Hessian.  In  the  case  before  us,  it  is  evident  from  ver. 
6,  that  Meshech  and  Kedar  are  mere  types  and  representatives  of  those  who 
hate  peace  and  delight  in  war.  Compare  Ezek.  xxxviii.  2,  where  Meshech 
appears  as  a  chief  leader  under  Gog,  the  great  prophetic  representative  of 
heathendom. 

6.  My  soul  has  dwelt  too  long  for  her  with  (one)  hating  p'eace.  The 
substitution  of  my  soul  for  I  implies  the  intimate  conviction  and  the  pain- 
ful sense  of  what  is  here  asserted.  Too  long,  litcraUy  much  or  too  much. 
As  to  this  peculiar  idiom,  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixv.  10  (9).  For  her,  may  be 
an  idiomatic  pleonasm,  adding  nothing  to  the  meaning  of  the  verb,  with 
which  it  must  be  read  in  close  connection  ;  or  it  may  have  the  meaning 
which  the  corresponding  phrase  would  naturally  seem  to  have  in  English, 
for  her  good  or  for  her  interest.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Iviii.  8  (7).  Hating 
peace  is  clearly  a  collective  or  aggregate  expression,  comprehending  all  de- 


Psalm  121:1  -4  517 

noted  by  the  Meshech  and  Kedar  of  the  preceding  verse,  as  an  ideal 
individual. 

7.  /  am  peace,  and  when  I  speak,  they  (go)  to  war.  The  first  phrase 
resembles  /  am  prayer  in  Ps.  cix.  4,  and  seems  to  mean,  I  am  all  peace, 
nothing  but  peace,  peace  itself,  i.  e.  entirely  peaceful  or  pacific.  Speak  m&j 
be  an  ellipsis  for  speak  peace,  a  phrase  repeatedly  occurring  in  the  Psalms. 
See  above,  Ps.  xxxv.  20,  Ixxxv.  9  (8),  and  below,  Ps.  cxxii.  8.  The 
sense  will  then  be,  whenever  I  desire  or  propose  peace.  If  the  verb  be  ab- 
solutely understood,  the  sense  is  that  every  word  he  utters  is  made  an 
occasion  of  attack  or  conflict.  The  double  /or,  in  the  common  version  of 
this  sentence,  is  as  incorrect  as  the  double  in  of  ver.  5,  and  more  enfeebling 
to  the  sense.  I  am  not  only  for  peace,  but  am  peace  itself.  They  are  not 
only /or  war,  but  arise,  proceed,  or  address  themselves  to  it. 

Psalm  121 

1.  A  Song  for  the  Ascents.  I  raise  my  eyes  to  the  mountains.  Whence 
Cometh  my  help  ?  The  title  difiers  from  that  of  the  preceding  psalm  only 
in  the  use  of  the  preposition  for,  instead  of  the  simple  genitive  construc- 
tion. This  variation,  though  without  effect  upon  the  sense,  is  favourable 
to  the  explanation  which  has  been  already  given  of  these  titles,  as  a  song 
for  the  ascents  or  pilgrimages  to  Jerusalem  is  certainly  more  intelligible 
than  a  song  for  the  steps  of  the  temple,  and  still  more  so  than  a  song  for 
the  returns  from  exile,  while  the  modern  theory  of  climacteric  resumptions 
fails  altogether  to  account  for  the  expression  here  used.  The  whole  psalm 
is  a  description  of  Jehovah  as  the  guardian  or  protector  of  his  people.  The 
only  material  distinction  of  the  parts  is  that  arising  from  the  alternate  use 
of  the  first  and  second  person,  as  in  Ps.  xci.,  which  has  led  some  to  assume 
without  necessity,  that  the  psalm  was  intended  to  be  sung  by  alternate  or 
responsive  choirs.  The  phrase,  to  lift  the  eyes,  though  sometimes  used 
to  signify  the  mere  act  of  directing  them  to  an  object,  has  its  strict 
and  full  sense  when  a  higher  object  is  particularly  mentioned,  such 
as  hills  or  heavens.  The  mountains  here  meant,  are  the  heights  on 
which  Jerusalem  is  built.  It  is  not  improbable  that  this  psalm  was 
intended  to  be  sung  when  the  pilgrims  came  in  sight  of  the  Holy  City. 
Some  suppose,  moreover,  that  it  was  meant  to  be  an  evening  song,  and  used 
when  they  halted  for  the  last  night's  rest  before  they  reached  Jerusalem. 
The  relative  construction  of  the  last  clause  yields  a  good  sense,  but  is  not 
in  perfect  keeping  with  the  usage  of  the  compound  particle  (]^KD),  which  is 

elsewhere  always  interrogative. 

2.  My  help  is  from  Jehovah,  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth.  The  creative 
power  of  Jehovah  is  particularly  mentioned,  to  demonstrate  his  ability  to 
help  his  people.     Compare  Ps.  cxv.  15. 

3.  May  he  not  suffer  to  be  moved  thy  foot ;  may  he  not  slumber — thy 
keeper.  This  is  the  expression  of  a  wish,  the  only  sense  consistent  with 
the  form  of  the  orignal.  Let  him  not  give  \ip  to  moving  thy  foot.  See 
above,  Ps.  xxxviii.  17  (16),  Ixvi.  9  (8).  The  figure  is  peculiarly  appro- 
priate in  the  mouth  of  pilgrims,  making  their  way  among  the  hills  and  rocks 
of  Palestine.     The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  figures  in  the  subsequent  verses. 

4.  Lo,  he  shall  not  slumber,  and  he  shall  not  sleep — the  keeper  of  Israel. 
What  is  desired  in  the  third  verse,  is  aflBrmed  in  this.  The  position  of  the 
subject  at  the  end  of  the  sentence,  in  both  cases,  is  emphatic.     Most  inter- 


518  Psalm  122:1 -3 

preters  assume  a  gradation  in  the  meaning  of  the  two  verbs,  as  if  one 
denoted  lighter  and  the  other  deep  sleep  ;  but  they  differ  on  the  question 
which  is  the  stronger  of  the  two  expressions.  The  latest  writers  say  the 
first.     See  above,  on  Ps.  iv.  9  (8). 

5.  Jehovah  is  thy  keeper ;  Jehovah  is  thy  shade  upon  thy  right  hand. 
The  keeper  or  protector  of  Israel,  who  had  twice  been  mentioned  by  that 
title,  is  now  named.  A  shade  or  shadow  is  a  common  figure  for  protector, 
and  the  right  hand  often  mentioned  as  the  place  of  a  protector.  See  above, 
on  Ps,  cix.  6,  ex.  5,  and  compare  Num.  xiv.  9. 

6.  By  day  the  sun  shall  not  smite  thee,  and  the  moon  hy  night.  The  last 
clause  does  not  necessarily  refer  to  injurious  efi'ects  produced  directly  by  the 
moon,  but  may  be  understood  as  a  poetical  description  of  all  noxious  influ- 
ences operating  in  the  night,  over  which  the  moon  was  constituted  ruler  at 
the  time  of  its  creation.     See  Gen.  i.  16,  xxxi,  40,  Jer.  xxxvi.  30. 

7.  Jehovah  will  keep  thee  from  all  evil  ;  he  toill  keep  thy  soul.  The 
protection  which  had  been  repeatedly  promised  to  Israel  on  the  part  of  God, 
is  now  described  as  extending  to  all  evils  and  to  the  very  life  and  soul. 

8.  Jehovah  will  keep  thy  going  out  and  thy  coming  in  from  now  even  to 
eternity.  This  is  the  third  repetition  of  the  phrase,  Jehovah  will  keep,  i.  e. 
keep  safe,  protect,  preserve,  as  if  to  silence  the  misgivings  of  a  weak  or 
tempted  faith,  by  the  reiterated  declaration  of  this  cheering  truth.  Going 
out  and  coming  in  is  a  proverbial  Hebrew  phrase  for  all  the  occupations 
and  aflairs  of  life.  See  Deut.  xxviii.  6,  1  Sam.  xxix.  6.  The  original 
reference  is  to  man's  going  out  to  labour  in  the  morning  and  returning  home 
to  rest  at  night.  See  above,  on  Ps.  civ.  23.  With  the  last  clause  compare  Ps. 
cxiii.  2,  cxvi.  18,  cxxv.  2.  The  promise  of  eternal  preservation  is  addressed 
directly  to  the  church  as  such  ;  but  that  it  involves  the  blessed  immorta- 
lity of  individual  believers,  is  admitted  even  by  those  least  disposed  to  find 
allusions  to  the  future  state  in  the  Book  of  Psalms. 


Psalm  122 

1.  A  Song  of  the  Ascents.  By  David.  I  rejoice  in  (those)  saying  to 
me.  To  the  house  of  Jehovah  we  will  go.  This  psalm,  though  so  much 
older  than  the  two  before  it,  was  probably  placed  third  in  the  series,  be- 
cause it  was  intended  to  be  sung,  and  was  actually  sung,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  Holy  City,  whereas  the  others  were  used  at  the  commencement  of  the 
march,  and  on  coming  in  sight  of  Jerusalem.  The  ideal  speaker  repre- 
sents the  church  or  chosen  people.  After  the  introduction,  ver.  1,  2, 
comes  a  panegjTic  on  Jerusalem,  as  the  royal  and  holy  city,  ver.  3-5,  fol- 
lowed by  a  prayer  for  her  prosperity  as  such,  ver.  6-9.  The  Ascents,  or 
upward  journeys  of  the  people  to  the  sanctuary,  as  in  Ps.  cxx.  1,  cxxi.  1. 
To  rejoice  in  those  saying  is  to  rejoice  because  they  say.  On  the  last  clause 
is  founded  Isa.  ii.  3,  where  the  gentiles  are  described  as  joining  in  the 
words  here  uttered  by  the  Jews. 

2.  Standing  are  our  feet  in  thy  gates,  0  Jerusalem  !  The  common 
version  {shall  stand)  is  entirely  ungrammatical.  The  past  tense  of  the  sub- 
stantive verb  with  the  participle  means  strictly  have  been  standing^  i.  e.  have 
begun  to  stand,  or  are  already  standing. 

3.  Jerusalem,  the  (one)  built  like  a  city  which  is  joined  to  itself  together. 
This  seems  to  be  a  continuation  of  the  address  in  the  preceding  verse. 
The  unusual  expressions  in  the  last  clause  are  intended  to  describe  the  city 


Psalm  123:1,2  519 

as  substantially  and  strongly  built.  The  sense  is  correctly  given  in  the 
English  Bible,  a  city  that  is  compact  together.  This  seems  to  imply  that 
Jerusalem  had  recently  assumed  this  character,  and  may  therefore  help  to 
determine  the  period  in  the  reign  of  David,  when  the  psalm  was  written. 
See  2  Sam.  v.  9.     The  abbreviated  relative  (ni^nii^)  has   by  some  been 

made  a  proof  of  later  date  ;  but  it  no  doubt  belonged  from  the  beginning 
to  the  dialect  of  common  hfe,  though  not  commonly  employed  in  writing 
till  a.  later  date.  It  occurs  in  the  song  of  Deborah,  Judges  v.  7,  and  else- 
where in  the  Book  of  Judges  (vi.  17,  vii.  12.  viii.  26). 

4.  Where  the  tribes  go  up,  the  tribes  of  J  ah  (as)  a  testimony  to  Israel  to 
give  thanks  to  the  name  of  Jehovah.  There  is  obvious  reference  to  the 
requisition  in  Exod.  xxiii.  17,  xxxiv.  23,  Deut.  xvi.  16,  which  is  called  a 
testimony,  not  merely  as  the  law  in  general  is  (Ps.  xciii.  5),  but  as  a  constant 
memorial  of  God's  goodness  to  his  people.  The  mention  of  the  tribes 
seems  to  point  to  the  period  of  the  undivided  monarchy. 

5.  For  there  sit  thrones  for  judgment,  thrones  for  the  home  of  David. 
This  means  simply  that  Jerusalem  was  a  civil  as  well  as  a  religious  capital. 
There,  literally  thither,  implying  that  the  singers  were  themselves  in 
motion  towards  these  thrones.  Sit,  or  as  we  should  say  in  EngHsh,  stand. 
See  below,  Ps.  cxxv.  1. 

6.  Pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem;  may  they  have  peace  that  love  thee! 
Peace,  in  both  clauses,  includes  all  prosperity.  There  is  obvious  allusion 
to  the  meaning  of  the  name  Jerusalem.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxvi.  3  (2). 

7.  Peace  be  within  thy  rampart,  and  repose  vnthin  thy  palaces.  Peace 
and  repose  from  all  distracting!  causes,  of  whatever  nature.  Rampart, 
breast-work,  circumvallation.  Rampart  and  palaces  are  put  for  the  outer 
and  inner  masses  of  building.     Compare  Ps.  xlviii.  14. 

8.  For  the  sake  of  my  brethren  and  my  friends,  let  me  speak,  Peace  (be) 
within  thee.  By  brethren  and  friends  we  are  to  understand  the  whole  body 
of  the  chosen  people.  For  their  sake  may  include  the  sense  of  in  their 
behalf.  The  last  clause  admits  of  a  different  construction.  Let  me  speak 
peace  to  thee,  hterally  in  thee.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxv.  9  (8).  The 
optative  meaning  of  the  verb  is  determined  by  the  particle  (Xi),  the  use  of 

which  here  seems  to  be  imitated  In  Ps.  cxv.  2,  cxvi.  4. 

9.  For  the  sake  of  the  house  of  Jehovah  our  God,  I  will  seek  thy  good. 
The  house  of  God  is  here  the  sanctuary  and  all  the  interests  of  which  it 
was  the  local  centre.  Jehovah  our  God,  our  patron  and  protector,  our 
peculiar  covenant  God.  Seek  includes  every  form  of  effort  to  promote  it ; 
but  the  prominent  idea  is  that  of  intercession. 


Psalm  123 

1.  A  Song  of  the  Ascents.  Unto  thee  do  I  raise  iny  eyes,  the  {one)  sitting 
in  the  heavens.  This  psalm  contains  an  expression  of  solicitous  desire  for 
divine  help,  ver.  1,  2,  a  direct  prayer  for  mercy,  ver.  3,  and  a  statement  of 
the  circumstances  which  occasioned  it.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps. 
exxi.  1,  with  the  second,  Ps.  ii.  4,  xi.  4,  ciii.  19,  cxiii.  3,  5. 

2.  Behold,  as  the  eyes  of  sei-vants  (are  turned)  to  the  hand  of  their  masters, 
as  the  eyes  of  a  maid  to  the  hand  of  her  mistress,  so  our  eyes  (are  turned)  to 
'Jehovah  our  God,  until  he  have  mercy  upon  us.  The  behold  as,  at  the 
beginning,  is  equivalent  to  see  how  in  English.     Some  suppose  the  act  of 


520  Psalm  124:1 -3 

looking  towards  the  hand  of  a  superior  to  denote  desire  of  protection ; 
others  an  appeal  to  his  bounty,  as  in  Ps.  civ.  27,  28,  cxlv.  15,  16 ;  others 
an  implied  prayer  that  punishment  may  cease.  Compare  Gen.  xvi.  6,  8,  9. 
Perhaps  all  these  explanations  err  in  being  too  specific,  and  the  sense  of 
the  comparison  is  simply  that  they  look  with  deference  and  trust  to  the 
superior  power  which  controls  them. 

3.  Have  mercy  upon  us,  0  Jehovah,  have  mercy  upon  us  ;  for  greatly  are 
we  sated  vnth  contempt.  This  petition  forms  the  centre  of  the  psalm,  to 
which  what  goes  before  is  introductory,  and  what  follows  supplementary. 
The  contempt  is  that  of  heathen  neighbours,  and  especially  that  of  the 
Samaritans,  which  is  expressly  mentioned  in  the  history.  See  Neh.  i.  3, 
ii.  19. 

4.  Much  sated  in  itself  is  our  soul  with  the  scorning  of  the  secure,  the 
contempt  of  the  proud.  In  itself,  literally  to  or  for  itself,  as  in  Ps.  cxxii.  3. 
Secure  [sinners),  those  at  ease,  indifferent  to  the  sufferings  of  others,  and 
without  apprehension  of  their  own.     Compare  Ps.  Ixxiii.  12. 

Psalm  124 

1.  A  Song  of  the  Ascents.  By  David.  If  [it  had)  not  [been)  Jehovah 
who  was  for  us — Oh  let  Israel  say.  This  psalm  consists  of  two  parts,  an 
acknowledgment  of  God  as  the  deliverer  of  Israel,  ver.  1-5,  and  a  conse- 
quent determination  to  trust  in  him  exclusively  for  future  favours,  ver.  6-9. 
The  verse  before  us  propounds  the  theme  of  the  whole  composition,  in  a 
conditional  and  imperfect,  but  for  that  very  reason  a  more  striking  form. 
It  is  tantamount  to  saying,  what  if  the  Lord  had  not  been  for  us  ? — leaving 
the  answer  to  the  imagination  of  the  reader.  For  v^,  in  our  favour,  on  our 
side ;  or  to  us,  belonging  to  us,  ours,  which  really  includes  the  other.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  Ivi.  10  (9).     Oh  that  in  the  last  clause  represents  (KJ)  the 

particle  of  entreaty.  The  common  version  [now)  conveys  the  very  different 
idea,  at  length,  after  all  that  we  have  sufTered,  let  Israel  so  say.  The 
mistake  is  rendered  more  natural  or  rather  unavoidable,  to  mere  English 
readers,  by  the  seeming  antithesis  between  the  now  of  this  verse  and  the 
then  of  ver.  3,  4,  5,  of  which  there  is  not  the  slightest  trace  in  the  original. 

2.  If  [it  had)  not  [been)  Jehovah  who  was  for  us,  in  the  rising  up  of  man 
against  us.  What  was  left  unfinished  in  the  first  verse,  as  a  mere  suggestion 
of  the  Psalmist's  theme,  is  now  repeated,  for  the  purpose  of  being  carried 
out.  This  is  one  of  the  rhetorical  resumptions,  which  some  modem  critics 
hold  to  be  the  [DwV^)  degrees,  from  which  these  fifteen  psalms  derived 

their  common  designation.     With  this  verse  compare  Ps.  Ivi.  12  (11). 

3.  Then  alive  would  they  have  suallowed  us,  in  the  kindling  of  their  wrath 
against  us.  With  respect  to  the  then  at  the  beginning  of  this  verse,  there 
is  danger  of  an  error  just  the  opposite  of  that  already  pointed  out  in  refer- 
ence to  the  now  of  ver.  1.  As  the  English  reader  would  be  almost  sure  to 
take  that  for  a  particle  of  time,  which  it  is  not,  he  would  be  equally  certain 
to  mistake  this  for  a  term  of  logic,  meaning  in  that  case,  upon  that 
supposition,  or  the  like  ;  whereas  it  really  means  at  that  time,  the  well 
remembered  time  of  our  extremity,  when  God  so  wonderfully  interposed  for 
our  deliverance.  The  Hebrew  particle  occurs  in  this  form  only  here,  and 
is  consequently  no  more  a  proof  of  recent  than  of  early  date.  Another 
word  liable  to  misconstruction  in  the  English  versions  of  this  clause  is 


Psalm  125:1  521 

quick,  here  used  in  its  primary  sense  of  living  or  alive,  from  which  may  be 
easily  deduced  its  secondary  sense  of  swift,  implying  lively  motion.  The 
historical  allusion,  in  this  and  other  like  passages,  is  no  doubt  to  the  fate 
of  Korah  and  his  company.  Compare  Num.  xvi.  32,  33,  where  the  same 
verb  and  adjective  occur  together.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Iv.  16  (15).  The 
plural  pronoun  theAr  refers  to  the  collective  vian  in  the  preceding  verse. 

4.  Then  the  waters  would  have  overwhelmed  us  (and)  a  stream  passed  over 
our  soul.  The  common  version  (had  overwhelmed  us)  is  entirely  correct,  and 
more  poetical  in  form  than  that  here  given,  but  at  the  same  time  ambiguous, 
as  the  sentence,  taken  by  itself,  would  seem  to  mean,  that  before  the  time 
signified  by  then,  the  waters  had  actually  overwhelmed  them,  which  was 
not  the  case.  The  figures  are  the  same  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  5,  17  (4,  16), 
cxliv.  7. 

5.  Then  had  passed  over  our  soul  the  waters,  the  protid  (uaters).  The 
waters  are  so  described,  partly  because  of  the  ideas  suggested  by  their 
swelling  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  10),  partly  because  they  represent  dangers  arising 
from  the  selfish  pride  of  human  enemies.  Some,  without  necessity,  recur 
to  the  primary  meaning  of  the  root,  and  explain  the  adjective  to  mean 
boiling,  efl'ervescing. 

6.  Blessed  (be)  Jehovah,  who  did  not  give  us  (as)  prey  to  their  teeth.  By 
one  of  those  rhetorical  transitions  which  are  constantly  occurring  in  the 
figurative  diction  of  the  psalms,  the  enemies  and  dangers,  which  had  just 
been  represented  as  an  overwhelming  flood  or  torrent,  are  suddenly  trans- 
formed into  devouring  beasts.  See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  8  (7),  Iviii.  7  (6). 
With  the  benediction  or  doxology,  blessed  (be)  Jehovah,  compare  Ps.  xxviii.  6, 
xxxi.  22  (21). 

7.  Our  soul  is  escaped,  like  a  bird,  from  the  snare  of  the  fowlers  ;  the  snare 
is  broken  and  we  are  escaped.  We  have  here  a  second  transition  and  a  third 
comparison,  to  wit,  that  of  the  enemies  to  fowlers,  and  of  their  devices  to 
snares  or  traps  used  in  catching  birds.  In  the  second  clause  there  is  an 
obvious  climax.  Not  only  is  the  bird  gone,  but  the  snare  is  broken. 
This  is  pecuHarly  appropriate  to  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  from  Babylon, 
which  was  occasioned  by  the  fall  of  Babylon  itself.  With  the  figures  of 
this  verse  compare  Ps.  xviii.  5  (4),  xci.  3.  The  English  phrase  is  escaped, 
denoting  a  change  of  state,  and  not,  hke  has  escaped,  a  single  act,  is  well 
suited  to  represent  the  Hebrew  verb,  which  though  active  in  meaning,  has 
the  passive  form. 

8.  Our  help  is  in  the  name  of  Jehovah,  maker  of  heaven  and  earth.  The 
conclusion  dra\vn  from  the  experience  here  recorded  is,  that  he  who  had 
helped  them  must  help  them  still.  Our  help  for  the  future  no  less  than 
the  past.  In  the  name  of  Jehovah,  the  manifested  attributes,  which  con- 
stitute his  name,  in  the  peculiar  dialect  of  Scripture,  and  especially  of  this 
book.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11),  xx.  2  (1).  With  this  verse  compare 
also  Ps.  xxxiii.  22,  cxxi.  2. 

Psalm  125 

1.  A  Song  of  the  Ascents.  Those  trusting  in  Jehovah  (are)  like  mount 
Zion,  (which)  is  not  moved  [but)  stands  for  ever.  This  psalm  contains  an 
expression  of  strong  confidence  in  the  divine  protection,  ver.  1,  2,  espe- 
cially against  wicked  enemies,  ver.  3,  with  a  prayer  that  this  confidence  may 
not  go  unrewarded,  ver.  4,  and  a  prophetic  anticipation  of  the  fa.te  of  the 


522  Psalm  125:2, 3 

ungodly,  ver.  5.  The  condition  of  the  chosen  people,  here  described  or 
presupposed,  as  suffering  from  the  spite  of  heathen  enemies,  not  in  capti- 
vity or  exile,  but  at  home  in  their  own  land,  and  internally  divided  into  two 
great  parties,  the  sincere  and  hypocritical,  agrees  exactly  with  the  period  of 
the  Kestoration,  and  especially  that  part  of  it  in  which  the  building  of  the 
temple  was  suspended,  as  known  to  us  from  history  and  prophecy.  The 
psahn  before  us  was  well  suited  to  alarm  and  warn  the  false  Israel,  as  well 
as  to  encourage  and  support  the  true.  According  to  Hengstenberg,  it  was 
intended,  with  the  psalms  before  and  after  it,  to  form  a  trilogy,  consisting 
of  one  ancient  and  two  later  compositions.  Those  trusting  in  Jehovah  is  a 
characteristic  designation  of  the  true  church,  the  spiritual  Israel,  the  chosen 
people.  The  meaning  is,  not  merely  that  they  individually  exercise  this 
faith,  but  that  collectively,  or  as  a  body,  they  are  built  upon  it,  and  have 
no  security  except  in  the  divine  protection.  Mount  Zion,  not  as  a  figure 
for  the  church,  which  would  then  be  compared  with  itself,  but  simply  as  a 
mountain,  and  Hke  other  mountains  soUd  and  enduring,  here  selected  as  a 
sample  or  an  emblem  of  these  qualities,  because  it  had  also  a  religious  pre- 
eminence, as  the  earthly  seat  and  centre  of  the  true  religion.  It  is  not  (and 
shall  not  be)  moved,  shaken  from  its  firm  position.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xlvi. 
6  (5).  Stands  for  ever,  literally  sits  to  eternity,  the  Hebrew  idiom  using 
one  of  these  postures  as  we  use  the  other,  or  rather  using  both  as  we  use 
only  one,  to  denote  the  opposite  of  vacillation  and  prostration.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  cxxii.  5. 

2.  Jerusalem  (has)  hills  about  her,  and  (so)  Jehovah  (is)  about  his  people, 
from  now  even  to  eternity.  The  site  of  Jerusalem,  with  its  peculiar  features, 
furnishes  the  Psalmist  with  a  striking  image  of  the  divine  protection.  As 
in  ver.  1,  the  permanent  security  of  the  church  itself  is  likened  to  the  firm- 
ness of  mount  Zion  on  its  base,  so  here  the  protecting  care,  which  causes 
this  security,  is  likened  to  the  heights  by  which  the  city  is  surrounded  upon 
all  sides.  The  verb  has,  supplied  in  the  translation  of  the  first  clause,  is 
really  a  violation  of  the  Hebrew  idiom,  to  which,  as  well  as  to  the  kindred 
tongues,  the  verb  to  have  is  utterly  unknown.  In  our  own  idiom,  however, 
it  expresses  the  precise  idea,  and  enables  us  to  retain  the  Hebrew  collocation, 
which  assigns  Jerusalem  the  first  place  in  the  sentence.  The  Hebrew  corre- 
sponding to  about  is  a  compound  phrase,  consisting  of  a  local  adverb  and 
a  preposition,  around  as  to.  His  people,  meaning  those  who  trust  him  (ver. 
1),  to  the  exclusion  of  all  hypocrites  and  unbelievers. 

3.  For  not  to  rest  is  the  rod  of  wickedness  over  the  lot  of  the  righteous,  to 
the  intent  that  the  righteous  may  not  put  forth  to  iniquity  their  hands.  This 
unusually  long  verse  clearly  shews  the  actual  condition  of  the  chosen  people, 
here  assumed  or  presupposed,  as  well-known  to  the  writer  and  original 
readers  of  the  psalm.  The  present  ascendancy  of  wicked  men  is  not  incon- 
sistent with  the  truth  just  stated,  because  it  is  to  be  brought  to  an  end,  lest 
the  faith  and  patience  of  God's  people  should  fail,  and  they  should  be 
tempted  to  renounce  his  senace  as  unprofitable,  nay,  as  ruinous.  Compare 
Ps.  Ixxiii.  13,  14.  To  rest,  not  merely  to  remain,  but  to  continue  undis- 
turbed. The  rod  or  staff  is  here  a  symbol  of  authority,  and  might  be  ren- 
dered sceptre,  if  the  subject  of  discourse  were  kings.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
ii.  9,  xlv.  7  (6).  The  lot  of  the  righteous,  their  share  of  the  inheritance  of 
the  chosen  people,  at  first  distributed  by  lot.  To  the  intent  indicates  the 
reason  why  this  undeserved  superiority  is  not  to  last.  The  reason  is  founded 
not  merely  on  the  ill  desert  of  the  wicked,  but  on  the  interest  and  welfare 
of  the  righteous.     Put  forth,  or  stretch  out,  literally  send  into.     See  the 


Psalm  126:1  523 

same  construction,  Gen.  xxxvii.  22,  Exod.  xxii.  7,  10  (8,  11).  To  touch 
iniquity  is  here  to  meddle  with  it,  not,  as  some  suppose,  in  the  shape  of 
revenge  merely,  but  in  all  its  degrees  and  forms,  by  which  the  righteous 
can  be  tempted. 

4.  Do  good,  0  Jehovah,  to  the  good,  and  to  (those)  upright  in  their  hearts. 
These  are  additional  descriptions  of  the  true  church,  or  spiritual  Israel,  to 
whom  alone  the  promise  of  divine  favour  and  protection  had  been  given. 
Vfright,  literally  straight,  straightforward,  as  opposed  to  all  moral  obliquity 
whatever.  See  above,  on  Ps.  vii.  11  (10).  The  prayer  involves  a  pro- 
phetic declaration,  that  to  such  and  such  only,  God  will  do  good  or  act 
kindly  in  the  highest  sense.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxiii.  1. 

5.  And,  (as  to)  those  turning  aside  (in)  their  crooked  (ways),  Jehovah 
will  let  them  go  with  the  doers  of  iniquity.  Peace  (be)  upon  Israel  I  The 
participle  in  the  first  clause  is  properly  a  transitive  and  means  causing  to 
turn  aside,  but  has  here  the  sense  of  going  aside,  or  turning  in  the  intran- 
sitive sense,  the  English  verb  having  precisely  the  same  double  usage.  This 
construction  of  the  Hebrew  verb,  which  occurs  also  in  Isa.  xxx  11,  Job 
xxiii.  11,  may  be  resolved  into  the  usual  one,  by  supposing  an  ellipsis  of 
their  feet  or  steps.  The  adjective  translated  crooked  occurs  only  here  and 
in  Judges  v.  6,  where  the  noun  [ways  or  paths)  is  expressed.  It  denotes 
the  by-ways  of  corrupt  inclination  and  transgression,  by  which  men  deviate 
from  the  straight  and  narrow  highway  of  God's  commandments.  Compare 
Deut.  ix.  16,  Mai.  ii.  8,  9.  The  workers  of  iniquity  are  not  a  different 
class  from  these  wanderers,  but  that  to  which  they  belong,  and  the  doom  of 
which  they  would  gladly  escape  ;  but  the  Lord  will  let  them  go  on  still  with 
those  whom  they  resemble  in  character,  and  as  they  have  been  like  them  by 
the  way,  they  shall  be  like  them  in  the  end.  Compare  Ps.  xxvi.  9,  xxviii.  3. 
Having  thus  excluded  hypocritical  pretenders  from  the  object  of  the  bene- 
diction, he  concludes  by  wishing  or  invoking  peace  upon  (the  true  or  spiri- 
tual) Israel.     Compare  Isa.  Ivii.  19,  21. 


Psalm  126 

1.  A  Song  of  the  Ascents.  In  Jehovah's  turning  (to)  the  turning  of  Zion, 
we  were  like  (men)  dreaming.  The  church  acknowledges  the  good  work  of 
deliverance  as  joyfully  begun,  ver.  1-3,  and  prays  that  it  may  be  completed, 
ver.  4-6.  For  the  meaning  and  construction  of  the  first  verb  see  above, 
on  Ps.  xiv.  7,  Ixxxvi.  5  (4),  and  compare  my  note  on  Isa.  lii.  8.  Instead 
of  the  usual  combination  (imiU'  3l2J^)  return  to  the  captivity,  we  have  here 
one  resembling  it  in  form  {P^'y'p  2^tt^),  but  meaning  to  return  to  the  return 

or  meet  those  returning,  as  it  were,  half-way.  Compare  Deut.  xxx.  2,  3, 
James  iv.  8.  The  Hebrew  noun  denotes  conversion,  in  its  spiritual  sense, 
and  the  verb  God's  gracious  condescension  in  accepting  or  responding  to  it. 
The  great  historical  example  of  this  condescension,  which  the  Psalmist  had 
immediately  in  view,  was  the  deliverance  from  Babylon ;  but  the  terms  are 
BO  selected  as  to  be  appropriate  to  the  most  intimate  personal  experience  of 
the  same  kind.  Zion  is  here  put  for  the  church  or  chosen  people,  of  which 
it  was  the  local  seat  or  centre.  Like  the  dreamers,  or  those  dreaming,  i.  e. 
out  of  our  ordinary  normal  state,  and  in  an  ecstasy  or  trance,  arising  from 
excess  of  joy.  The  idea  of  incredulity  may  be  included,  but  must  not  be 
suffered  to  exclude  all  others. 


524  Psalm  126:2  -  6 

2.  Then  was  filled  with  laughter  our  mouth,  and  our  tongue  with  singing ; 
then  said  they  among  the  nations,  Jehovah  hath  done  great  thiyigs  to  these 
{people).     The  particle  (T^i)  then  is  followed  by  the  future  in  the  sense  of 

the  preterite,  in  prose  as  well  as  poetry.  See  Exod.  xv.  1,  Deut.  iv.  41, 
Josh.  X.  12.  There  is  no  need  therefore  of  supposing  that  the  writer 
simply  retained  the  future  forms  of  the  passage  from  which  this  was  copied, 
namely,  Job  viii.  21.  Laughter  and  singing,  both  as  signs  of  joy.  Done 
great  things,  Uterally  magnified  to  do,  an  idiomatic  phrase  borrowed  from 
Joel  ii.  2l.  To  these,  literally  with  these,  i.  e.  in  his  associations  and  trans- 
actions with  them. 

3.  Jehovah  has  done  great  things  to  us.  We  are  joyful.  This  last  is  not 
a  mere  appendage  to  the  first  clause,  we  are  glad  that  he  has  done  great 
things  for  us,  but  an  independent  proposition,  containing  the  proof  of  that 
by  which  it  is  preceded.  He  has  indeed  done  much  for  us,  for  whereas  we 
were  lately  wretched,  we  are  now  rejoicing,  or  more  closely  rendered,  have 
become  joyful. 

4.  Turn,  0  Jehovah,  to  our  captivity,  like  the  streams  in  the  south.  The 
prayer  is  that  God  will  return  to,  or  revisit  his  people  in  their  bondage  or 
distress,  and  by  necessary  implication  set  them  free  from  it.  See  above, 
on  ver.  1.  where  we  have  a  studied  variation  of  this  favourite  expression. 
According  to  the  usual  interpretation  (bring  back  our  captivity),  this  verse  is 
either  inconsistent  with  the  first,  or  a  proof  that  the  restoration  is  not  men- 
tioned there  as  past  already.  Like  the  streams  in  the  south,  as  the  temporary 
torrents  in  the  dry  southern  district  of  Palestine  reappear  in  the  rainy 
season,  after  having  ceased  to  flow  in  the  preceding  drought. 

5.  Those  sowing  with  weeping  with  singing  shall  reap.  Those  sowing, 
literally  the  sowing,  i.  e.  the  (same  persons  or  the  very  persons)  sowing. 
With  weeping,  or  in  tears  ;  the  Hebrew  noun  is  a  singular  collective.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  vi.  7  (6),  xxxix.  13  (12),  Ivi.  9  (8).  Singing,  as  a  vocal  ex- 
pression of  joy.  See  above,  on  ver.  2.  The  figures  are  natural  and  com- 
mon ones  for  means  and  end,  or  for  the  beginning  and  the  issue  of  any 
undertaking.  They  may  have  been  suggested  here  by  the  mention  of  the 
parched  and  thirsty  south,  where  the  fears  of  the  husbandman  are  often 
disappointed  by  abundant  rains  and  the  sudden  reappearance  of  the  vanished 
streams. 

6.  He  may  go  forth,  he  may  go  forth,  and  weep,  bearing  (his)  load  of  seed. 
He  shall  come,  he  shall  come  with  singing,  bearing  sheaves.  The  emphatic 
combination  of  the  finite  tense  with  the  infinitive  is  altogether  foreign  from 
our  idiom,  and  very  imperfectly  represented,  in  the  ancient  and  some 
modem  versions,  by  the  active  participle  (venientes  venient,  coming  they 
shall  come),  which  conveys  neither  the  peculiar  form  nor  the  precise  sense 
of  the  Hebrew  phrase.  The  best  approximation  to  the  force  of  the  original 
is  Luther's  repetition  of  the  finite  tense,  he  shall  come,  he  shall  come,  be- 
cause in  all  such  cases  the  infinitive  is  really  defined  or  determined  by  the 
term  which  follows,  and  in  sense,  though  not  in  form,  assimilated  to  it. 
Load  of  seed,  literally  drawing  or  draught  of  seed,  an  obscure  phrase,  pro- 
bably denoting  that  from  which  the  sower  draws  forth  seed  to  sow,  or  per- 
haps the  seed  itself  thus  drawn  forth.  The  only  analogous  expression  is  in 
Amos  ix.  13,  where  the  sower  is  called  (S?1-Tn  "HtC^D)  a  draiver  (forth  of) 

seed.  The  common  version  (precious  seed)  has  no  foundation  either  in  ety- 
mology or  usage.  The  contrast  so  beautifully  painted  in  this  verse  was 
realised  in  the  experience  of  Israel,  when  "  the  priests  and  the  Levites,  and 


Psalm  127:1,2  525 

the  rest  of  the  children  of  the  captivity,  kept  the  dedication  of  the  house  of 
God  with  joy  "  (Ezra  vi.  16),  "  and  kept  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread 
seven  days  with  joy,  because  the  Lord  had  made  them  joyful,  and  turned 
the  heart  of  the  king  of  Assyria  unto  them,  to  strengthen  their  hands  in 
the  work  of  the  house  of  God,  the  God  of  Israel  "  (Ezra  vi.  22).  See  also 
Nehemiah  xii.  43. 


Psalm  127 

1.  A  Song  of  the  Ascents,  By  Solomon.  If  Jehovah  will  not  build  a 
house,  in  vain  toil  its  builders  in  it.  If  Jehovah  will  not  keep  a  city,  in  vain 
watches  (its)  keeper.  This  is  the  central  psalm  of  the  series,  having  seven 
before  and  seven  after  it.  This  position  it  may  owe  to  its  being  the  only 
psalm  of  Solomon,  whereas  four  are  by  David,  and  the  remaining  ten  pro- 
bably by  one  and  the  same  author.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cxx.  1.  The 
admission  of  this  psalm  among  the  Songs  of  Pilgrimage  was  probably  occa- 
sioned by  its  opening  words,  which,  though  admitting  of  a  general  applica- 
tion, were  peculiarly  appropriate  to  the  building  both  of  the  first  and  second 
temple.  It  was  perfectly  natural,  apart  from  all  particular  divine  direction, 
that  the  rebuilders  of  the  temple  should  rejoice  to  appropriate  the  words  of 
Solomon,  their  great  exemplar.  The  correctness  of  the  title,  which  ascribes 
the  psalm  to  him,  is  not  only  free  from  any  plausible  objection,  but  abun- 
dantly confirmed  by  its  internal  character,  its  allusion  to  a  state  of  high 
prosperity,  and  its  resemblance  to  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  where  the  senti- 
ment here  uttered  is  frequently  reiterated.  See  for  example  Prov.  x.  22. 
The  general  principle,  that  human  care  and  toU  are  unavailing  without 
God's  blessing,  is  applied  successively  to  several  of  the  most  familiar  inter- 
ests of  real  life.  Beyond  this  the  plan  admits  of  no  subdivision.  The 
first  specification  has  respect  to  human  dwellings,  both  on  a  small  and  on  a 
large  scale.  The  futures,  will  not  build,  will  not  keep,  may  also  be  ex- 
plained as  presents,  builds  not,  keeps  not.  The  phrase  (*I3)  in  it  or  on  it  is 
to  be  connected  with  the  verb,  and  not  with  builders.  Watches,  wakes, 
remains  awake,  but  always  with  a  xievf  to  the  exercise  of  vigilance.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  cii.  8,  and  compare  Prov.  viii.  34.  The  last  word  in  Hebrew 
is  properly  the  participle  of  the  verb  translated  keep. 

2.  It  is  in  vain  for  you,  rising  up  early,  sitting  down  late,  eating  the  bread 
of  cares  (or  troubles).  So  he  giveth  his  beloved  sleep.  The  first  phrase 
means,  you  labour  in  vain.  Rising  up,  not  merely  from  sleep,  but  to 
labour,  addressing  yourselves  to  work.  Sitting  doivn,  to  rest  when  the 
work  is  done.  The  contrast  is  sufficiently  maintained  by  the  common 
version,  sitting  up  late  ;  but  it  is  objected  that  the  Hebrews  did  not  work 
in  a  sitting  posture.  Both  these  phrases  are  peculiar  in  their  form — mak- 
ing early  (or  hastening)  to  rise — making  late  (or  delaying)  to  sit.  Bread  of 
cares  (or  troubles)  is  bread  earned  by  hard  toil  and  consumed  amidst  it. 
There  is  obvious  allusion  to  Gen.  iii.  17,  19.  The  last  clause  is  exceed- 
ingly obscure.  Some  understand  it  to  mean  that  while  others  labour, 
God's  beloved  sleeps.  But  this  is  contradicted  by  notorious  facts  and  in- 
consistent with  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  and  especially  the  Book  of  Pro- 
verbs, with  respect  to  idleness  and  diligence.  See  Prov.  vi.  9, 10,  xxxi.  27. 
Another  possible  interpretation  is  that  God  gives  his  beloved  refreshing 
sleep  after  their  labour,  but  this  cannot  be  said  of  such  exclusively.  The 
latest  writers  understand  the  clause  to  mean,  that  what  others  hope  to  gain 


526  Psalm  128:1  -  3 

exclusively  by  labour,  but  in  vain,  the  Lord  bestows  upon  his  people  while 
they  sleep,  they  know  not  how.  According  to  this  view  of  the  passage,  it 
must  be  translated,  so,  i.  e.  such,  namely,  what  they  thus  seek,  he  gives  to 
his  beloved  one  (in)  sleep.  This,  which  is  not  a  very  obvious  construction, 
derives  some  additional  colour  from  the  seeming  allusion  to  Solomon's 
name  Jedidiah  (2  Sam.  xii.  25),  the  Beloved  of  the  Lord,  and  to  the  promise 
of  prosperity  communicated  to  him  in  a  dream  (1  Kings  iii.  5,  15). 

3.  Lo,  a  heritage  from  Jehovah  (are)  children;  a  reward  (is)  the  fruit  of 
the  womb.  What  is  true  of  dwellings  and  the  means  of  subsistence  is  no 
less  true  of  those  from  whom  these  advantages  are  commonly  provided. 
An  inheritance  or  heritage,  i.  e.  a  valuable  possession  derived  from  a  father. 
Children,  Uterally  sons,  a  term  very  often  used  indefinitely.  A  reward  or 
hire,  the  expression  used  by  Leah,  in  naming  her  son  Issachar,  Gen. 
XXX.  18.  In  the  same  chapter  (Gen.  xxx.  2)  children  are  called  the  fruit 
of  the  womb,  and  represented  as  the  gift  of  God.     See  also  Deut.  vii.  13. 

4.  As  arrows  in  the  hand  of  a  tvarrior,  so  are  the  sons  of  youth.  The 
first  clause  describes  them  as  defenders  of  their  parents.  A  warrior, 
literally  a  strong  or  (mighty)  one.  Sons  of  youth,  i.  e.  bom  while  their 
parents  are  still  young.  See  Gen.  xxxvii.  3,  Isa.  liv.  6.  The  allusion  is 
not  only  to  the  vigour  (Gen.  xlix.  3),  but  to  the  value  of  their  aid  to  the 
parent  in  declining  age. 

6.  Sappy  the  man  who  has  filled  his  quiver  with  them — they  shall  not  be 
put  to  shame — they  shall  speak  with  adversaries  in  the  gate.  The  first  clause 
carries  out  the  figure  of  arrows  in  the  verse  preceding.  The  mention  of  the 
gate,  in  the  last  clause,  as  the  place  both  of  commercial  and  judicial  busi- 
ness, seems  to  mark  a  transition  from  martial  to  forensic  conflict,  and  to 
shew  that  the  enemies  or  adversaries  here  meant  are  adverse  parties  in 
litigation.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixix.  13  (12).  For  a  striking  contrast  to 
this  picture,  see  Job  v.  4.  This  last  example,  although  perfectly  in  keeping 
with  the  views  of  the  ancient  Israelites  in  general,  seems  peculiarly  natural 
and  Hfe-like  in  a  psalm  of  Solomon. 


Psalm  128 

1.  A  Song  of  Ascents.  Sappy  is  every  fearer  of  Jehovah,  the  (one)  walk- 
ing in  his  ways.  This  psalm  seems  intended  to  assure  the  tempted  and  dis- 
couraged people  of  Judah,  under  the  most  adverse  circumstances,  that 
devotion  to  his  service  cannot  lose  its  reward.  As  if  he  had  said,  however 
things  may  now  seem  to  an  eye  of  sense,  it  is  still  a  certain  truth  that  the 
truly  happy  man  is  he  who  fears  Jehovah,  not  in  mere  profession,  but  who 
testifies  his  fear  of  him  by  walking  in  his  ways  or  doing  his  commandments. 

2.  The  labour  of  thy  hands  when  thou  shalt  eat,  happy  thou  and  well  with 
thee.  The  promise  implied  is  the  opposite  of  the  threatening  in  Deut. 
xxviii.  33,  Lev.  xxvi.  16.  What  the  enemies  of  Israel  are  there  described 
as  doing,  it  is  here  said  that  Israel  shall  do  himself.  Well  with  thee, 
literally  good  for  thee.     The  conjunction  ("'3)  in  the  first  clause  is  not  to  be 

construed  as  in  Ps.  cxviii.  10,  but  as  a  particle  of  time.     Happy  thou,  or 
oh  thy  happiness,  is  an  expression  borrowed  from  Deut.  xxxiii.  29. 

3.  Thy  wife,  as  a  fruitful  vine  at  the  sides  of  thy  house;  thy  sons,  as  olive- 
plants  around  thy  table.  The  word  translated  sides  always  means  the  edge 
or  border,  and,  according  to  some,  the  innermost  part.     See  above,  on  Ps. 


Psalm  129:1 -3  527 

xlviii.  8  (2).  Sons,  as  usual,  represent  the  children  of  both  sexes.  The 
olive-plants  are  emblems  of  luxuriance  and  fruitfulness.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  hi.  10  (8),  and  compare  Jer.  xi.  10.  The  Hebrew  for  around  or  about 
is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  cxxv.  2. 

4.  See — -for  so  shall  be  blessed  the  man  fearing  Jehovah.  The  lo  or  behold 
at  the  beginning  is  equivalent  to  saying.  Look  upon  this  picture,  for  it  re- 
presents the  state  of  one  who  truly  fears  the  Lord.  Although  such  a  con- 
nection between  goodness  and  prosperity  was  far  from  uniform  and  constant 
under  the  Old  Testament  than  now,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  these  pro- 
mises were  actually  verified  in  the  experience  of  every  godly  IsraeHte.  This 
has  led  some  of  the  most  eminent  interpreters  to  the  conclusion,  that  the 
promises  of  this  psalm  are  not  personal  at  all,  but  addressed  to  an  ideal 
person  representing  the  whole  class  of  true  behevers,  the  true  Israel. 

5.  Jehovah  bless  thee  out  of  Zion,  and  look  thou  upon  the  uelfare  of 
Jerusalem.  The  consecution  of  the  future  and  imperative  is  the  same  as  in 
Ps.  ex.  2.  The  latter  might,  therefore,  be  translated  as  a  promise,  the 
Lord  shall  bless  thee,  but  the  optative  meaning  seems  more  natural  in  this 
connection.  In  either  case,  the  imperative  conveys  substantially  the  same 
idea.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvii.  3,  4,  27.  From  Zion,  as  his  earthly  resi- 
dence, the  seat  of  the  theocracy.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xx.  3  (2).  Look  upon, 
with  joy  and  triumph.  See  above,  on  Ps,  xxii.  18  (17),  xxxvii.  14,  liv.  9 
(8).  Welfare,  literally  goodness,  not  of  character  but  of  condition,  good  for- 
tune.    The  Hebrew  word  occurs  above,  Ps.  cxix.  66. 

6.  And  see  thou  sons  to  thy  sons.  Pence  (be)  upon  Israel  I  The  first 
clause  is  a  virtual  promise  of  long  life — thou  shall  see  thy  children's  children. 
An  interesting  parallel  is  furnished  by  Zech.  viii.  4,  the  whole  of  which 
chapter  is,  indeed,  a  prophetic  commentary  on  this  psalm.  For  the  mean- 
ing of  the  last  clause  see  above,  on  Ps,  cxxv.  5. 


Psalm  129 

1.  A  Song  of  the  Ascents.  Many  {a  time)  have  they  distressed  me  from 
my  youth — oh  let  Israel  say  I  On  the  recollection  of  deliverances  in  times 
past,  ver.  1-4,  rests  the  hope  of  others  in  time  to  come,  ver.  5—8.  The 
first  word  after  the  inscription  properly  means  much  or  too  much.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  cxx.  6,  cxxiii.  4,  But  most  interpreters  agree  in  referring  it 
to  time,  as  in  the  English  version,  many  a  time  or  often.  The  youth  of 
Israel,  as  a  nation,  was  the  period  of  his  residence  in  Egypt.  See  Hosea 
ii.  17,  Jer.  ii.  2,  xxii.  21,  Ezek.  xxiii.  3.  For  the  optative  meaning  of  the 
last  clause,  and  the  true  sense  of  the  Hebrew  particle  (M),  see  above,  on 

Ps.  cxviii,  2,  cxxiv.  1.     Distressed,  persecuted  or  oppressed  me.     Compare 
the  use  of  the  participle  in  Ps.  vi.  8  (7),  vii,  5  (4),  xxiii,  5. 

2.  Many  («  time)  have  they  distressed  me  from  my  youth  ;  yet  have  they  not 
prevailed  against  me.  The  statement  in  the  first  verse  is  repeated,  for  the 
sake  of  being  joined  with  one  of  a  more  cheering  character.  Yet,  literally 
also.  As  if  he  had  said ;  it  is  true  that  they  have  so  done,  but  it  is  also 
true,  &c.  Prevailed  against  me,  literally  been  able  (as)  to  me,  i.e.  able  to 
accompUsh  their  designs  respecting  me.  See  Gen.  xxxii.  26  (25),  and  com- 
pare Ps.  xiii.  5  (4). 

3.  Upon  my  back  j)loughed  ploughers ;  they  made  long  their  furrows.  The 
expression  on  my  back  seems  to  shew  that  the  allusion  is  to  wounds  pro- 


528  Psalm  129:4  -  8 

duced  by  stripes.  As  if  he  had  said,  my  back  was  farrowed  by  their  whips 
or  scourges.  We  have  here  then  an  example  of  the  image  of  an  image. 
The  ploughing  is  a  figure  for  scourging,  and  the  scourging  a  figure  for  ttie 
manifold  suflerings  inflicted  upon  Israel  by  his  cruel  enemies. 

4.  Jehovah  (is)  righteous;  he  cut  the  cord  of  the  wicked.  He  is  righteous, 
and  therefore  faithful  to  his  promise,  and  to  his  covenant  engagements  to 
his  people.  The  cord  (not  cords)  is  that  which  fastened  the  ox  to  the 
plough.  This  continuation  of  the  figure  in  ver.  3  is  much  more  natural 
than  the  assumption  of  a  new  one,  that  of  confinement  by  the  tying  of  the 
Hmbs,  as  in  Ps.  ii.  3.  According  to  the  first  translation  above  given,  the 
meaning  of  the  clause  is,  that  Jehovah  put  an  end  to  their  inflictions  by  a 
violent  separation  from  their  victim. 

5.  Shamed  and  turned  back  are  (and  shall  be)  all  haters  of  Zion.  What 
Jehovah  has  akeady  done  for  Zion,  as  recorded  in  ver.  4,  creates  and  justi- 
fies the  confident  belief  that  he  will  do  still  more.  This  language  was  pecu- 
liarly appropriate  to  Israel  at  the  Restoration,  when  the  main  deliverance 
had  already  been  accomplished,  but  others  were  still  needed  to  complete 
the  happy  revolution.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  vi.  11  (10), 
XXXV.  4  (3),  xl.  14  (13). 

6.  They  shall  be  like  the  grass  of  the  house-tops,  which,  before  one  pulls 
(it)  withers.  The  flat  roofs  of  the  oriental  houses  being  often  covered  with 
earth,  grass  and  weeds  readily  spring  up,  but  having  no  depth  of  root  soon 
wither.  Compare  my  note  on  Isa.  xxxvii.  27,  fi'om  which  place  the  figure 
is  here  borrowed.  The  common  version  (afore  it  groweth  up)  is  founded  on 
Jerome's  (statim  ut  viruerit).  The  other  is  supported  by  the  Septuagint 
and  Vulgate  ('HI 6  rov  sxa'n-aadi^mi,  priusquam  evellatur),  and  by  the  usage  of 
the  verb  (P|7tt^)  in  the  sense  of  drawing  (a  sword),  drawing  off  (a  shoe),  &c. 

7.  (With)  tvhich  the  reaper  fills  not  his  hand  and  his  bosom,  (when)  bind- 
ing sheaves.  The  ephemeral  and  worthless  vegetation  of  the  house-top  is 
contrasted  still  further  with  the  useful  products  of  the  earth,  in  order  to 
contrast  still  more  strongly  the  end  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  The 
last  Hebrew  word  is  translated  above  strictly  as  a  participle  of  the  verb  ("IDS?) 
to  bind  or  gather  sheaves,  and  may  agree  with  ("liJIp)  reaper  in  the  first 
clause.  Since  the  latter,  however,  is  itself  a  participle  used  as  a  noun, 
most  interpreters  put  the  same  construction  on  the  other  word,  and  suppose 
it  to  denote  a  different  person  from  the  reaper.  With  which  the  reaper  fills 
not  his  hand  nor  his  bosom  the  sheaf-binder.  The  word  translated  bosom  is 
explained  by  lexicographers  to  mean  the  front  fold  of  the  oriental  robe,  in 
which  things  are  carried.  It  might  also  be  translated  lap.  Hengstenberg's 
version  is  his  arm.     Compare  my  note  on  Isa.  xlix.  22. 

8.  Nor  do  the  passers  by  say,  The  blessing  of  Jehovah  (come)  unto  you, 
we  hless  you  in  the  name  of  Jehovah.  The  negative  description  is  still  carried 
out,  with  unusual  distinctness  and  particularity.  This  verse  affords  an 
interesting  ghmpse  of  ancient  harvest  usages,  confirmed  by  the  historical 
statement  in  Ruth  ii.  4,  from  the  analogy  of  which  place  it  is  altogether 
probable,  although  denied  by  some,  that  there  is  here  allusion  to  the  alter- 
nate or  responsive  salutations  in  common  use  among  the  people.  We  may 
then  supply  in  thought  before  the  last  clause,  nor  receive  the  customary 
answer.  As  the  Hebrew  preposition  before  you  does  not  mean  on  but  to 
or  unto,  it  seems  better  to  supply  come  than  be.  With  this  verse  compare 
Ps.  cxviii.  26. 


Psalm  130:1  -  6  529 


Psalm  130 

1.  A  Song  of  Ascents.  Out  of  the  depths  do  I  invoice  thee,  0  Jehovah ! 
This  is  the  penitential  psahn  of  the  series,  in  which  the  guilt  of  the  chosen 
people  is  distinctly  acknowledged,  as  the  cause  of  its  calamities,  but  not  as 
an  occasion  of  despair.  After  an  introductory  petition  to  be  heard,  ver. 
1,  2,  comes  the  indirect  confession  of  sin,  ver.  3,  4,  then  an  expression  of 
strong  confidence,  ver.  5,  6,  and  an  exhortation  to  Israel  to  indulge  the 
same,  ver.  7,  8.  The  distinction  made  in  this  last  stanza,  between  Israel 
at  large  and  the  penitent  who  utters  the  previous  confession,  would  seem 
to  shew,  that  the  latter  is  to  be  conceived  of  as  an  individual,  and  not  as 
representing  the  whole  people.  But  the  best  interpreters  are  of  opinion, 
that  the  distinction  is  entirely  formal,  and  that  the  object  of  address  in  the 
last  stanza  is  identical  with  the  person  speaking  in  the  others.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Ixix.  3,  15  (2,  14),  and  compare  Isa.  li.  10,  in  all  which  places  the 
word  translated  depths  occurs,  and  in  the  same  sense,  as  a  figure  for  ex- 
treme dejection  and  distress.  The  figure  itself  is  also  used  in  Ps.  xl.  3  (2), 
Ezek.  xxvii.  34. 

2.  Lord,  hearken  to  my  voice  ;  let  thine  ears  he  attentive  to  the  voice  of 
my  supplications.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew  is  (^i'^^i)  the  one  strictly 
meaning  Lord,  and  shewing  that  the  prayer  is  ofiered  to  a  sovereign  God. 
The  common  verb  iVf^li})  to  hear  is  here  construed  with  a  preposition 

—     T 

(H),  thus  resembling,  in  its  syntax,  our  verbs  hearken,  listen.    The  adjective 

attentive  is  peculiar  to  the  later  Hebrew,  though  its  verbal  root  is  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  the  psalms.  Supplications,  prayers  for  grace  or  mercy.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxviii.  6,  xxxi.  23  (22). 

3.  If  iniquities  thou  mark,  0  Jah — 0  Lord,  who  shall  stand?  This 
interrogation  clearly  impUes  consciousness  of  guilt,  and  is  therefore  an 
indirect  confession  of  it.  To  mark  is  to  note,  take  notice  of,  observe.  The 
Hebrew  verb  is  used  in  precisely  the  same  manner.  Job  x.  14,  xiv.  16.  To 
stand  is  to  stand  one's  ground,  maintain  one's  innocence,  and  perhaps  in 
this  case,  to  endure  one's  sentence.  See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  6,  and  compare 
Nah.  i.  6,  Mai.  iii.  2.  The  question  is  equivalent  to  a  strong  negation,  or 
an  affirmation  that  none  can  stand. 

4.  For  with  thee  [there  is)  forgiveness,  to  the  intent  that  thou  mayest  he 
feared.     The /or  has  reference  to  a  thought  suppressed  but^easily  supplied. 

Since  none  can  stand,  0  Lord,  forgive,  for  with  thee,  &c.  Or,  since  none 
can  stand,  our  only  hope  is  in  free  forgiveness,  for  with  thee,  &c.  With 
thee,  belonging  to  thee,  exercised  by  thee.  The  word  rendered  forgiveness 
is  peculiar  to  the  later  Hebrew ;  its  plural  form  occurs  in  Neh.  ix.  17. 
The  forgiveness  that  we  need,  the  {only)  forgiveness  that  is  available  or 
attainable.  To  the  intent,  for  this  very  purpose,  not  merely  so  that,  as  an 
incidental  consequence.  Fear  or  godly  reverence  is  here  represented  as 
one  finiit  and  evidence  of  pardoned  sin. 

5.  1  wait  for  Jehovah — my  soul  waits— and  in  his  word  do  2  hope.  The 
last  verb  also  means  to  wait /or  his  word,  i.  e.  the  fulfilment  of  his  promise, 
as  in  Ps.  cxix,  74,  81,  82,  114,  147.  JHy  soul  waits,  I  wait  with  all  my 
soul  or  heart.  My  powers  and  afiections  are  absorbed  in  this  earnest  ex- 
pectation. 

6.  31y  soul  (waits) /or  the  Lord  more  than  (those)  watching  for  the  morn- 
ing— watching  for  the  morning.    There  is  something  beautiful  and  touching 


530  Psalm  131:1,2 

in  this  simple  repetition,  though  it  is  not  easy  to  account  for  its  effect, 
which  is  sensibly  impaired  by  the  attempt  made  in  the  English  version  to 
reHeve  the  baldness  of  the  iteration,  I  say  more  than  they  that  watch/or  the 
morning.  The  comparison  suggested  is  between  the  impatience  of  noctur- 
nal watchers  for  the  break  of  day  and  that  of  sufferers  for  reliet,  or  of 
convicted  sinners  for  forgiveness. 

7.  Hope  thou,  Israel,  in  Jehovah  ;  for  with  Jehovah  (is)  mercy  and 
abundantly  with  him  redemption.  The  third  person  used  in  the  English 
Bible  {let  Israel  hope  in  the  Lord)  is  an  inaccuracy  the  more  remarkable 
because  not  found  in  the  Prayer  Book  Version  (0  Israel,  trust  in  the  Lord). 
In  Jehovah,  literally  to  him,  i.e.  look  to  him  with  confident  expectation,  as 
in  Isa.  li.  5.  The  construction  in  the  last  clause  is  idiomatic,  and  not 
susceptible  of  close  translation.  The  word  corresponding  to  abundantly 
is  the  infinitive  of  a  verb  meaning  to  increase  or  multiply,  but  is  often  used 
adverbially  in  the  sense  of  much,  greatly,  or  abundantly.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  li.  4  (2).  Redemption,  deliverance,  especially  from  bondage,  that  of 
Babylon  in  Ps.  cxi.  9,  that  of  sin  or  condemnation  in  the  case  before  us. 

8.  And  He  ivill  redeem  Israel  from  all  his  iniquities.  The  pronoun  is 
emphatic  ;  only  trust  him  for  redemption,  and  he  will  himself  redeem  thee. 
As  the  first  clause  shews  by  whom  Israel  is  to  be  redeemed,  to  wit,  by  God 
alone,  so  the  second  shews  from  what,  to  wit,  from  sin,  as  the  cause  of  his 
sufferings.  This  is  a  very  significant  variation  of  the  older  passage,  Ps. 
XXV.  22,  where  the  sufferings  alone  are  expressly  mentioned. 

Psalm  131 

1.  A  Sfing  of  Ascents.  By  David.  0  Jehovah,  not  haughty  is  my 
heart,  and  not  lofty  are  my  eyes,  and  I  meddle  not  with  great  (things) 
and  (with  things)  too  wonderful  for  me.  This  short  psalm  is  perfectly  in 
David's  manner,  as  well  as  his  spirit,  displaying  in  a  high  degree  that 
childlike  royalty,  in  which  he  is  resembled  by  no  other  even  of  the  sacred 
writers.  Haughty,  literally  high,  but  with  particular  reference  to  hauteur 
or  loftiness  of  spirit.  Lofty  eyes  are  mentioned  elsewhere  by  David  him- 
self as  a  sign  of  pride.  See  Ps.  xviii.  28  (27),  ci.  5.  The  elation  here 
described  is  elsewhere  represented  as  the  natural  fruit  of  undisturbed  pros- 
perity. See  Deut.  xxxii.  15,  2  Chron.  xxvi.  16,  xxxii.  25.  This  confirms 
the  Davidic  origin  of  the  psalm,  and  shews  that  it  was  only  adapted  by  the 
later  WTiter  to  his  own  purpose,  when  the  original  conception  would  have 
been  almost  impossible.  Meddle,  literally  walk  or  walk  about ,  i.  e.  employ 
or  (as  the  English  versions  have  it)  exercise  myself.  Too  wonderful  for  me, 
wonderfully  done  (more)  than  I  (can  comprehend).  The  great  and  wonder- 
ful things  meant  are  God's  secret  purposes  and  sovereign  means  for  their 
accomplishment,  in  which  man  is  not  called  to  co-operate  but  to  acquiesce. 
As  David  practised  this  forbearance  by  his  patient  expectation  of  the  king- 
dom, both  before  and  after  the  death  of  Saul,  so  he  here  describes  it  as  a 
characteristic  of  the  chosen  people. 

2.  (God  knows)  if  I  have  not  soothed  and  quieted  my  soul,  as  a  weaned 
(child  leans)  upon  his  mother;  as  a  weaned  (child  leans)  on  me  my  soul. 
The  first  clause  contains  a  strong'  asseveration,  in  the  idiomatic  form  of  an 
ancient  oath,  very  feebly  represented  by  our  adverb  surely.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Ixxxix.  36  (35).  The  word  translated  soothed  means  rather  smoothed, 
levelled,  as  in  Isa.  xxviii.  25.     Quieted,  stilled,  hushed,  reduced  to  silence. 


Psalm  132:1,2  531 

The  repeated  use  of  the  preposition  on  in  this  connection  is  so  marked  and 
striking,  that  it  seems  to  make  it  necessary  to  supply  a  verb  with  which  it  may 
be  construed.  This  is  certainly  better  than  to  give  it  a  different  meaning  in 
the  two  clauses,  or  in  both  one  which  does  not  belong  to  it.  In  the  version 
above  given,  the  comparison  suggested  is  between  a  weaned  child,  quietly 
reposing  on  its  mother's  breast,  without  desiring  to  be  suckled  as  of  old, 
and  the  soul  of  the  Psalmist,  by  a  bold  conception  represented  as  his  child, 
and  acting  in  like  manner.  Hengstenberg  denies  that  there  is  any  reference 
to  the  mother's  milk,  or  that  weaned  has  any  other  meaning  here  than  that 
of  infant  or  young  child,  as  in  Isa.  xi.  8,  xxviii.  9.  The  comparison  is 
then  coincident  with  that  in  Mat.  xviii.  3,  4.  But  the  use  of  the  word 
weaned,  which  was  here  requii-ed  by  no  parallelism  as  in  Isaiah,  and  the 
singular  aptness  of  the  figui-e  suggested  by*  the  word  when  strictly  under- 
stood, have  led  most  interpreters,  and  will  probably  lead  most  readers,  to 
prefer  the  obvious  and  strict  interpretation. 

3.  Hope  thou,  Israel,  in  Jehovah  from  now  even  to  eternity.  This  is  the 
opposite  of  the  feeling  disavowed  in  the  preceding  verses.  From  the  first 
clause  that  of  Ps.  cxxx.  7  was  no  doubt  borrowed  by  the  later  writer,  who 
prefixed  that  psalm  to  the  one  before  us.  With  the  last  clause  compare 
Ps.  cxxi.  8. 


Psalm  132 

1.  A  Song  of  Ascents.  Eememher,  0  Jehovah,  for  David,  all  his  afflic- 
tion. This  psalm  contains  a  commemoration  of  David's  zeal  for  the  house 
of  God,  ver.  1-9,  and  a  prayer  that  it  may  be  rewarded  by  the  fulfilment 
of  the  promise  to  him  and  to  his  house,  ver.  10-18.  The  common  version 
{remember  David  and  all  his  afflictions)  omits  a  preposition  and  inserts  a 
conjunction,  both  without  necessity.  The  same  verb  and  preposition 
(b  "^^T)  are  combined  elsewhere,  in  the  sense  of  remembering  something  in 
a  person's  favour,  to  his  advantage,  for  his  benefit.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xcviii.  3,  c\'i.  45,  cxix.  49.  So  here  :  remember,  in  behalf  of  David  how 
he  was  distressed.  The  common  version  of  this  last  phrase  {all  his  afflic- 
tions) supposes  the  Hebrew  word  (ni-JS?)  to  be  a  plural  noun,  whereas  it  is 

the  infinitive  of  the  passive  verb  (nHj?)  to  be  afflicted  or  distressed  (Ps. 

cxix.  71),  and  is  therefore  more  correctly  rendered  in  the  Prayer  Book 
{all  his  trouble).  The  precise  sense  is,  his  being  afflicted.  The  distress 
referred  to  is  the  great  anxiety  which  David  felt,  first  to  reunite  the  ark 
and  tabernacle,  and  then  to  build  a  more  permanent  sanctuary.  This  zeal 
for  the  house  of  God  is  one  of  the  most  characteristic  features  in  the  history 
of  David,  and  for  this  he  was  rewarded,  not  only  with  a  promise  that  his  son 
should  execute  his  favourite  design,  but  also  with  a  promise  that  God  would 
build  a  house  for  him,  by  granting  a  perpetual  succession  in  his  family  upon 
the  throne  of  Judah.  This  promise  seemed  to  be  forgotten  at  the  time  of  the 
Captivity,  and  even  after  the  first  Restoration,  when  the  house  of  David  was 
reduced  so  low,  that  its  hereditary  representative,  Zerubbabel,  never  even 
bore  the  royal  title.  The  form  of  the  petition  in  this  verse  is  copied  from  that 
of  Solomon,  ;at  the  dedication  of  the  temple,  as  recorded  in  2  Chron.  yi.  42. 

2.  Who  swore  to  Jehovah,  vowed  to  the  Mighty  One  of  Jacob.  This  last 
expression  is  borrowed,  both  here  and  in  Isa.  i.  24,  from  Jacob  himself. 
See  Gen.  xhx.  24. 


532  Psalm  132:3 -8 

S.  If  I  go  into  the  tent  (which  is)  my  house,  if  I  go  upon  the  bed  (which 
is)  my  couch.  The  elliptical  foiin  of  swearing  here  used  is  equivalent  to 
saying,  I  will  not  go.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cxxxi.  2.  The  tent  my  house,  the 
couch  my  bed,  are  mere  poetical  expressions  for  the  house  where  I  dwell, 
the  couch  where  I  he.  Instead  of  being  in  apposition,  however,  they  may 
be  in  regimen  the  tent  of  my  house,  the  couch  of  my  bed,  i.e.  the  dwelling  place 
of  my  house,  the  resting-place  of  my  bed. 

4.  If  I  give  sleep  to  my  eyes,  to  my  eylids  slumber.  This  is  a  part  of  the 
sentence  begun  in  ver.  3  and  completed  in  ver.  5.  The  promise  is,  of 
course,  not  to  be  absolutely  understood,  but  as  meaning,  that  he  would  not 
sleep  at  ease,  or  abandon  himself  to  undisturbed  repose,  till  the  condition 
was  complied  with. 

5.  Until  I  find  a  place  for  Jehovah,  dwellings  for  the  Mighty  One  of 
Jacob.  The  implication  in  the  first  clause,  that  Jehovah  was  without  a 
place  on  earth,  may  remind  us  of  Christ's  memorable  saying.  Mat.  viii.  20, 
Luke  ix.  58.  The  word  translated  dwellings  is  peculiarly  expressive,  be- 
cause, although  strictly  a  generic  term,  it  is  specially  applied  in  usage 
to  the  sanctuary  v.dth  its  enclosures  and  appendages.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
kxxiv.  2  (1). 

6.  Lo,  we  heard  it  in  Ephrathah;  we  found  it  in  the  fields  of  the  wood. 
These  are  most  probably  the  words  of  David  and  his  contemporaries,  with 
respect  to  the  recovery  of  the  ark.  We  heard  it,  or  heard  of  it,  i.  e.  of  the 
ark,  implying  that  they  did  not  see  it,  that  it  was  out  of  public  view.  In 
Ephrathah  has  been  variously  explained.  Some  suppose  it  to  mean 
Ephraim,  as  Ej)hrathi  means  an  Ephraimite,  and  apply  the  words  to 
Shiloh,  where  the  ark  was  long  deposited.  But  Ephrathah  itself  is  never 
so  used  elsewhere,  and  the  ark,  while  at  Sliiloh,  was  as  much  in  pubUc 
view  as  at  Jerusalem.  Others,  because  Bethlehem  Ephrathah  and  Beth- 
lehem Judah  ^xe  convertible  expressions  (1  Sam.  xv'i.  12,  Micah  v.  1),  make 
Ephrathah  another  name  for  Judah,  which  it  never  is,  however,  when  it 
stands  by  itself.  The  only  explanation,  equally  agi'eeable  to  usage  and  the 
context,  is  that  which  makes  Ephrathah  the  ancient  name  of  Bethlehem 
(Gen.  xlviii.  7),  here  mentioned  as  the  place  where  David  spent  his  youth, 
and  where  he  used  to  hear  of  the  ark,  although  he  never  saw  it  till  long 
afterwards,  when  he  found  it  in  the  fields  of  the  wood,  or  in  the  neighbour- 
nood  of  Kirjath-jearim,  which  name  means  Forest-town  or  City  of  the 
Woods.     Compare  1  Sam.  vii.  1  with  2  Sam.  vi.  3,  4. 

7.  Let  us  come  to  his  dwellings ;  let  us  bow  down  to  his  footstool.  An- 
other step  is  here  taken  in  reviewing  the  history  of  the  sanctuary  and  of 
David's  zeal  for  it.  These  are  such  words  as  might  have  been  spoken  at 
the  public  and  solemn  introduction  of  the  ark  into  Jerusalem.  As  if  it 
had  been  said,  the  ark  of  God  has  long  been  lost  or  out  of  sight,  but  now 
that  a  dwelling  is  provided  for  it  on  mount  Zion,  let  us  come,  &c.  Without 
any  material  change  of  sense,  the  future  form  may  be  retained,  and  the 
paragogic  augment  understood  to  express  a  strong  determination.  Now 
that  the  ark  is  established  on  mount  Zion,  we  will  come,  &c.  With  respect 
to  the  representation  of  the  ark  as  the  footstool  of  Jehovah,  and  the  act  of 
bowing  down  to  it,  see  above  on  Ps.  xcix.  5. 

8.  Arise,  Jehovah,  to  thy  resting-place,  thou  and  the  ark  of  thy  strength. 
Here  again  the  form  of  expression  is  borrowed  from  the  words  of  Solomon 
at  the  dedication  of  the  temple,  as  recorded  in  2  Chron.  vi.  41.  This 
shews  that  the  Psalmist  regarded  Solomon  as  merely  carrying  out  his 
father's  plan,  or  acting  as  the  executor  of  his  will,  which  is  in  fact  the 


Psalm  132:9 -11  533 

mutual  relation  of  these  personages  as  they  appear  in  sacred  history.  A 
more  remote  allusion  may  be  traced  to  Num.  x.  85.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixviii.  2(1).  The  word  translated  resting-place,  hasjhere  its  proper  meaning 
as  a  local  noun.  The  last  clause  shews  the  true  import  of  the  ark  in  the 
Mosaic  system,  as  a  pledge  and  token  of  Jehovah's  presence,  so  that  its 
solemn  entrance  into  Zion  was  the  entrance  of  the  Lord  himself,  and  to 
bow  down  to  it  was  to  worship  him.  The  ark  of  thy  strength  is  by  some, 
in  accordance  with  a  common  Hebrew  idiom,  resolved  into  thy  ark  of  strength, 
nnd  that  into  thy  strong  (or  mighty)  ark.  It  is  simpler,  however,  and  in 
this  case  yields  a  better  meaning,  to  retain  the  original  expression  in  its 
obvious  sense,  the  ark  which  assures  us  of  the  presence  and  exertion  of  thy 
power  for  our  protection. 

9.  Let  thy  priests  he  clothed  ivith  righteousness,  and  let  thy  saints  shout  {or 
sing).  This  is  the  conclusion  of  the  sentence  quoted  from  2  Chron.  vi.  41. 
Instead  of  righteousness  we  there  read  salvation,  which  has  led  some  to  ex- 
plain the  two  words  as  synonymous,  while  others  understand  by  righteous- 
ness the  practical  justification  which  salvation  carries  with  it.  Another 
possible  construction  is  to  take  the  righteousness  as  that  of  God,  which  is 
displayed  in  the  salvation  of  his  people,  and  in  which  his  priests,  who 
officially  declared  it,  might  be  said  to  clothe  themselves.  See  the  same 
figure  in  Job  xxix.  14.  Saints,  gracious  ones,  or  true  believers.  The 
parallel  passage  has,  rejoice  in  good  or  goodness. 

10.  For  the  sake  of  David  thy  servant,  turn  not  away  the  face  of  thine 
Anointed.  The  most  obvious  construction  of  this  verse  is  that  which  makes 
it  intercede,  on  the  ground  of  the  divine  partiality  to  David,  for  another 
person,  supposed  by  some  to  be  one  or  more  of  his  successors  in  the  kingly 
office,  by  others  Israel  at  large.  A  comparison,  however,  of  the  place  from 
which  the  words  are  borrowed  (2  Chron.  vi.  42)  and  of  ver.  17  below,  makes 
it  highly  probable  that  both  clauses  relate  to  David  himself.  This  may  be 
rendered  clearer  and  more  natural  by  making  the  first  clause  an  elliptical 
petition,  entirely  distinct  from  the  second.  For  the  sake  of  David  thy  ser- 
vant (grant  these  requests  which  are  really  his) ;  turn  not  away  (his  face 
which  is)  the  face  of  thine  Anointed.  The  frequency  with  which  God  is 
urged  to  hear  and  answer  prayer /or  David's  sake  (1  Kings  xi.  12,  13,  xv.  4, 
2  Kings  viii.  19,  &c.),  is  not  to  be  explained  by  making  David  mean  the 
promise  to  David,  nor  from  the  personal  favour  of  which  he  was  the  object, 
but  from  his  historical  position,  as  the  great  theocratical  model,  in  whom  it 
pleased  God  that  the  old  economy  should  reach  its  culminating  point,  and 
who  is  always  held  up  as  the  type  and  representative  of  the  Messiah,  so 
that  all  the  intervening  kings  are  mere  connecting  links,  and  their  reigns 
mere  repetitions  and  continuations  of  the  reign  of  David,  with  more  or  less 
resemblance  as  they  happened  to  be  good  or  bad.  Hence  the  frequency 
with  which  his  name  appears  in  the  later  Scriptures,  compared  with  even 
the  best  of  his  successors,  and  the  otherwise  inexphcable  transfer  of  that 
name  to  the  Messiah  himself.  It  is  in  this  unique  character  and  office,  as 
the  Servant  of  the  Lord,  that  David  is  here  mentioned,  first  by  his  own 
name,  and  then  as  the  Anointed  King  of  Israel,  whose  face  Jehovah  is 
entreated  not  to  turn  away,  a  figure  for  refusing  him  an  audience,  or  at  least 
denying  his  petition,  which  we  know  to  have  been  used  in  David's  times. 
See  the  Hebrew  of  1  Kings  ii.  16,  17,  20. 

11.  Sworn  hath  Jehovah  to  David  (in)  truth,  he  will  not  turn  hack  from 
it :  Of  the  fruit  of  thy  hody  I  will  place  on  the  throne  for  thee.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  Ixxxix.  4,  86  (3,  85),  and  compare  2  Sam.  vii.  28.     Turn  backy 


534  Psalm  132:12  -  18 

recede  from  Ms  engagement,  or  fail  to  perform  it.  Of  the  fruit,  from  among 
thy  posterity  or  offspring.  On  the  throne,  literally  to  or  for  it.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  ix.  5  (4).  For  thee,  iu  thy  place,  as  thy  representatives,  or  (belong- 
ing) to  thee,  i.  e.  thy  throne. 

12.  7/"  thy  sons  will  observe  my  covenant  and  my  testimonies  which  I  teach 
them,  (then)  likeivise  their  sons  unto  perpetuity  shall  sit  upon  the  throne  for 
thee.  This  is  the  condition  of  the  promise,  the  breach  of  which  accounts 
for  the  apparent  violation  of  the  promise  itself.  Such  a  suspension  of  the 
promise  was  not  only  just  in  itself,  but  foreseen  and  provided  for  (2  Sam. 
vii.  14,  15),  as  something  perfectly  consistent  with  the  perpetuity  of  the 
engagement.  /  teach  you  refers  not  only  to  external  legislation,  but  to 
spiritual  guidance  and  illumination. 

13.  For  Jehovah  has  chosen  Zion,  has  desired  (it)  for  a  dwelling  for  him. 
Besides  the  oath  and  promise  made  directly  to  David,  the  petition  of  the 
psalm  is  here  enforced  by  the  divine  choice  of  Zion,  which  was  inseparably 
connected  with  the  exaltation  of  the  family  of  David.  See  the  same  thing 
asserted  or  implied,  Ps.  xliii.  2  (1),  Ixv.  2  (1),  cxxv.  2.  As  in  ver.  11,  12, 
the  last  words  in  Hebrew  (rP)  may  be  also  rendered  to  him,  belonging  to 
him,  his  dwelling. 

14.  This  is  my  resting-place  to  perpetuity  ;  here  will  I  dwell,  because  I 
have  desired  it.  These  are  the  words  of  God,  though  not  expressly  so 
described.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxvii.  4,  Ixxxix.  4,  5  (3,  4).  The  word 
translated  dwell  means  originally  to  sit,  and  especially  to  sit  enthroned,  so 
that  this  idea  would  be  necessarily  suggested  with  the  other  to  a  Hebrew 
reader.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxix.  10,  Iv.  20  (19),  cii.  13  (12),  cxxiii.  1. 

15.  Her  provision  I  will  bless,  I  will  bless  ;  her  poor  I  will  satisfy  (with) 
bread.  The  repetition  of  the  verb  may  express  either  certainty  or  fulness. 
/  will  surely  bless,  or  /  will  bless  abundantly.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cxxvi.  6. 
The  word  translated  provision  is  a  cognate  form  to  that  in  Ps.  Ixxviii.  25. 
Satisfy,  amply  or  abundantly  supply. 

16.  And  her  priests  I  will  clothe  vnth  salvation  ;  and  her  saints  shall 
shout,  shall  shout  (for  joy).  This  is  the  promise  corresponding  to  the  prayer 
in  ver.  9.  The  word  salvation,  for  which  righteotisness  was  substituted  there, 
is  here  restored  from  the  original  passage,  2  Chron.  vi.  41.  The  last  verb 
in  Hebrew  means  to  express  joy  by  shouting  or  singing.  As  to  the  emphatic 
repetition,  see  above,  on  ver.  15. 

17.  There  will  I  make  to  bud  a  horn  for  David  ;  I  have  trimmed  a  lamp 
for  mine  Anointed.  These  are  common  figures  in  the  Scripture  for  strength 
and  prosperity.  See  above,  on  Ps.  x\in.  11  (10),  29  (28),  Ixxxix.  18  (17), 
xcii.  11,  and  compare  1  Sam.  ii.  1,  2  Sam,  xxi.  17,  Ezek.  xxix.  21.  The 
last  clause  contains  an  allusion  to  the  law,  which  cannot  be  preserved  in 
any  version.  The  word  translated  lamp  is  used  to  designate  the  several 
burners  of  the  golden  candlestick  (Exod.  xxv.  37,  xxxv.  14,  xxxvii.  23, 
xxxix.  37),  and  the  verb  here  joined  with  it  is  the  one  applied  to  the  order- 
ing or  tending  of  the  sacred  lights  by  the  priests  (Exod.  xxvii.  21,  Lev. 
xxiv.  3).  The  meaning  of  the  whole  verse  is,  that  the  promises  of  old  made 
to  David  and  to  Zion  should  be  yet  fulfilled,  however  dark  and  inauspicious 
present  appearances. 

18.  His  enemies  I  will  clothe  with  shame,  and  on  him  shall  bloom  his  croivn. 
The  pronouns  refer  to  David,  as  the  Lord's  Anointed,  mentioned  in  ver.  17. 
The  figure  in  the  first  clause  is  the  converse  or  counterpart  of  that  in  vor. 
9,  16,  and  the  same  with  that  in  Ps.  xxxv.  26,  cix.  29.  With  the  last 
clause  compare  Ps.  Ixxxix.  40  (39).     The  verb  to  bloom  or  blossom  agrees 


Psalm  133:1 -3  535 

well  with  the  idea  of  a  wreath  or  chaplet.  Compare  the  aficc^avrmv  CTifavov 
of  1  Pet.  V.  4.  Some  prefer,  however,  to  retain  what  they  regard  as  the 
original  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  verb ;  on  him  shall  his  crown  shine  (or  gUtter). 
See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxii.  16. 


Psalm  133 

1.  A  Song  of  Ascents.  By  David.  Behold,  how  good  and  how  pleasant 
(is)  the  dwelling  of  brethren  also  together.  This  psalm  is  an  effusion  of  holy 
joy  occasioned  by  the  sight  of  the  gathering  of  Israel  as  one  great  household 
at  the  yearly  feasts.  It  is  distinguished  from  the  later  compositions  of  this 
series  by  the  absence  of  complaint  or  lamentation,  while  its  freshness  and 
vivacity  and  antique  phraseology  confirm  the  title  which  ascribes  it  to  David. 
The  idiomatic  use  of  (Dil)  also  in  the  last  clause  is  not  easily  transferred  to 

any  other  language.  The  meaning  may  be,  that  although  the  children  of 
Israel  were  brethren  even  when  divided  and  dispersed,  it  was  only  in  these 
great  convocations  that,  besides  being  thus  related  to  each  other,  they  also 
actually  dwelt  together.  There  might  likewise  be  allusion,  in  the  first 
instance,  to  the  previous  jealousies  and  alienations  in  the  family  of  Israel, 
which  seemed  to  be  exchanged  for  mutual  concord  and  affection,  on  David's 
accession  to  the  throne  of  the  whole  nation. 

2.  hike  the  oil,  the  good  {oil),  on  the  head,  running  down  upon  the  heard, 
the  heard  of  Aaron,  which  runs  doxim  to  the  edge  of  his  robes.  The  joyous 
character  of  this  great  family  meeting  suggests  the  "  oil  of  joy"  (Isa.  Ixi.  3), 
the  standing  symbol  of  festivity,  to  which  a  more  specific  and  religious 
character  is  then  imparted  by  a  beautiful  transition  to  iho^good  oil  {i.  e.  sweet 
and  costly),  with  which  Aaron  was  anointed  (Exod.  xxix.  7,  xxx.  22,  xl.  13), 
as  a  sign  of  consecration  and  of  spiritual  influences.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  2. 
As  we  read  of  the  anointing  of  no  subsequent  High  Priest,  except  prospec- 
tively (Lev.  xxi.  10,  Num.  xxxv.  25),  the  reference  here  may  be  confined  to 
Aaron  himself.  This  is  alleged  to  have  differed  from  the  unction  of  the 
other  priests,  by  adding  to  the  simple  application  of  the  oil  to  certain  parts 
of  the  body,  a  copious  affusion  on  the  head,  extending  to  the  beard  and  even 
to  the  sacerdotal  vestments.  Some  interpreters  apply  the  last  clause  to  the 
beard  itself  as  reaching  down  to  the  mouth  (""D)  or  opening  at  the  neck  of 

the  official  tunic.     But  the  repetition  of  the  verb  (Tl^),  and  the  strong 

improbability  that  so  much  stress  would  have  been  laid  upon  the  length  of 
the  beard,  to  which  nothing  is  compared  and  which  illustrates  nothing,  seem 
decisive  in  favour  of  the  other  explanation. 

8.  Like  the  dew  of  Uermon,  which  comes  down  upon  the  mountains  of 
Zion  ;  for  there  has  Jehovah  commanded  the  blessing,  even  life  for  evermore. 
The  comparison  with  oil  is  now  exchanged  for  one  with  dew,  suggesting  the 
idea  of  a  refreshing,  fertilizing  influence.  As  the  general  comparison  with 
oil  is  rendered  more  specific  by  the  mention  of  the  kind  most  highly  valued, 
because  made  under  the  divine  direction  and  applied  to  a  most  sacred  use, 
80  the  general  term  dew  is  specified  in  like  manner  as  the  dew  of  Hermon, 
the  dew  falling  on  the  lofty  heights  of  Antihbanus.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxix. 
13  (12).  How  this  dew  could  be  said  to  fall  upon  the  mountains  of  Zion,  is 
a  question  which  has  much  divided  and  perplexed  interpreters.  Some  have 
assumed  a  pecuUar  theory  or  system  of  physics  on  the  writer's  part. 


536  Psalm  134:1 -3 

Others  suppose  dew  of  Hei'mon  to  be  merely  descriptive  of  the  quality,  irre- 
spective of  the  actual  place  of  the  deposit.  Simpler  and  more  natural  than 
either  of  these,  although  not  without  difficulties  of  its  own,  is  the  interpre- 
tation which  restricts  the  comparison  itself  to  the  first  few  words,  and 
includes  all  that  follows  in  the  application.  Like  the  dew  of  Hermon  (is 
the  influence)  which  descends  upon  the  hills  of  Zion,  for  there,  &c.,  the  last 
clause  then  explaining  what  this  influence  was.  Whether  this  be  the  true 
solution  of  the  question  as  to  form  or  not,  it  is  no  doubt  the  essential 
meaning  of  the  passage,  upon  any  exegetical  hypothesis  whatever.  The 
dew  of  Hermon  was  mere  moisture,  but  the  dew  of  Zion  was  the  promise 
of  eternal  life,  there  made  and  verified.  Even  life  for  evermore,  Uteralfy 
life  even  to  eternity. 

Psalm  134 

1.  A  Song  of  Ascevts.  Behold  !  bless  Jehovah,  all  ye  servants  of  Jehovah, 
those  standing  in  the  house  of  Jehovah  by  night.  The  whole  series  of  pil- 
grimage songs  closes,  in  the  most  appropriate  manner,  with  a  summons  to 
bless  the  Lord,  addressed  by  the  people  on  arriving  at  the  sanctuary  to  the 
priests  there  in  attendance,  ver.  1,  2,  and  indirectly  answered  by  a  priestly 
blessing  on  the  worshippers  themselves,  ver.  3.  The  lo  or  behold  at  the 
beginning  is  equivalent  to  saying,  See,  we  are  here,  or  we  are  come.  To 
bless  God,  as  in  all  other  cases,  is  to  praise  him  in  a  reverential  and  ador- 
ing manner.  The  servants  of  the  Lord  here  meant  are  not  his  people  indis- 
criminately, but  his  official  servants,  and  most  probably  the  priests,  as  will 
appear  from  ver.  3  below.  The  [ones]  standing,  the  appropriate  posture  of 
attendants,  even  in  the  courts  of  earthly  monarch s.  By  night,  literally  in 
the  nights,  which  does  not,  however,  necessarily  mean  all  night  (1  Chion. 
ix.  33),  as  appears  from  Ps.  xcii.  3,  where  it  stands  opposed  to  in  the 
morning,  and  may  therefore  denote  simply  in  the  evening,  with  specific  refer- 
ence, as  some  suppose,  to  the  evening  sacrifice,  with  which  the  daily  service 
of  the  priests  concluded.  "We  may  then  assume,  although  we  cannot  prove, 
that  the  pilgrims  were  accustomed  to  reach  the  sanctuary  at  that  hour, 
singing  this  last  "  song  of  ascents." 

2.  Raise  your  hands  to  the  holy  place,  and  bless  Jehovah  !  The  gesture 
mentioned  in  the  first  clause  symbolized  the  raising  of  the  heart  to  God. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xxviii.  2,  Ixiii.  5  (4).  The  word  for  holy  place  or  sanc- 
tuary is  the  same  in  form  with  that  so  frequently  translated  as  an  abstract, 
holiness.  For  its  local  meaning,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xx.  3  (2).  It  here  de- 
notes the  temple  or  its  site,  as  distinguished  from  the  courts  around  it. 
As  to  the  act  of  praying  to  or  towards  it,  see  above,  on  Ps  v.  8  (7),  xcix.  5. 

3.  Jehovah  bless  thee  out  of  Zion,  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth.  As  the 
priests  were  called  upon  to  bless  God  in  behalf  of  the  people,  so  here  they 
bless  the  people  in  behalf  of  God.  Between  the  verses  we  may  suppose  the 
previous  request  to  be  complied  with.  The  priests,  having  blessed  God, 
turn  and  bless  the  people.  The  obvious  allusion  to  the  sacerdotal  bless- 
ing, Num.  vi.  23-27,  favours  the  optative  construction  of  this  verse,  which 
really  includes  a  prediction  (the  Lord  will  bless  thee).  Out  of  Zion,  as  in 
Ps.  exxviii.  5.  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  therefore  infinitely  able  to 
fulfil  this  prayer.     See  above,  on  Ps.  cxv.  15,  cxxi.  2,  cxxiv.  8. 


Psalm  135:1  -  7  537 


Psalm  135 

The  people  of  Jehovah  are  exhorted  to  praise  him  as  their  peculiar  God, 
ver.  1—4,  as  the  God  of  nature,  ver.  5-7,  as  the  deliverer  of  Israel  from 
Egypt  and  in  Canaan,  ver.  8-12,  as  their  hope  also  for  the  future,  ver. 
13,  14,  rendered  more  glorious  by  contrast  with  the  impotence  of  idols, 
ver.  15-18,  after  which  the  psalm  concludes  as  it  began,  with  an  exhorta- 
tion to  praise  God,  ver.  19-21.  According  to  Hengstenberg's  arrangement 
and  distribution,  this  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  twelve  psalms  (cxxxv.-cxlvi.), 
sung  at  the  completion  of  the  second  temple,  and  consisting  of  eight 
Davidic  psalms  (cxxxviii.-cxlv.),  preceded  by  three  (cxxxv.-cxxxvii.),  and 
followed  by  one  (cxlvi.)  of  later  date.  In  this  way  he  accounts  for  the 
omission  of  these  ancient  psalms  in  the  former  part  of  the  collection,  be- 
cause they  were  no  longer  looked  upon  as  independent  compositions,  but 
as  inseparable  parts  of  the  series  or  systems  into  which  they  had  been 
introduced. 

1.  Hallelujah!  Praise  the  name  of  Jehovah.  Praise  {it),  ye  servants  of 
Jehovah !  The  close  of  the  psalm  shews  that  although  the  priests  are  in- 
cluded (ver.  19)  among  the  servants  of  Jehovah,  they  are  not  exclusively 
intended,  as  in  Ps.  cxxxiv.  1.  Even  there,  however,  the  priests  are  repre- 
sentatives of  Israel  at  large. 

2.  Who  [are)  standing  in  thehouse  of  Jehovah,  in  the  courts  of  the  house  of 
our  God.  The  participle  indicates  continued  action.  The  mention  of  the 
courts  confirms  what  has  been  already  said,  as  to  the  objects  of  address  in 
ver.  1. 

3.  Hallelujah  (praise  ye  Jah  !)  for  good  [is)  Jehovah.  Mahe  music  to 
his  name,  for  it  is  lovely.  The  last  words  may  also  be  translated,  lie  is 
lovely,  i.  e.  an  object  worthy  of  supreme  attachment. 

4.  For  Jacob  did  Jah  choose  for  himself,  Israel  for  his  own  possession. 
They  are  particularly  bound  to  praise  him,  as  his  chosen  and  peculiar 
people.  The  last  word  in  Hebrew  means  a  possession  of  peculiar  value, 
set  apart  and  distinguished  from  all  others.  See  Exod.  xix.  5,  Deut.  vii.  6, 
xiv.  2,  xxvi.  18. 

5.  For  I  know  that  great  is  Jehovah,  and  our  Lord  [more]  than  all 
gods.  However  ignorant  the  world  may  be  of  his  superiority,  I,  the  re- 
presentative of  Israel,  and  as  such  speaking  m  his  name,  know  and  am 
assured  of  the  truth  from  my  own  observation  and  experience. 

6.  All  that  Jehovah  will  he  does  in  the  heavens  and  in  the  earth,  in  the 
seas  and  all  depths.  Compare  Ps.  cxv.  3,  Eccles.  viii,  3,  Jonah  i.  14,  Isa. 
xlvi.  10,  11.  It  is  not  merely  as  their  o^^^l  peculiar  God  that  they  are 
bound  to  praise  him,  but  as  the  universal  sovereign.  Heaven,  earth,  and 
sea,  are  put  for  the  whole  frame  of  nature,  as  in  Exod.  xx.  4. 

7.  Causing  vapours  to  ascend  from  the  end  of  the  earth — lightnings  for 
the  rain  he  makes — bringing  out  the  wind  from  h  is  treasures.  As  certain 
portions  of  the  world  are  specified  in  ver.  6  to  define  the  extent  of  his 
dominion,  so  here  certain  natural  phenomena  are  mentioned  as  the  product 
of  his  power.  Compare  Jer.  x.  13,  li.  16.  From  the  end  of  the  earth,  i.  e. 
from  all  parts  of  it,  not  excepting  the  most  remote.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ixi.  3  (2).  The  second  clause  is  by  some  explained  to  mean,  turning  light- 
nings into  rain,  i.  e.  causing  the  thunder-cloud  to  dissolve  in  rain.  But 
this  is  not  so  natural  as  the  common  version,  he  makcth  lightnings  for  the 
rain,  i.  e.  to  accompany  it,  or  according  to  the  paraphrase  in  the  Prayer 


538  Psalm  135:8- 17 

Book,  sendelh  forth  lightnings  with  the  rain.    With  the  last  clause  compare 
Job  xxxviii.  22. 

8.  Who  smote  the  first-horn  of  Egypt,  from  man  even  to  beast.  From  the 
proofs  of  God's  supremacy  in  nature,  he  now  proceeds  to  those  in  history, 
and  especially  the  history  of  his  dealings  with  his  people  and  their  enemies. 
This  is  precisely  the  relation  between  Ps.  civ.  and  cv.  The  first  example 
chosen  here  is  the  last  and  greatest  of  the  plagues  of  Egypt.  From  man 
lo  beast,  including  both ;  in  other  words,  both  man  and  beast. 

9.  Sent  signs  and  wonders  into  the  midst  of  thee,  0  Egypt,  upon  Pharaoh 
and  on  all  his  servants.  Signs  and  wonders,  i.  e.  miracles,  to  wit,  those 
which  preceded  and  accompanied  the  exodus.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii. 
43.  In  the  midst  of  thee,  0  Egypt,  an  expression  similar  to  that  in  Ps. 
cxvi.  19,  in  the  midst  of  thee,  0  Jerusalem  !  Upon  Pharaoh,  hterally  in 
Pharaoh  and  in  all  his  servants. 

10.  Who  smote  many  nations  and  slew  mighty  kings.  To  the  miracles 
of  Egypt  and  the  Exode  are  now  added  those  of  Canaan  and  the  Conquest. 

11.  Sihon  king  of  the  Amorite^,  and  Og  king  of  Bashan,  and  all  the 
kingdoms  of  Canaan.  Each  of  these  three  particulars  is  preceded  in 
Hebrew  by  the  preposition  (?)  to  or  for ;  and  that  this  is  not  an  inadvert- 
ence or  an  accident,  appears  from  its  repetition  in  the  next  psalm  (cxxxvi. 
19,  20).     Though  not  in   accordance  with  the  usage  of  the  verb  OlH) 

which  is  construed  elsewhere  with  the  verb  directly,  the  particle  must  be 
regarded  here  as  an  objective  sign,  as  in  Ps.  cxxix.  3,  unless  we  suppose 
the  sense  to  be,  that  what  had  just  been  said  in  general  is  true  in  particular 
as  to  Sihon,  as  to  Og,  and  as  to  the  kingdoms  (here  put  for  the  kings)  of 
Canaan. 

12.  And  gave  their  land  {as)  a  heritage,  a  heritage  to  Israel  his  people. 
The  land  of  Canaan  was  an  inheritance  to  Israel,  not  as  the  heirs  of  the 
Canaanites,  but  because  it  was  to  be  transmitted  from  father  to  son,  by 
hereditary  right  and  succession.     See  above,  on  Ps.  cv.  44,  cxi.  6. 

13.  Jehovah,  thy  name  (is)  to  eternity.  Jehovah,  thy  memory  is  to 
generation  and  generation.  Name  and  memory  are  here  equivalent  expres- 
sions, meaning  that  by  which  God  is  remembered  or  commemorated, 
namely,  his  perfections  as  exhibited  in  act.  The  perpetuity  of  this  implies 
continued  or  repeated  acts  of  goodness. 

14.  For  Jehovah  luill  judge  his  people,  and  for  the  sake  of  his  servants 
uill  repent.  He  will  fulfil  the  promise  in  Deut.  xxxii.  36.  He  will  judge 
(i.e.  do  justice  to)  his  people.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxii.  2.  For  the  sense 
in  which  repentance  is  ascribed  to  God,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xc.  13. 

15.  The  idols  of  the  nations  (are)  silver  and  gold,  ivorks  of  the  hands  of 
man.  The  divine  perfection  of  the  Lord  is  now  exhibited  in  contrast  with 
the  impotence  and  nullity  of  idols.  The  terms  of  the  comparison  are 
borrowed,  with  several  variations,  from  Ps.  cxv.  4-8. 

16.  (There  is)  a  mouth  to  them,  and  (yet)  they  speak  not ;  (there  are)  eyes 
to  them,  and  (yet)  they  see  not.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cxv.  5,  which  agrees 
exactly  with  the  verse  before  us. 

17.  (There  are)  ears  to  them,  and  (yet)  they  hear  not ;  likewise  there  is  no 
heath  in  their  mouth.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cxv.  6.  This  verse  contains  the 
most  considerable  variation  of  the  passages.  The  second  clause  in  both 
begins  with  the  same  Hebrew  word  (P)^i  ;  but  in  the  one  case  it  is  a  noun, 

meaning  the  nose,  in  the  other  an  adveirb,  meaning  likewise.     This  kind  of 


Psalm  136:1,2  539 

variation,  in  which  the  form  is  retained  but  with  a  change  of  meaning,  is 
perfectly  agreeable  to  Hebrew  usage. 

18.  Like  them  shall  be  those  making  them,  every  one  uho  (is)  trusting  in 
them.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cxv.  8,  with  which  this  verse  agrees  exactly.  If 
the  meaning  had  been  simply,  those  who  make  them  are  like  them,  Hebrew 
usage  would  have  required  the  verb  to  be  suppressed.  Its  insertion,  there- 
fore, in  the  future  form  (VH^)  requires  it  to  be  rendered  strictly  shall  be, 

i.  e.  in  fate  as  well  as  charactar.     Idolaters  shall  perish  with  their  perish- 
able idols.     Compare  Isa.  i.  31. 

19.  0  house  of  Israel,  bless  Jehovah!  0  house  of  Aaron,  bless  Jehovah  ! 
Having  shewn  what  God  is,  in  himself  and  in  comparison  with  idols,  he 
repeats  the  exhortation  which  this  description  was  intended  to  explain  and 
justify.  With  this  and  the  next  verse  compare  Ps.  cxv.  9-11,  cxviii.  2-4. 
Instead  of  trust  we  have  here  bless,  as  at  the  beginning  of  the  Psalm.  Com- 
pare Ps.  cxxxiv.  1. 

20.  0  house  of  Levi,  bless  Jehovah  !  Fearers  of  Jehovah,  bless  Jehovah  ! 
The  Levites  are  not  particularly  mentioned  in  the  parallel  passages. 

21.  Blessed  [be)  Jehovah  from  Zion — inhabiting  Jerusalem — Hallelujah! 
There  is  here  an  allusion  to  Ps.  cxxxiv.  3.  As  Jehovah  blesses  out  of 
Zion,  so  also  he  is  blessed  out  of  Zion,  by  the  diffusion  of  his  praise,  as 
from  a  radiating  centre.  This  is  said  to  be  the  only  place  in  which  Jeru- 
salem is  put  for  Zion,  as  the  earthly  residence  of  God.  But  see  above,  on 
Ps.  Ixxvi.  3  (2),  and  compare  Ps.  csxv.  1,  2. 


Psalm  136 

In  theme  and  structure,  this  psalm  resembles  that  before  it,  a  resemblance 
rendered  still  more  striking  by  particular  coincidences  of  expression.  In 
this  case  also,  the  people  are  invited  to  praise  Jehovah,  ver.  1-3,  as  the 
God  of  nature,  ver.  4-9,  as  the  deliverer  of  Israel  from  Egv'pt,  ver.  10-15, 
his  guide  in  the  wilderness,  ver.  16,  the  conqueror  of  his  enemies,  ver. 
17-24,  the  provider  of  all  creatures,  ver.  25,  and  the  God  of  heaven,  to 
whom,  in  conclusion,  praise  is  again  declared  to  be  due,  ver.  26.  The 
grand  pecuUarity  of  form  in  this  psalm,  by  which  it  is  distinguished  from 
all  others,  is  the  regular  recurrence,  at  the  close  of  every  verse,  of  a  burden 
or  refrain,  like  the  responses  in  the  Litany,  but  carried  through  with  still 
more  perfect  uniformity.  The  text  or  theme,  which  thus  forms  the  second 
clause  of  every  verse,  is  one  which  has  repeatedly  occurred  already,  in  Ps. 
cvi.  1,  cvii.  1,  cxviii.  1-4,  29.  Compare  1  Chron.  xvii.  34.  It  has  been 
a  favourite  idea  with  interpreters,  that  such  repetitions  necessarily  imply 
alternate  or  responsive  choirs.  But  the  other  indications  of  this  usage  in 
the  Psalter  are  extremely  doubtful,  and  every  exegetical  condition  may  be 
satisfied  by  simply  supposing  that  the  singers,  in  some  cases,  answered 
their  own  questions,  and  that  in  others,  as  in  that  before  us,  the  people 
united  in  the  burden  or  chorus,  as  they  were  wont  to  do  in  the  Amen.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  cvi.  48. 

1.  Give  thanks  unto  Jehovah— for  unto  eternity  (is)  his  mercy.  This 
introductory  sentence  is  identical  with  those  already  cited  from  Ps.  cvi., 
cvii.,  cxviii. 

2.  Give  thanks  unto  the  God  of  gods— for  unto  eternity  (is)  his  mercy. 
The  divine  title  or  description,  both  in  this  verse  and  the  next,  is  borrowed 


540  Psalm  136:3  -  15 

from  Deut.  x.  17.     Gods  does  not  here  mean  false  gods,  but  is  a  superlative 
plm-al  qualifying  that  before  it.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxvii.  14  (13),  cxxxv.  5. 

3.  Give  thanks  unto  the  Lord  of  lords — -for  unto  eternity  {is)  his  mercy. 
The  Lord  of  lords,  i.  e.  the  supreme  Lord,  the  Lord  by  way  of  excellence, 
as  in  the  English  phrase  heart  of  hearts  for  inmost  heart. 

4.  To  (him)  doing  uondrous  (thi)igs),  great  (things),  alone — for  U7ito  eter- 
nity (is)  his  mercy.  Compare  the  expression  doing  vonders,  Exod.  xv.  11. 
Alone,  not  merely  more  than  others,  but  to  their  exclusion.  The  for,  in 
this  and  the  following  verses,  has  reference,  not  to  what  immediately  pre- 
cedes, but  to  the  verb  give  thanks,  to  be  supplied  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sentence. 

5.  To  him  that  made  the  heavens  in  wisdom — for  unto  eternity  (is)  his 
mercy.  TJiat  made,  literally  making,  perhaps  in  reference  to  the  continued 
exercise  of  God's  creative  power.  In  wisdom,  or  with  understanding.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  civ.  24,  and  compare  Prov.  iii.  19. 

6.  To  him  that  spread  the  earth  above  the  u'oters — for  unto  eternity  (is)  his 
mercy.  That  spread,  literally  spreading,  as  in  ver.  5,  Above  (not  upon, 
but  higher  than)  the  waters.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  2. 

7.  To  him  that  made  great  lights — for  unto  eternity  (is)  his  mercy.  The 
plural  lights  (Q^IIK)  occurs  only  here,  but  is  cognate  and  synonymous  with 

the  one  used  in  Gen.  i.  14,  16. 

8.  The  Sim  to  rule  by  day — for  unto  eternity  (is)  his  mercy.  The  musical 
design  of  the  composition  is  especially  observable  where  the  burden  or 
chorus  is  interposed  between  inseparable  parts  of  the  same  sentence,  as  in 
this  one,  the  substance  of  which  is  borrowed  from  Gen.  i.  16,  but  with 
some  change  both  in  the  words  and  the  construction. 

9.  The  moon  and  stars  to  rule  by  night — for  unto  eternity  (is)  his  mercy. 
To  ride,  hterally  ybr  rules  or  dominions,  perhaps  because  the  stars  are  here 
made  sharers  with  the  moon  in  the  dominion  of  the  night. 

10.  To  him  that  smote  Egypt  in  their  fist-born — for  unto  eternity  (is)  his 
mercy.  We  have  here  the  transition  from  nature  to  history,  as  in  Ps. 
cxxxv.  8.  Bim  that  smote  (or  the  smiter  of)  Egy2)t,  i.  e.  the  Egj-ptians. 
Hence  the  plural  pronoun,  their  first-born. 

11.  And  brought  out  Israel  from  the  midst  of  them — -for  unto  eternity  (is) 
his  mercy.  Here  for  the  first  time  we  have  a  finite  tense  (the  future  con- 
versive),  interrupting  the  long  series  of  participles,  all  agreeing  with  Jehovah 
understood. 

12.  With  a  high  hand  and  with  an  arm  outstretched — for  unto  eternity 
is  his  mercy.  These  are  favourite  Mosaic  figures  for  the  active  and  ener- 
getic exercise  of  power.  See  Exod.  iii.  19,  vi.  1,  6,  xiii.  9,  xv.  12,  Deut. 
iv.  34,  V.  15,  vii.  19,  xi.  2,  xxvi.  8. 

13.  To  him  that  parted  the  Bed  Sea  into  parts — -for  unto  eternity  (is)  his 
mercy.  Parted  and  parts  have  the  same  relation  to  each  other  as  the 
Hebrew  verb  and  noun. 

14.  And  made  Israel  to  pass  through  the  midst  of  it — -for  unto  eternity 
(is)  his  mercy.  Here  again  we  have  a  finite  tense,  not  the  conversive  future, 
as  in  ver.  11,  but  the  preterite.  Through  the  midst  of  it,  between  the  parts 
into  which  it  was  divided.  Some  suppose  an  allusion  to  the  covenant  trans- 
action in  Gen.  xv.  17,  where  the  word  translated  parts  is  the  one  used  in 
ver.  13  above. 

15.  And  cast  Pharaoh  and  his  host  into  the  Red  Sea — for  unto  eternity 
(is)  his  mercy.         The  first  verb  strictly  means  knocked  off  or  shook  off', 


Psalm  137:1  541 

and  is  borrowed  from  Exod.  xiv.  27.     A  passive  form  of  it  occurs  above, 
Ps.  cix.  23. 

16.  To  him  that  led  his  people  in  the  wilderness— for  unto  eternity  (is) 
his  mercy.  Led,  literally,  caused  to  go.  See  above,  Ps.  cxxv.  5.  The 
participial  construction  is  again  resumed. 

17.  To  him  that  smote  great  kings — -for  unto  eternity  [is)  his  mercy. 
Compare  the  parallel  passage,  Ps.  cxxxv.  10,  which  is  here  divided  by  the 
theme  or  chorus.     See  above,  on  ver.  8. 

18.  And  slew  mighty  kings— for  unto  eternity  {is)  his  mercy.  The  first 
clause  answers  to  the  latter  half  of  Ps.  cxxxv.  10,  with  the  substitution  of 
another  Hebrew  word  for  mighty. 

19.  Sihon  king  of  the  Amorite — for  unto  eternity  (is)  his  mercy.  Lite- 
rally to,  for,  or  as  to  Sihon,  &c.     See  above,  on  Ps.  cxxxv.  11. 

20.  And  Og  king  of  Bashati—for  unto  eternity  {is)  his  mercy.  To,  for, 
or  as  to,  Og  king  of  Bashan. 

21.  And  gave  their  land  as  a  heritage— for  unto  eternity  {is)  his  m^rcy. 
As  a  heritage,  Uterally  for  it.     See  above,  on  Ps.  cxxxv.  12. 

22.  A  Jieritage  to  Israel' his  servant — for  unto  eternity  {is)  his  mercy. 
This  is  the  latter  half  of  Ps.  cxxxv.  12,  divided  from  the  first  half  by  the 
theme  or  chorus. 

23.  Who  in  our  low  estate  remembered  v^^br  unto  eternity  {is)  his 
mercy.  In  our  low  estate,  in  our  humiliation,  in  our  being  humbled  or 
reduced.  Kemembered  us,  or  for  us,  for  our  benefit,  as  in  Ps.  cxxxii.  1. 
From  the  analogy  of  Ps.  cvii,  16,  18,  26,  cxv.  12,  we  learn  that  this  relates 
to  the  captivity  in  Babylon,  which  is  also  the  subject  of  the  next  psalm. 

24.  And  snatched  us  from  our  adversaries — for  unto  eternity  {is)  hm 
mercy.  The  first  verb  always  denotes  violent  action.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
vii.  3  (2).  It  here  means  to  snatch  or  tear  away,  as  in  Lam.  v.  8,  and  has 
reference  to  the  great  catastrophe  by  which  the  Babylonian  power  was 
broken  and  the  Jews  set  free. 

25.  Giving  bread  to  all  flesh— for  unto  eternity  {is)  his  mercy.  Here  the 
description  passes  suddenly  from  God's  acts  of  mercy  towards  his  people  to 
his  general  beneficence  towards  all  that  lives,  perhaps  with  a  design  to  in- 
timate that  he  who  thus  cares  for  men  in  general  and  even  for  the  lower 
animals,  will  not  and  cannot  let  his  people  perish.     See  Matt.  vi.  80. 

26.  Give  thanks  unto  the  God  of  heaven,  for  unto  eternity  {is)  his  mercy. 
The  God  of  heaven  is  a  new  description  as  to  form,  but  substantially  equiva- 
lent to  that  in  Ps.  vii.  8  (7),  xi.  4,  xiv.  2,  xxxiii.  13,  14. 

Psalm  137 

This  is  the  most  direct  and  striking  reminiscence  of  the  Babylonish 
Exile  in  the  whole  collection,  and  could  scarcely  have  been  written  but  by 
one  who  had  partaken  of  its  trials.  The  first  part  of  the  psalm  recalls  the 
treatment  of  the  Jews  in  Babylonia,  ver.  1-6  ;  the  second  anticipates  the 
punishment  of  Edom  and  of  Babylon,  as  persecuting  enemies  of  Israel, 
ver.  7-9. 

1.  By  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there  we  sat  down,  yea  we  wept  when  we  re- 
membered Zion.  The  first  word  sometimes  means  along,  and  especially 
along  the  course  of  streams,  as  in  Ps.  xxiii.  2,  Babel  or  Babylon  is  here 
put  for  the  whole  country  which  we  call  Babylonia.  Its  rivers  are  the 
Tigris,  the  Euphrates,  the  Chaboras,   and  the  Ulai,  with  their  tributary 


542  Psalm  137:2 -5 

branches.  Various  explanations  have  been  given  of  the  exiles  being  repre- 
sented as  sitting  by  the  rivers  ;  but  none  of  them  are  so  satisfactory  as  the 
obvious  and  simple  supposition,  that  the  rivers  are  mentioned  as  a  charac- 
teristic feature  of  the  country,  just  as  we  might  speak  of  the  mountains  of 
Switzerland  or  the  plains  of  Tartary,  meaning  Switzerland  or  Tartary  itself. 
There  is  emphatic ;  there,  even  in  that  distant  heathen  country.  Sat  or  serf 
dovm,  if  significant  at  all,  may  mean  that  they  sat  upon  the  gi'ound  as  mourners. 
Yea,  literally  also  ;  we  not  only  sat  but  also  wept.  When  we  remembered, 
hterally  in  our  remembering,  i.  e.  at  the  time,  and  as  the  efi"ect  of  our  so 
doing.  Zion,  not  merely  as  the  mother  country  or  its  capital,  but  as  the 
seat  of  the  theocracy  and  earthly  centre  of  the  true  religion. 

2.  On  n-illous  in  the  midst  of  it  we  hung  our  harps.  It  has  been  objected 
that  the  willow  is  unknown  in  the  region  once  called  Babylonia,  which  is 
said  to  produce  nothing  but  the  palm  tree.  Some  avoid  this  difficulty  by 
explaining  the  whole  verse  as  metaphorical,  hanging  up  the  harps  being  a 
figure  for  renouncing  music,  and  willows  being  suggested  by  the  mention  of 
streams,  perhaps  with  some  allusion  to  associations  connected  with  this 
particular  tree.  It  may  also  be  observed  that  extraordinary  changes  have 
taken  place  in  the  vegetable  products,  and  especially  the  trees,  of  certain 
countries.  Thus  the  palm-tree,  so  frequently  referred  to  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  so  common  once  that  cities  were  called  after  it,  is  now  almost  unknown 
in  Palestine. 

3.  For  there  our  captors  asked  of  us  the  words  of  a  song,  and  our  spoilers 
mirth,  (saying)  Sing  to  us  from,  a  song  of  Zion.  Words  of  a  song  may  either 
be  an  idiomatic  pleonasm  meaning  simply  song  itself,  or  denote,  as  in  Eng- 
lish, the  words  sung  as  distinguished  from  the  music.  Our  spoilers  is  by 
some  taken  in  a  passive  sense,  our  spoiled  or  plundered  ones  ;  but  the 
usual  explanation  is  favoured  by  tradition  and  analogy.  One  of  the  Songs 
can  hardly  be  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  phrase,  in  which  the  noun  is 
singular.  The  literal  translation  above  given  yields  a  perfectly  good  sense. 
A  Song  of  Zion  is  a  psalm,  a  religious  lyric,  such  as  many  of  the  heathen 
knew  to  be  employed  in  the  temple  worship  at  Jerusalem.  Many  interpre- 
ters suppose  the  object  of  this  request  to  be  contempt  or  ridicule  ;  but  the 
words  themselves  necessarily  suggest  nothing  more  than  curiosity. 

4.  How  shall  ice  sing  the  song  of  Jehovah  on  a  foreign  soil  ?  These  are 
the  words  with  which  the  invitation  was  or  might  have  been  rejected  at  the 
time.  The  question  implies  a  moral  impossibility.  The  idea  is  not  that 
the  psalms  themselves  would  be  profaned  by  being  sung  there,  but  that  the 
expression  of  rehgious  joy  would  be  misplaced  and  incongruous,  implying  an 
obUvion  of  the  sanctuary  and  its  forfeited  advantages.  A  foreign  soil,  a 
ground  or  land  of  strangeness.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  45,  46  (44,  45). 

5.  If  I  forget  thee,  0  Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  (its  skill).  This 
is  a  disavowal  of  the  forgetfulness  which  would  have  been  implied  in  yield- 
ing to  the  wishes  of  their  captors.  Jerusalem  is  here  used  precisely  as 
Zion  is  in  ver.  1,  3.  The  object  of  the  verb  in  the  last  clause  is  supposed 
by  some  to  be  me ;  let  my  right  hand  forget  me,  i.  e.  let  me  be  forgotten 
by  myself.  But  most  interpreters  concur  in  the  correctness  of  the  common 
version,  in  which  cunning  has  its  old  English  sense  of  skill.  The  only  question 
then  is,  whether  this  is  to  be  understood  indefinitely  of  all  that  the  right  hand 
can  do,  and  is  wont  to  do,  for  the  convenience  of  the  person,  or  whether  it 
is  to  be  understood  specifically  of  its  use  in  playing  on  an  instrument.  The 
former  is  the  more  comprehensive  meaning,  but  the  latter  is  more  pointed 
and  better  suited  to  this  context.     The  sense  will  then  be  :  if  I  so  far  for- 


Psalm  137:5  -  9  543 

get  thee  as  to  strike  the  harp  while  in  this  condition,  let  my  right  hand  lose 
the  power  so  to  do. 

5.  Let  my  tongiie  cleave  to  my  palate  if  I  do  not  remember  thee,  if  I  do 
not  raise  Jerusalem  above  the  head  of  my  rejoicing.  What  he  had  first 
wished  as  to  his  power  of  instrumental  performance,  he  now  wishes  with 
respect  to  his  vocal  organs.  If  I  forget  thee,  let  my  hand  for  ever  cease 
to  strike  the  harp,  and  my  tongue  to  utter  sound  !  The  most  natural 
meaning  of  the  last  clause  is  the  one  paraphrastically  given  in  the  English 
version,  i/ 1  prefer  not  Jerusalem  above  my  chief  joy. 

7.  Remember,  0  Jehovah,  against  the  sons  o/Edom,  the  day  of  Jerusalem, 
(against)  those  saying,  Make  bare,  make  hare,  to  the  very  foundation  in  it. 
Most  interpreters  regard  this  as  a  kind  of  comment  by  the  Psalmist  on  the 
preceding  recollection  of  the  Captivity.  But  the  transition  then  seems  too 
abrupt  and  unaccountable.  The  best  explanation  is,  that  these  are  still 
the  real  or  supposed  words  of  the  captives,  in  reply  to  the  request  of  their 
oppressors,  far  from  granting  which  they  break  forth  in  a  prayer  for  the 
destruction  of  those  who  had  destroyed  Jerusalem.  As  if  they  had  said  : 
No  ;  instead  of  singing  psalms  to  gratify  your  idle  or  mahgnant  curiosity,  we 
will  rather  pray  God  to  avenge  the  insults  offered  to  his  holy  city.  This 
interpretation  is  moreover  recommended  by  its  rendering  the  strong  terms 
that  follow  more  natural  than  if  uttered  in  cold  blood  and  in  calm  delibera- 
tion at  a  later  period.  Remember  against,  literally  for  or  with  respect  to. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  cxxxii.  1,  cxxxvi.  23,  where  the  same  idiomatic  phrase  is 
used  in  a  favourable  sense.  The  day  of  Jerusalem  is  the  day  of  its  calamity 
or  gi-eat  catastrophe.  Compare  Obad.  11-13,  where  the  same  crime  is 
charged  upon  Edom,  namely  that  of  concurring  and  rejoicing  in  the  down- 
fall of  his  kinsman  Israel.  See  also  Jer,  xlix.  7-22,  Lam.  iv.  21,  22, 
Ezek.  XXV.  12-14. 

8.  Daughter  of  Babylon,  the  desolated  !  Happy  {he)  who  shall  repay  to 
thee  thy  treatment  wherewith  thou  hast  treated  us.  The  daughter  of  Babylon 
(or  virgin  Babylon)  is  the  people  or  kingdom  of  Babylonia,  personified  as  a 
woman.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  14  (13).  The  wasted  or  desolated  is  the 
epithet  belonging  to  her  by  way  of  eminence  in  prophecy  and  history. 
There  is  no  need  therefore  of  distinguishing  between  a  partial  and  total 
desolation,  or  between  that  of  the  city  and  the  kingdom  at  large.  The-  last 
clause  may  mean  nothing  more  than  that  such  a  revolution  is  at  hand  that 
he  will  be  esteemed  a  fortunate  man  who  treats  thee  as  thou  hast  treated 
us.     For  the  true  sense  of  the  last  verb,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xiii.  6  (5,  6). 

9.  Happy  he  (who)  shall  seize  and  dash  thy  little  ones  against  the  stones. 
This  revolting  act  was  not  uncommon  in  ancient  warfare.  See  2  Kings 
viii.  12,  Hosea  xiv.  1,  Nah,  iii.  10,  Isa.  xiii.  16,  18.  The  more  revolting, 
the  stronger  the  description  of  the  change  awaiting  Babylon.  The  day  is 
coming  when  he  shall  be  deemed  fortunate  who,  according  to  the  usages  of 
war,  requites  thy  own  sanguinary  cruelties.  The  word  translated  dash 
means  really  to  dash  in  pieces,  as  in  Ps.  ii.  9.  The  act  here  meant  is  com- 
monly expressed  by  (tt^bl )  a  different  Hebrew  verb.  Taketh  and  dasheth 
is  equivocal,  the  fii'st  of  these  verbs  being  used  in  famihar  English  as  a  kind 
of  auxiliary,  whereas  the  corresponding  verb  in  Hebrew  denotes  a  distinct 
and  independent  act. 


544  Psalm  138:1 -4 

Psalm  138 

This  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  eight  psalms  (cxxxviii.-cxlv.),  probably 
the  last  composed  by  David,  a  kind  of  commentary  on  the  great  Messianic 
promise  in  2  Sam.  vii.  They  are  found  in  this  part  of  the  Psalter,  in  con- 
sequence of  having  been  made  the  basis,  or  rather  the  body,  of  a  system  or 
series  (cxxxv.— cxlvi.),  by  a  later  writer.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cxxxv.  1.  The 
psalm  before  us  contains  an  acknowledgment  of  God's  goodness  as  experi- 
enced already,  ver.  1  -3,  an  anticipation  of  his  universal  recognition  by  the 
nations,  ver.  4,  5,  and  in  the  mean  time  of  additional  favours  to  the  Psalmist, 
or  to  the  church  of  which  he  was  the  temporary  head,  ver.  6-8.  Such  a 
psalm  was  of  course  well  suited  to  sustain  the  faith  and  revive  the  hopes  of 
a  later  generation. 

1.  By  David.  1  will  thank  thee  ivith  all  my  heart ;  before  gods  I  ivill  praise 
thee.  The  Davidic  style  and  tone  of  composition  are  acknowledged  even  by 
the  sceptical  interpreters.  With  all  my  heart  implies  the  greatness  of  the 
gift  to  be  acknowledged,  which  was  no  doubt  the  promise  of  Messiah  con- 
tained in  2  Sam.  vii.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ix.  2  (1).  Before  gods,  i.  e.  in  the 
presence,  to  the  face,  and  in  contempt  of  all  imaginary  rival  deities.  The 
translation  before  God  is  grammatical,  but  confounds  the  second  and  third 
person  in  a  single  clause.  The  Septuagint  and  Vulgate  have  before  angels, 
which  is  inconsistent  with  the  usage  of  the  Hebrew  word.  Thank  thee,  in 
the  strict  sense  of  praising  for  benefits  received  ;  or  in  a  wider  sense, 
acknowledge  thee  as  God.  Praise  thee,  make  music,  sing  and  play  to  thee. 
With  this  verse  compare  Ps.  vii.  18  (17),  xviii.  50  (49),  Hv.  8  (7),  Ivii.  10 
(9),  ci.  1. 

2.  I  will  bow  down  to  thy  holy  temple,  and  will  thank  thy  name,  for  thy 
mercy  and  for  thy  truth ;  for  thou  hast  made  great,  above  all  thy  name,  thy 
promise.  "With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  v.  8  (7).  Bow  down,  or 
prostrate  myself,  as  an  act  of  worship.  Mercy  in  promising,  truth  in  per- 
tbrming.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxv.  10.  Above  all  thy  name,  i.  e.  all  the 
previous  manifestations  of  thy  nature.  Thy  word,  Hterally  thy  saying,  that 
which  thou  hast  said,  but  applied  specifically  to  the  divine  promise.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  31  (30),  cxix.  38,  50,  103,  140.  The  transcendent 
promise  here  referred  to  is  that  of  the  Messiah  in  2  Sam.  vii.,  which  is 
there  described  as  unique  by  David  himself,  and  which  forms  the  basis  of 
many  psalms,  but  especially  of  Ps.  xviii.,  xxi.,  Ixi.,  ci.,  cii.,  ciii.,  and  the 
one  before  us. 

3.  In  ike  day  I  called  and  thou  didst  answer  me,  thou  makest  me  brave 
in  my  soul  {with)  strength.  This  may  be  connected  with  what  goes  before, 
thou  didst  magnify  thy  word  in  the  day  when  I  called,  &c.  The  promise 
in  2  Sam.  vii.  was  an  answer  to  his  prayer  for  a  perpetual  succession.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  xxi.  3,  5  (2,  4),  Ixi.  6  (5).  The  common  version  of  the  last 
clause  (strengthenedsi  me  with  strength  in  my  aoul),  contains  a  paronomasia 
not  in  the  original,  where  the  verb  and  noun  have  not  even  a  letter  in  com- 
mon. The  verb  is  by  some  translated  made  me  proud,  i.  e.  elated  me,  not 
with  a  vain  or  selfish  pride,  but  with  a  lofty  and  exhilarating  hope.  In  my 
soul,  as  opposed  to  a  mere  outward  influence.  Strength,  i.  e.  strength  of 
faith  and  confidence  in  God. 

4.  Jehovah,  all  kings  of  the  earth  shall  acknowledge  thee,  when  they  have 
heard  the  sayings  of  thy  mouth.  Not  merely  one  king,  though  that  king  be 
David,  shall  acknowledge,  thank,  and  praise  thee,  but  all  others  who  receive 


Psalm  138:5  -  8  545 

the  true  religion,  when  they  know  what  thou  hast  promised,  and  especially 
when  they  compare  the  promise  and  fulfilment,  with  particular  reference  to 
the  promise  of  Messiah,  which  is  described  in  Scripture  as  a  grand  means 
for  the  conversion  of  the  nations  and  the  chiefs  which  represent  them. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixviii.  30,  32  (29,  31),  cii.  16  (15). 

5.  And  they  shall  sing  in  the  ways  of  Jehovah,  for  great  (shall  be)  the 
glory  of  Jehovah.  The  kings  of  the  earth,  representing  its  nations,  shall 
join  in  the  praise  of  the  true  God,  walking  in  his  ways,  i.  e.  as  converts  to 
the  true  religion.  Compare  Micah  iv.  2,  Isa.  iv.  3.  Instead  of /or  we  may 
read  when,  as  in  ver.  4  ;  when  the  glory  of  Jehovah  has  been  duly  exalted 
and  diffused  by  the  extension  of  the  true  religion.  Some  make  this  clause 
the  theme  or  subject  of  the  praise — they  shall  sing  that  the  glory  of  Jeho- 
vah is  great — a  less  natural  construction,  but  one  which  yields  an  equally 
good  sense. 

6.  For  lofty  is  Jehovah — and  the  low  he  sees — and  ilxe  haughty  from  afar 
he  knows.  The  first  two  clauses  may  be  in  antithesis,  and  yet  he  looks  upon 
the  low,  or  simply  co-ordinate,  and  therefore  he  looks  upon  the  low,  i.  e.  the 
lowly,  who  shall  be  exalted,  while  the  opposite  end  of  the  proud  is  impHed 
in  the  concluding  declaration.  Even  from  afar,  from  the  distant  heaven 
where  he  seems  to  behold  nothing,  he  knows  precisely  what  the  proud  man 
is,  what  he  deserves,  and  what  is  actually  to  befall  him.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  i.  1. 

7.  If  I  go  through  the  midst  of  distress,  thou  wilt  save  (or  make)  me  alive  ; 
upon  the  wrath  of  my  enemies  thou  wilt  stretch  forth  thy  hand,  a)td  save  me 
(with)  thy  right  hand.  The  first  clause  resembles  that  of  Ps.  xxiii.  4.  Go 
through  or  walk  in  the  midst  of  trouble.  To  quicken  or  revive,  as  in  Ps. 
XXX.  4  (3),  Ixxi.  20.  Upon  the  wrath,  implying  motion  from  above,  which 
is  more  significant  and  graphic  than  against.  The  common  version  of  the 
last  words  {and  thy  right  hand  shall  save  me)  is  equally  grammatical,  and 
found  in  all  the  ancient  versions  ;  but  the  other  is  recommended  by  its 
ascribing  the  deUverance  directly  to  God,  and  by  the  analogy  of  Ps.  Ix. 
7  (5),  where  hand  is  adverbially  construed  with  the  same  verb.  See  also 
Ps.  xvii.  14. 

8.  Jehovah  will  complete  for  me  (what  he  has  begun) ;  Jehovah,  thy  mercy 
(is)  for  ever  ;  the  works  of  thy  hands  do  not  fvr sake.  The  work  begun  and 
yet  to  be  completed  was  the  whole  series  of  God's  gracious  dispensations 
towards  David  and  his  seed,  beginning  with  the  first  choice  of  the  former 
and  ending  in  the  Messiah.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  Ivii.  3  (2), 
Phil.  i.  6.  The  second  member  of  the  sentence  might  be  read,  let  thy  mercy 
he  for  ever  or  unto  eternity.  But  it  is  more  probably  an  affirmation,  similar 
to  that  in  Ps.  ciii.  17,  and  the  clause  contains  an  appeal  to  the  promise  of 
eternal  favour,  2  Sam.  vii.  13,  26,  or  perhaps  to  the  eternity  of  God's  com- 
passions, as  a  reason  why  he  should  not  and  could  not  abandon  what  had 
been  so  graciously  begun. 

Psalm  139 

The  Psalmist  describes  God's  omnipresence  and  omniscience,  ver.  1-12, 
as  attributes  necessarily  belonging  to  him  as  the  Creator,  ver.  13-18,  and 
appeals  to  them  in  attestation  of  his  own  aversion  to  the  wicked,  ver.  19-24. 
From  its  collocation  it  is  probable  that  this  psalm  records  David's  exercises 
under  the  powerful  impressions  of  the  great  Messianic  promises  in  2  Sam. 


546  Psalm  139:1  -  6 

vii.,  and  is  therefore  to  be  regarded  as  a  confession  and  profession  made 
not  merely  for  himself  but  for  his  successors  on  the  throne  of  Israel,  and 
intended  both  to  warn  them  and  console  them  by  this  grand  view  of 
Jehovah's  constant  and  infallible  inspection. 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  By  David.  A  Psalm.  Jehovah,  thou  hast 
searched  me  and  knowest.  As  a  later  writer  could  have  no  motive  for  pre- 
fixing the  title  to  the  Chief  Musician,  it  affords  an  incidental  proof  of  an- 
tiquity and  genuineness.  Thou  hast  searched  me,  or  continually  searchest 
me.  The  Hebrew  verb  originally  means  to  dig^  and  is  applied  to  the  search 
for  precious  metals  (Job  xxviii.  y),  but  metaphorically  to  a  moral  inquisition 
into  guilt.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xliv.  22  (21),  and  compare  Job  xiii.  9.  It 
is  here  used  in  the  intermediate  sense  of  full  investigation.  Thou  hast 
known  or  knowest  all  that  can  result  from  such  a  scrutiny,  not  only  my  cor- 
ruptions and  infirmities  but  my  cares  and  sorrows.  The  object  is  not  ex- 
pressed in  this  verse,  which  is  a  summary  of  the  whole  psalm,  because  the 
very  object  of  what  follows  is  to  state  it  in  detail. 

2.  Thou  knoivest  my  sitting  and  my  rising;  thou  understandest  as  to  my 
thought  from  afar.  Sitting  and  rising  or  standing  represent  rest  and  motion, 
or  all  the  various  conditions  of  the  living,  waking  man.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
i.  1,  xxvii.  2.  In  every  posture,  state,  and  occupation,  thou  knowest  me. 
The  next  phrase  does  not  merely  signify,  thou  perceivest  the  meaning  of  my 
thought,  but  thou  knowest  all  about  it,  its  origin,  its  tendency,  its  moral 
quality;  thou  understandest  (every  thing)  respecting  it.  From  afar,  unim- 
peded by  local  distance,  by  which  men  are  prone  to  imagine  the  divine 
omniscience  to  be  circumscribed.  See  Job  xxii.  12-14,  and  compare  with 
this  verse  Ps.  cxxxviii.  6,  Jer.  xxiii.  23. 

3.  My  path  and  my  lair  thou  siftest,  and  with  all  my  ways  art  acquainted. 
Path  is  here  put  for  going,  lair  for  lying,  and  these,  like  the  terms  of  the 
preceding  verse,  for  motion  and  rest,  or  the  active  and  passive  parts  of 
human  fife.  The  poetical  word  lair  is  used  to  represent  a  Hebrew  one, 
occurring  only  here,  but  the  verbal  root  of  which  is  used  by  Moses,  Lev. 
xviii.  23,  XX.  16.  The  last  verb  means  to  be  accustomed  (Num.  xxii.  30), 
and  then  by  a  natural  association,  acquainted  or  familiar  (Job  xxii.  21). 
My  ways,  my  condition  and  my  conduct,  what  I  do  and  what  I  suffer. 

4.  lor  there  is  not  a  word  in  my  tongue,  (but)  lo,  Jehovah,  thou  knowest 
all  of  it.  The  relation  of  the  clauses  may  be  also  expressed  thuS  in  English, 
which,  0  Lord,  thou  knowest  not,  all  of  it  (or  altogether).  In  my  tongue,  in 
its  power,  or,  as  it  were,  in  its  possession.  This  verse  merely  applies  to 
his  words  specifically  what  was  said  before  of  all  his  actions.  The  lo  or  be- 
hold is  equivalent  to  see  there,  or  to  the  act  of  pointing  at  the  words  as 
objects  of  sight  and  as  actually  present. 

5.  Behind  and  before  thou  dost  beset  me,  and  layest  upon  me  thy  hand. 
There  is  here  an  insensible  transition  from  God's  omniscience  to  his  omni- 
presence, out  of  which  the  Scriptures  represent  it  as  arising.  Behind  and 
before,  i.  e.  on  all  sides.  The  idea  of  above  and  below  is  suggested  by 
the  last  clause.  Beset,  besiege,  hem  in,  or  closely  surround.  Thy  hand, 
or  the  palm  of  thy  hand,  as  the  Hebrew  word  strictly  denotes. 

6.  Such  knowledge  is  too  wonderful  for  me  ;  it  is  exalted,  I  cannot  (attain) 
to  it.  The  literal  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  is,  wonderful  knowledge 
away  from  me,  or  more  than  /(can  comprehend) ;  it  is  exalted,  I  cannot  (do 
anything)  as  to  it.  With  the  word  wonderful  compare  the  use  of  the  cog- 
nate verb,  Deut.  xxx.  11,  Prov.  xxx.  18.  The  knowledge  meant  is  man's 
finite  knowledge  of  the  infinite. 


Psalm  139:7 -13  547 

7.  Whither  shall  I  cio  from  thy  Spirit,  and  whither  from  thy  face  shall  1 
flee  ?  The  interrogation  involves  a  denial  of  all  possible  escape  from  God's 
inspection,  when  a  guilty  conscience  prompts  to  seek  one.  Compare  Amos 
ix.  2. 

8.  Tf  I  scale  the  heavens,  there  (art)  thou;  and  if  I  spread  the  grave,  lo 
thou  (art  there).  The  word  scale  is  used  to  represent  a  Hebrew  verb  oc- 
curring only  here,  and  no  doubt  belonging  to  the  dialect  of  poetry.  The 
verb  translated  spread  means  specifically  to  spread  a  couch  or  make  a  bed. 
Jfl  make  sheol  my  bed,  i.e.  lie  down  in  the  gi-ave  or  hell,  in  the  wide  old 
EngUsh  sense.     See  above,  on  Ps.  vi.  6  (5). 

9.  I  uill  raise  the  iviiiys  of  day-break.  1  icill  dwell  in  the  end  of  the  sea. 
By  supplying  if,  although  the  sense  is  not  materially  changed,  the  form  of 
expression  becomes  much  less  striking.  Tlie  conditional  construction  is 
forbidden  also,  or  at  least  rendered  highly  improbable,  by  the  form  of  the 
second  verb,  expressing  strong  desire  and  resolution.  The  truth  is,  that  we 
have  here  a  bold  transition.  After  speaking  of  guilty  flight  from  God  him- 
self, the  Psalmist  now  speaks  of  anxious  flight  from  other  enemies,  and  as 
if  visibly  surrounded  by  them,  here  resolves  to  escape  from  them.  This, 
which  is  Hengstenberg's  interpretation,  is  strongly  favoured  by  the  uncon- 
ditional construction,  although  he  himself  retains  the  other.  The  same 
writer  objects  to  the  translation  rai^e  the  winrfs,  that  before  one  can  raise 
wings  he  must  have  them.  But  for  that  very  reason  the  possession  of  them 
may  be  presupposed,  or  considered  as  implied  in  the  act  expressed.  The 
same  combination  is  employed  by  Ezekiel  (x.  IG,  19),  in  a  way  that  ad- 
mits of  only  one  translation.     The  Hebrew  word  ("1111^)  is  not  the  common 

one  for  morning,  but  one  denoting  day-break  or  the  dawn.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  Ivii.  9  (8).  The  point  of  comparison  appears  to  be  the  incalculable 
velocity  of  light.  The  extremity  (or  end)  of  the  sea,  is  added  to  heaven  and 
hell,  in  order  to  convey  the  idea  of  the  most  remote  points. 

10.  Even  there  thy  hand  guides  me,  and  thy  right  hand  holds  me.  From 
the  use  of  similar  expressions  to  denote  a  friendly  guidance  and  support,  in 
Ps.  xviii.  17  (16),  Iv.  7-9  (G-8),  v.  9  (8),  xxiii.  3,  xxvii.  11,  Ixxiii.  24, 
and  other  places,  Hengstenberg  infers  that  this  must  mean,  when  I  fly  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth  before  my  enemies,  thou  art  still  there  to  protect 
me,  and  that  the  psalm  was  therefore  meant  not  merely  to  alarm  but  to 
console. 

11.  And  1  say,  only  darkness  overichelms  me,  night  is  the  light  become 
around  me.  The  ideal  situation  is  the  same  as  in  ver.  9,  one  of  danger 
and  terror,  in  which  he  is  constrained  to  say,  nothing  but  darkness  comes 
upon  me,  smites  me,  and  the  very  hght  is  turned  to  darkness  round  about 
me.  According  to  this  view  of  the  passage,  darkness,  as  in  many  other 
places,  is  a  figure  for  calamity  and  danger.  See  Isa.  1.  10,  Ps.  cxxxvui.  7. 
According  to  the  usual  interpretation,  it  denotes  concealment  from  the  eye 
of  God. 

12.  Even  darkness  does  not  make  {it)  dark  to  him,  and  night  like  day 
shines  ;  as  the  darkness,  so  the  light.  The  interpretation  given  of  the  fore- 
going verse  does  not  necessarily  aSect  the  sense  of  this,  which  still  means 
that  nothing  can  prevent  God's  seeing  either  sin  or  suffering,  either  the 
danger  of  his  people  or  the  malice  of  their  enemies.  Make  dark,  as  in  Ps. 
cv.  28.     To  thee,  literally /row  thee,  i.  e.  so  as  to  conceal  from  thee. 

13.  For  thou  possessest  my  reins  ;  thou  coverest  me  in  my  mother's  womb. 
The  meaning  of  the  first  clause  seems  to  be  :  thou  hast  in  thy  power  and  at 
thy  control  the  very  seat  of  my  strongest  sensibilities,  my  pains  and  plea- 


548  Psakn  139:14  -  16 

sures  ;  and  this  subjection  is  coeval  with  my  being,  for  even  before  birth  I 
■was  under  thy  protection  and  command,  as  I  am  now.  The  sense  of  weav- 
ing, which  is  given  to  the  last  verb  by  some  modem  writers,  rests  on  a  mere 
etymological  deduction,  and  has  no  foundation  either  in  tradition  or  in  usage. 
The  for  at  the  beginning  of  this  verse  marks  the  transition  from  the  fact  of 
God's  omniscience  to  its  origin  or  reason  in  his  creative  character  and 
rights.  As  a  logical  particle,  the  for  relates,  not  to  the  immediately 
preceding  verse,  but  to  the  whole  preceding  context.  God  is  omnipresent 
and  omniscent, /or  he  is  the  maker  of  the  universe. 

14.  1  thank  thee,  because  fearfulhj  I  am  distinguished  ;  wonderful  {are) 
thy  worTcs,  and  {that)  my  soul  knoweth  right  {well).  He  makes  it  a  subject 
of  grateful  acknowledgment,  that  God  has  distinguished  him  or  made  him 
to  differ  from  inferior  creatures,  both  in  constitution  and  in  destiny.  Because 
is   in  Hebrew  a  compound    particle  03  7^)  like  for  that,  forasmuch  as. 

Fearfully,  literally /ear/i<Z  {things),  but  used  adverbially,  as  in  Ps.  Ixv.  6  (5). 
It  might  here  be  rendered  {by)  fearful  {things).  The  words  corresponding 
to  distinguished  and  wonderful  are  in  Hebrew  passive  forms  from  cognate 
roots  (n^S  and  X^S)).  The  particular  statement  of  the  first  clause  is  resolved 
by  the  last  into  the  general  one,  of  which  it  is  a  mere  specification.  The 
concluding  words  express  a  strong  and,  as  it  were,  experimental  conviction 
of  the  truth. 

15.  JN^ot  hid  was  my  frame  from  thee,  when  I  was  made  in  secret,  em- 
broidered in  depths  of  the  earth.  The  not  hid  is  a  meiosis,  implying  that 
God  saw  it  clearly,  and  fully  understood  it,  inasmuch  as  he  himself  created 
it.  Frame,  literally  strength,  as  in  Deut.  viii.  17,  but  applied  to  the  bones 
and  sinews  as  the  strength  and  framework  of  the  body.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  vi.  3  (2),  and  compare  Job  x.  11.  The  common  Hebrew  word  for 
bone  differs  only  in  the  pointing.     The  word  translated  when  is  ("Itt^hJ) 

the  relative  pronoun,  and  may  here  retain  its  proper  meaning,  although  then 
not  easily  translated,  as  its  antecedent  is  latent  in  the  phrase  my  frame, 
which  may  be  thus  resolved,  the  frame  of  me  who  was  made,  &c.  In  secret, 
i.  e.  in  the  womb.  Embroidered,  which  is  the  invariable  meaning  of  the 
Hebrew  verb,  is  a  bold  but  beautiful  expression  for  the  complicated  tissue 
of  the  human  frame,  in  which  so  many  and  such  various  threads  are  curi- 
ously interwoven.  Depths  of  the  earth  can  only  be  explained  as  a  compa- 
rative expression,  corresponding  to  in  secret  and  denoting  the  same  thing, 
which  it  describes  as  no  less  dark  and  hidden  from  the  view  of  men  than 
subterraneous  caverns,  or  as  some  suppose  sheol,  the  invisible  world.  See 
above  on  Ps.  Ixiii.  10  (9),  and  compare  Job  i.  21,  where  the  figure  is  in- 
verted, and  the  grave  is  confounded  with  the  womb. 

16.  My  unformed  substance  did  thine  eyes  see,  and  in  thy  hook  all  of 
them  arc  written,  days  are  formed,  and  there  is  not  one  among  them.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  obscure  and  doubtful  verses  in  the  book  of  Psalms.  Its 
difficulty  to  our  own  translators  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact,  that 
substance  yet  being  unperfect  answers  to  a  single  Hebrew  word,  and  that 
my  members  is  a  gratuitous  addition  to  the  text.  The  first  word  in  He- 
brew occurs  only  here,  but  is  clearly  derived  from  a  verb  which  means  to 
roll  or  roll  up  (2  Kings  ii.  8),  and  may  therefore  be  supposed  itself  to  signify 
something  rolled  up  or  rolled  together,  and  from  this  may  be  deduced  the 
sense  of  something  shapeless  or  unformed,  or  more  specifically  that  of  an 
embryo  or  foetus.  The  next  difficulty  lies  in  the  expression  all  of  them, 
evaded  in  the  English  Bible  by  changing  it  to  all  my  members,  and  then 


Psalm  139:17 -21  549 

making  this  the  subject  of  the  plurals  following.  The  best  interpreters  are 
now  disposed  to  construe  all  of  them  with  days  by  a  grammatical  prolepsis. 
In  thy  book  all  of  them  are  written,  namely,  all  my  days,  as  they  were 
planned,  projected,  or  decreed,  before  as  yet  one  of  them  had  really  ex- 
isted. Wnlten  and  formed  are  then  parallel  expressions.  All  of  them  are 
written,  days  are  delineated  or  depicted.  By  days  (translated  in  our  Bible 
in  continuance)  we  are  then  to  understand  not  merely  the  length  but  the 
events  and  vicissitudes  of  hfe.  See  Job  xiv.  5,  Ps.  Ivi.  9  (8).  This  is  one 
of  those  cases  in  which  the  difficulty  Ues  in  the  particular  expressions, 
while  the  general  import  of  the  passage  is  clearly  determined  by  the 
context.  Instead  of  (j^^)  not,  the  keri  or  mai'ginal  reading  in  the  Hebrew 
Bible  has  (i^)  to  him,  a  variation  to  which  no  one  has  succeeded  in  attach- 
ing a  coherent  sense.     Precisely  the  same  difference  of  text  exists  in  Ps.  c.  3. 

17.  And  to  me  how  precious  are  thy  thoughts,  0  God  !  How  great  is  the 
sum  of  them  !  Having  presented  this  impressive  view  of  God's  omniscience, 
he  now  tells  how  he  is  himself  affected  by  it.  So  far  from  thinking  it  a 
hardship  to  be  subject  to  this  scrutiny,  he  counts  it  a  most  valuable  privi- 
lege. Hov/ever  others  may  regard  this  truth,  to  me,  my  judgment  and  my 
feelings,  how  costly,  valuable,  are  thy  thoughts,  i.  e.  thy  perpetual  attention 
to  me.  For  the  true  sense  of  precious,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxxvi.  8  (7), 
xlv.  10  (9).  Great  is  the  sum,  literally  strong  (or  many)  are  their  sums,  an 
expression  which  can  hardly  be  retained  in  our  idiom. 

18.  7  will  count  them — (but  no) — more  than  sand  they  are  many — I 
awake  and  still  I  (am)  with  thee.  The  first  clause  is  equivalent  to  a  condi- 
tional proposition,  If  I  would  count  them,  &c.,  but  far  more  striking  and 
poetical  in  form.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xl.  6(5).  I  am  still  ivith  thee  has 
the  same  essential  meaning  with  the  similar  expression  in  Ps.  Ixxiii.  23, 
namely,  I  am  still  in  the  society  or  company.  But  there  the  reference  is 
chiefly  to  divine  protection,  here  to  meditation  on  the  divine  attributes. 
Thou  art  still  before  me  as  an  object  of  adoring  wonder,  not  by  day  only, 
but  by  night ;  not  merely  in  the  watches  of  the  night,  but  even  in  my  sleep. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  i.  2,  x\i.  7,  Ixiii.  7  (6). 

19.  If  thou  wilt  slay,  0  God,  the  wicked  [man)  !  And  ye  men  ofhlood, 
depart  from  me  ?  The  first  clause  is  in  fact,  though  not  in  form,  the  ex- 
pression of  a  wish.  If  thou  wouldst  but  slay  !  In  form,  there  is  no  apo- 
siopesis,  which  may  be  variously  supplied  by  adding,  I  will  praise  thee,  I 
will  rejoice,  it  will  be  just,  or  the  like.  Men  of  bloods,  murderers  or  mur- 
derous men.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  7  (6),  xxvi.  9,  Iv.  24  (23).  Depart 
from  me  is  the  same  expression  as  in  Ps.  vi.  9  (8),  cxix,  15,  but  the  main 
idea  here  is  that  of  disavowal  or  repudiation.  Oh  that  God  would  slay 
them,  and  until  he  does,  I  desire  to  have  no  communion  with  them. 
Compare  Job  xxi.  14,  Mat.  vii.  23. 

20.  Who  speak  of  thee  for  wickedness  and  take  in  vain — thy  foes.  Speak 
of  thee,  or  name  thee,  use  thy  name,  for  the  accomplishment  of  ■wicked 
ends.  The  other  clause  will  then  be  strictly  parallel, 'aTio?  take  (thy  name) 
in  vain,  as  in  Exod.  xx.  7.  For  the  meaning  of  this  difficult  expression, 
see  above,  on  Ps.  xxiv.  4.  The  subject  of  the  proposition  is  placed  em- 
phatically at  the  end. 

21.  Thy  haters,  0  Jehovah,  shall  not  I  hate,  and  with  thine  assailants  be 
disgusted  ?  The  simple  future  in  the  first  clause  comprehends  several  dis- 
tinct shades  of  meaning.  Do  I  not,  may  I  not,  must  I  not,  hate  those 
hating  thee  ?  Hate  them,  not  as  man  hates,  but  as  God  hates.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  v.  6  (5).     The  construction  of  the  verb  and  preposition  in 


550  Psalm  140:1 

the  last  clause  is  the  same  in  Hebrew  and  in  English.  Be  disgusted,  liter- 
ally sicken  or  disgust  myself,  abhor,  or  loathe.  Thine  assailants,  those 
rising  up  against  thee,  as  rebellious  enemies.  The  Hebrew  word  is  a  noun 
formed  from  the  participle  used  above,  Ps.  xvii.  7,  lix.  2  (1). 

22.  (With)  perfection  of  hatred  do  I  hate  them,  as  enemies  they  are  to  me. 
Literally  they  are  for  enemies,  i.  e.  I  so  esteem  them.  As  enemies  of  God, 
they  must  be  mine. 

23.  Search  me,  God,  and  know  my  heart  ;  try  me,  and  know  my  thoughts. 
The  last  expression  .is  emphatic,  meaning  even  my  most  anxious  and  dis- 
turbed thoughts,  into  which  corruption  might  most  easily  find  entrance. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xciv.  19,  the  only  other  place  where  the  Hebrew  word 
occurs.  In  this  verse,  he  again  appeals  to  the  divine  omniscience  for  the 
purity  of  his  intentions,  and  thus  comes  back  to  the  point  from  which  he 
started. 

24.  And  see  if  a  way  of  pain  he  in  me,  and  guide  me  in  a  way  of  eter- 
nity. In  the  first  clause  some  translate,  the  way  of  an  idol,  an  idolatrous 
way.  But  the  meaning  idol  is  not  justified  by  usage.  A  way  of  pain  is 
one  that  leads  to  suffering  and  misery  hereafter.  The  opposite  of  this  is  a 
way  of  eternity,  by  which  some  understand/  an  everlasting  way,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  perishable  way  of  sinners,  Ps.  i.  6.  Others,  more  probably, 
the  way  that  leads  to  everlasting  life.  Usage,  however,  is  in  favour  of  a 
third  and  very  difi'erent  interpretation,  which  gives  the  Hebrew  phrase  CTJ^^ 

D^iJ?)  the  same  sense  with  a  kindred  one  (071^  PtSyr\2)  used  by  Jere- 
miah (vi.  16),  to  wit,  that  of  old  or  ancient  way,  the  one  pursued  by  pro- 
phets, patriarchs,  and  saints  of  old.  Similar  expressions  are  found  in  Jer. 
xviii.  15,  Job  xxii.  15,  applied,  in  a  bad  sense,  to  the  course  pursued  by 
ancient  sinners.  The  prayer,  however,  still  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  to 
wit,  that  God  would  lead  him  in  the  good  old  way,  which  is  itself  the  way 
to  everlasting  life. 


Psalm  140 

1.  To  the  Chief  Musician.  A  Psalm.  By  David.  We  find  ourselves, 
in  this  psalm,  carried  back  not  only  to  the  times  of  David,  but  to  those  of 
the  Sauline  persecution,  from  which  the  images  are  evidently  borrowed. 
Besides  the  warlike  tone,  the  vigorous  conciseness,  the  verbal  agreements 
with  Davidic  psalms,  combined  with  eminent  originalit}-,  the  very  struc- 
ture is  Davidic,  and  exhibits  the  familiar  sequence  of  complaint,  ver.  2-6 
(1-5),  prayer,  ver.  7-9  (6-8),  and  confident  anticipation,  ver.  10-14 
(9-13),  So  clearly  do  these  features  of  the  composition  mark  its  origin, 
even  independently  of  the  inscription,  that  nothing  can  account  for  its 
position  here  but  the  hypothesis  already  stated,  that  these  ancient  psalms 
were  incorporated  into  a  series  of  later  date,  and  placed  in  the  collection, 
not  according  to  their  individual  antiquity,  but  according  to  the  date  of  the 
whole  set  or  system,  into  which  they  had  been  made  to  enter.  Like  the 
psalms  immediately  preceding,  this  was  probably  composed  by  David  after 
the  reception  of  the  great  Messianic  promise,  and  with  immediate  refer- 
ence to  it. 

2  (1),  Deliver  me,  Jehovah,  from  the  had  man  ;  from  the  man  of  vio- 
lences thou  wilt  preserve  me.  This  is  one  of  those  pictures  so  abundant  in 
the  genuine  Davidic  psalms,   of  which  Saul  seems  to  have  furnished  the 


Psalm  140:2 -8  551 

original.     Compare  Ps.  lii.     The  first  man  is  the  generic  term  (DTi^),  the 

T    r 

other  the  individual  designation  {]t}'^ik),  which  seem,  however,  to  be  used 

here  as  equivalents.  The  insensible  transition  from  direct  prayer  to  confi- 
dent anticipation  is  characteristic  of  the  psalms  of  David.  Man  of  violence 
is  another  favourite  expression.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  49  (48),  and  com- 
pare the  parallel  passage,  2  Sam.  xxii.  49,  where  the  plural  form  [violences) 
is  used,  as  in  the  verse  before  us. 

3  (2).  Who  imagine  evils  in  [their)  hearts  ;  all  the  day  they  gather  [for) 
battles.  That  the  preceding  verse,  notwithstanding  the  reference  to  Saul, 
is  the  description  of  a  whole  class,  is  clear  from  the  plural  forms  in  this 
verse.  Think,  meditate,  devise,  imagine.  Evils,  particularly  such  as  are 
inflicted  on  others,  well  expressed  in  the  common  versions,  mischiefs. 
Another  construction  of  the  last  clause,  preferred  by  some  interpreters,  is, 
all  the  day  they  dioell  with  wars  (or  in  wars),  i.  e.  are  constantly  involved 
in  them  and  busied  with  them.  This  use  of  the  verb  ("TlH)  is  justified  by 
Ps.  V.  5  (4),  cv.  23,  cxxv.  5.  But  the  analogy  of  Ps.  Ivi.  7  (6),  lix.  4  (3), 
is  decisive  in  favour  of  the  other  explanation.  Compare  Ps.  xxxi.  14  (13), 
XXXV.  15,  Isa.  liv.  15. 

4  (3).  They  sharj)en  their  tongue  as  a  serpent;  the  poison  of  an  adder 
[is)  under  their  lips,  Selah.  Not  as  a  serpent  [does'),  but  (spiteful  or  veno- 
mous) as  a  serpent.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixiv.  4  (3).  With  the  last  clause 
compare  Ps.  x.  7,  Iviii.  5  (4).  The  word  for  asp  or  adder  occurs  only 
here.  The  only  point  of  exegetical  importance  is,  that  it  means  a  poison- 
ous serpent,  and  is  thus  a  specification  of  the  general  expression  in  the 
other  clause. 

5  (4).  Keep  me,  Jehovah,  from  the  hands  of  the  wicked  [man);  from  the 
man  of  violences  thou  ivilt  preserve  me,  who  have  thought  to  subvert  my  steps. 
A  varied  repetition  of  the  prayer  in  ver.  1.  With  the  last  clause  compare 
Ps.  XXXV.  5,  xxxvi.  13  (12),  hi.  14  (13),  cxviii.  13. 

6  (5).  High  [ones)  have  hid  a  snare  for  me,  and  cords — they  have  spread 
out  a  net  by  the  side  of  the  road — traps  have  they  laid  for  me,  Selah.  This 
is  little  more  than  an  accumulation  of  the  various  terms  in  which  David 
elsewhere  clothes  one  of  his  favourite  figures,  as  if  he  saw  his  own  perils 
reappearing  in  the  future.  High  ones,  i.  e.  proud  or  haughty  men.  By 
the  side,  literally  the  hand,  as  we  say  on  either  hand.  The  word  translated 
road,  according  to  its  etymology,  denotes  a  waggon-road,  a  track  worn  by 
wheels. 

7^(6).  I  have  said  to  Jehovah,  My  God  [art)  thou  ;  give  ear,  Jehovah, 
(to)  the  voice  of  my  supplications.  All  the  component  parts  of  this  verse 
are  of  constant  occurrence  in  the  psalms  of  David.  With  the  first  clause 
compare  Ps.  xvi.  2,  xxxi.  15  (14).  With  the  second,  Ps.  v.  2,  3  (1,  2), 
xvii.  1,  xxviii.  2,  6  (1,  5),  xxxi.  23  (22),  xxxix.  13  (12),  liii.  4  (3). 

8  (7).  Jehovah,  Lord,  the  strength  of  my  salvation;  thou  hast  covered  my 
head  in  the  day  of  battle.  My  covenant  God  and  sovereign,  whose  power 
saves  me.     Jlead  is  preceded  by  a  preposition  (7),  thou  hast  been  a  covering 

(or  afforded  shelter)  to  [or  for)  ony  head.  The  day  of  battle,  literally  of 
armour  or  of  weapons,  i.  e.  the  day  when  they  are  used.  With  this  verse 
compare  Ps.  v.  12  (11),  Ix.  9  (7),  Ixii.  2,  12  (1,  11),  cxxxix.  13,  1  Sam. 
xxviii.  2. 

9  (8).  Grant  not,  Jehovah,  the  desires  of  the  xoicked  man — his  device 
succeed  not — they  will  be  exalted.  Succeed  not,  suffer  not  to  prosper ; 
literally,  draw  not  out,  i.  e.  to  a  successful  issue.     The  last  clause  states 


552  Psalm  140:9  -  13 

what  would  be  the  effect  of  their  success  ;  they  would  be  elated,  or  exalt 
themselves.     With  this  verse  compare  Ps.  xxvii.  12,  xxxi.  14  (13),  xxxvii. 

12,  Ixvi.  7  (6),  Deut.  xxxii.  27. 

10  (9).  The  head  of  those  surrounding  me — the  mischief  of  their  lips  shall 
cover  them.  The  nominative  absolute  refers  back  to  the  covering  of  the 
Psalmist's  head  in  ver.  8  (7).  While  my  head  is  covered  by  the  divine 
protection,  the  head  of  those  by  whom  I  am  beset  shall  be  covered  with  the 
consequences  or  the  punishment  of  the  mischief  occasioned  by  their 
calumnies  and  insults.  Or  the  trouble,  which  their  lips  have  caused  to 
others,  shall  return  upon  themselves.  Compare  Ps.  vii.  17  (16).  Those 
surrounding  mA,  or,  as  a  noim,  my  surroundings,  as  in  2  Kings  xxiii.  5. 
The  participle  would,  according  to  analogy  and  usage,  mean  causing  me  to 
turn  hack  or  retreat  (Jer.  xxi.  4),  which  yields  a  good  sense  here.  The 
head  of  those  who  once  drove  me  back  shall  be  covered,  &c. 

11  (10).  Coah  shall  be  cast  upon  them;  into  the  fire  he  shall  make  them 
fall,  and  into  deep  waters,  (whence)  they  shall  not  rise.     The  first  noun  m. 

Hebrew  always  means  burning  or  live  coals.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii. 

13,  14  (12,  13).  Shall  he  cast  is  the  keri  or  marginal  reading,  no  doubt 
intended  to  reUeve  the  harshness  and  obscurity  of  the  reading  in  the  text, 
they  shall  cast  or  shake,  an  indefinite  or  impersonal  construction,  really 
equivalent  in  meaning  to  the  passive.  In  the  second  member  of  the  sen- 
tence the  action  is  ascribed  to  God  himself.  Deep  waters  answers  to  a 
single  Hebrew  word  occurring  only  here,  and  by  some  supposed  to  mean 
deep  pits  or  excavations.  The  first  sense  above  given  is  founded  on  an 
Arabic  analogy. 

12  (11).  A  man  of  tongue  shall  not  he  estahlished  in  the  land,  (nor)  a 
man  of  violence,  a  bad  (man) — he  shall  hunt  him  to  destruction.  A  man  of 
a  calumnious  unbridled  tongue  (James  i.  26)  shall  not  be  pennanently 
seated  in  a  prosperous  condition.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ci.  7,  cii.  29  (28). 
The  next  words  may  be  variously  construed ;  a  man  of  wicked  violence,  or, 
disregarding  the  accents,  a  man  of  violence,  evil  shall  hunt  him,  dc. 
According  to  the  other  constructions,  God  is  the  subject  of  the  verb,  as  of 
the  second  in  ver.  11  (10).  To  destructions,  the  plural  form  denoting  fulness 
and  completeness.  Others  render  it  by  strokes,  i.  e.  successive  strokes ; 
others  again,  in  haste,  which  agrees  well  with  the  usage  of  the  verbal  root. 
See  2  Chron.  xxvi.  20,  Esth.  iii.  15,  vi.  12,  viii.  14. 

13  (12).  /  know  that  Jehovah  will  do  justice  to  the  sufferer,  and  judgment 
for  the  poor.     Compare  Ps.  ix.  5,  17  (4,  16).     Literally,  the  right  of  the 

sufferer,  the  judgment  of  the  poor. 

14  (13).  Only  the  righteous  shall  give  thanks  unto  thy  name,  the  upright 
shall  sit  in  thy  presence.  Only  the  righteous  shall  have  occasion  for  thanks- 
giving. There  is  no  need  therefore  of  departing  from  the  proper  sense  of 
{*7[ii)  the  Hebrew  particle.    See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxiii.  1.     Sit  in  thy  presence, 

as  thy  friends  or  guests  or  favoured  servants.  Perhaps  it  may  mean  sit 
(enthroned)  before  thee.  Compare  Mat.  xix.  28.  Some  understand  the 
sense  to  be,  shall  dwell  (in  the  land)  before  thee,  i.  e.  under  thy  protection 
and  inspection.     Compare  Ps.  xxi.  7  (6),  xli.  13  (12),  Ivi.  14  (13). 

Psalm  141 

After  an  introductory  petition  for  a  favourable  hearing,  ver.  1,  2,  the 
Psalmist  prays  to  be  delivered  from  the  power  of  temptation,  ver.  8,  4, 


Psalm  141:1 -5  553 

comforts  himself  under  his  afflictions  as  paternal  chastisements,  ver.  5^  6, 
anticipates  the  ruin  of  his  enemies,  ver.  7,  and  prays  for  deliverance  from 
them  in  the  mean  time,  ver.  8-10.  This  psalm,  hke  the  one  before  it,  is 
distinguished  by  a  pregnant  brevity  and  the  use  of  rare  expressions,  while 
at  the  same  time  it  is  full  of  verbal  and  real  coincidences  with  the  psalms 
of  David.  These  indications  are  so  clear  and  undeniable,  that  a  sceptical 
critic  of  great  eminence  (De  Wette)  pronounces  it  one  of  the  oldest  psalms 
in  the  collection.  With  respect  to  its  position  in  the  Psalter,  see  the  pre- 
factory  notes  to  Ps.  cxxxv.,  cxI. 

1.  A  Psalm.  By  David.  Jehovah,  I  invoke  thee;  hapten  to  me;  give 
ear  to  my  voice  in  my  calling  to  thee.  This  verse  is  entirely  made  up  of 
phrases  frequently  occurring  in  the  psalms  of  David.  I  invoke  thee,  Ps. 
xvii.  6.  Hasten  to  me,  Ps.  xxii.  20  (19),  Ixx.  2  (1),  Ixxi.  12.  Hear  my 
voice,  Ps.  cxl.  7  (6).     In  my  calling,  Ps.  iv.  2  (1). 

2.  Let  my  prayer  continue  {as)  incense  before  thee,  the  offering  of  my  hands 
(as)  the  evening  oblation.  Continue,  literally  be  established,  as  in  Ps.  cxl. 
12  (11).  He  prays  not  only  for  acceptance,  but  for  constant  or  perpetual 
acceptance,  as  the  offerings  referred  to  were  the  stated  daily  services  of  the 
Mosaic  ritual.  Incense  is  in  Scripture  the  symbol  of  prayer.  In  the  books 
posterior  to  the  Pentateuch  it  is  commonly  mentioned  as  an  evening  oblation 
(1  Kings  xviii.  29,  36,  2  Kings  xvi.  15,  Dan.  ix.  21,  Ezra  ix.  4,  5),  per- 
haps because  in  the  evening  it  was  reckoned  the  main  offering,  whereas  in 
the  morning  it  was  merely  an  appendage  to  the  animal  sacrifice.  Lifting 
up  is  not  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  (/^^^^i^D)  in  any  other  place, 
whereas  it  often  means  a  gift,  and  especially  a  portion  of  food  (Gen.  xliii. 
34,  2  Sam.  xi.  8),  in  which  sense  it  might  naturally  be  applied  to  the 
vegetable  offerings  of  the  Law. 

3.  Set,  0  Jehovah,  a  guard  at  my  mouth  ;  watch  over  the  door  of  my  lips. 
The  prayer,  for  which  he  had  bespoken  audience  and  acceptance,  was  a 
prayer  against  the  power  of  temptation,  and  first  with  reference  to  sins  of 
speech.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxix.  2  (1).  The  words  translated  watch  and 
door  are  forms  occurring  only  here,  but  etymologically  near  akin  to  others 
which  are  in  common  use. 

4.  Incline  not  my  heart  to  an  evil  word,  to  practise  practices  in  wickedness 
with  men  (who  are)  workers  of  iniquity,  and  let  me  not  eat  of  their  dainties. 
An  evil  woid  may  be  strictly  understood,  as  referring  still  to  sins  of  the 
tongue,  or  be  taken  in  the  idiomatic  sense  of  an  e-vil  matter,  which  last  is 
preferred  by  most  interpreters.  The  assonance  in  practise  practices  is  copied 
from  the  Hebrew,  where  the  cognate  verb  and  noun  are  combined  in  the  same 
manner.  Practices  in  wickedness,  or  wicked  practices.  The  last  words  seem 
to  be  a  prayer,  that  he  might  not  be  tempted,  by  the  luxurious  prosperity 
of  wicked  men,  to  follow  their  example.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxiii.  3-7, 12. 

5.  Let  the  righteous  smite  me  [in)  mercy  and  chasten  me — oil  for  the  head 
let  not  my  head  refuse — for  (it  is)  still  (to  come) — and  my  prayer  (must  still 
ascend)  in  their  injuries.  This  verse  is  so  obscure  as  to  be  almost  unintel- 
Ugible.  According  to  the  Enghsh  versions,  it  expresses  his  willingness  to 
be  rebuked  by  good  men  for  his  benefit.  But  this  sense  is  not  only  hard 
to  be  extracted  from  the  words,  but  foreign irom  the  context.  Of  the  many 
contradictory  interpretations  which  have  been  proposed,  the  most  probable 
is  that  which  makes  the  sentence  mean,  that  the  sufferings  endured  by  the 
good  man,  even  at  the  hand  of  the  wicked,  are  chastisements  inflicted  by  a 
righteous  God  in  justice  and  in  mercy,  and  as  such  may  be  Ukened  to  a 
festive  ointment,  which  the  head  of  the  sufferer  should  not  refuse,  as  he  will 


554  Psalm  141:6 -10 

still  have  need  of  consolation  and  occasion  to  invoke  God,  in  the  midst  of 
trials  and  of  mischiefs  yet  to  be  experienced. 

6.  Throun  down  among  the  rocks  are  their  judges  ;  and  (then)  they  hear 
my  words,  for  they  are  sweet.  "When  the  judgments  in  reserve  for  the  leaders 
of  my  enemies  shall  come  upon  them,  they  will  perceive  too  late  how  rea- 
sonable are  my  words,  and  wish  that  they  had  hearkened  to  them  sooner. 
Thrown  doivn,  originally  let  go,  here  used  as  in  2  Kings  ix.  33.  Among  the 
rocks,  literally  in  {or  into)  the  hands  of  the  rock.  Some  understand  this  to 
mean  into  its  power  (see  ver.  9  below) ;  others,  against  its  sides  (see  Ps.  cxl.  6) ; 
but  the  simplest  explanation  is  that  which  supposes  the  rock  to  be  personified 
and  represented  as  standing  below  and  holding  out  its  hands  to  catch  the 
person  or  thing  falling.  Some  in  the  last  clause  read,  that  they  are  sweet. 
Then,  when  it  is  too  late,  they  shall  perceive  how  sweet  my  words  are. 

7.  Like  (one)  ploughing  and  cleaving  the  earth — scattered  are  our  hones 
at  the  grave's  mouth  (or  the  mouth  of  hell).  There  are  only  two  plausible 
interpretations  of  this  obscure  comparison.  As  the  first  Hebrew  verb  (n^3), 
in  its  derivative  forms,  has  the  general  sense  of  cleaving,  and  the  second 
(ypl)  is  expressly  used  (Eccles.  x.  9)  in  that  oi  sjjlitting  wood,  some  inter- 
preters give  both  verbs  that  specific  meaning  here,  and  suppose  the  verse  to 
be  simply  a  description  of  mortality  or  carnage,  the  eftect  of  which  is,  that 
human  bones  lie  about  the  opening  of  the  grave,  or  the  devouring  jaws  of 
hell  (Isa.  V.  14),  as  numerous  and  as  little  heeded  as  so  many  logs  or  sticks 
of  wood.  To  this  it  is  objected,  that  the  phrase  in  (or  on)  the  earth  is  then 
unmeaning,  or  at  least  superfluous,  and  that  the  verse,  if  thus  explained, 
does  not  cohere  with  the  ensuing  context,  which  supposes  the  contents  of 
this  verse  to  be  cheering  and  consolatory.  The  other  interpretation  avoids 
these  objections,  by  explaining  the  first  clause  not  of  cleaving  wood  but 
ploughing,  to  which  the  first  verb  is  applied  in  Arabic.  Like  [one)  plough- 
ing and  cleaving  (making  furrows)  in  the  earth,  not  for  the  sake  of  mangling 
its  surface,  but  to  make  it  fruitful  and  productive,  (so)  our  hones  are  scat- 
tered at  the  mouth  of  hell,  as  the  necessary  means  of  a  glorious  resurrection. 

8.  For  unto  thee,  Jehovah,  Lord,  [are)  my  eyes — in  thee  have  I  confided 
— pour  not  Old  my  soul.  The  for  refers  to  the  consolatory  import  of  the 
verse  preceding.  The  one  before  us  contains  several  favourite  Davidic 
phrases.  3Iy  eyes  are  unto  thee,  Ps.  xxv.  15.  Ln  thee  have  I  confided  (or 
sought  refuge),  Ps.  ii.  12,  xxxi.  2  (1).  In  the  last  clause  the  soul  or  hfe  is 
confounded  with  its  vehicle.  See  Gen.  ix.  4,  Lev.  xvii.  11,  14.  The  same 
remarkable  expression  is  applied  by  Isaiah  (liii.  12)  to  the  voluntary  death 
of  the  Messiah.  That  the  verb  Hterally  means  to  pour  out,  is  clear  from 
Gen.  xxiv.  20,  Isa.  xxxii.  15.  This  verse  resembles  Ps.  cxl.  8  (7),  in  two 
points,  the  combination  Jehovah  A dhonai,  and  the  supernumerary  H  in 
nni3D  and  HD^- 

T  -  T     ; 

9.  Keep  me  from  the  hands  of  the  snare  whicli  they  have  netted  for  me,  and 
the  nets  of  the  doers  of  iniquity.  The  word  hands  is  entirely  omitted  both 
in  the  English  Bible  and  the  Prayer  Book  version.  It  is  put,  by  a  favourite 
personification,  for  power  or  possession.  The  use  of  the  expression  here 
was  probably  occasioned  by  its  previous  use  in  Ps.  cxl.  4.  The  verb  netted 
is  here  employed  to  represent  the  cognate  verb  and  noun  in  Hebrew. 

10.  Let  the  wicked  fall  into  their  otm  traps,  ivhile  I  at  the  same  time 
escape.  Compare  Ps.  vii.  16  (15).  The  combination  of  the  singular  and 
plural  in  the  first  clause — wicked  [men)  and  his  snares — shews  that  the  sin- 
gular denotes  not  a  real  but  ideal  person,  representing  a  whole  class.     The 


Psalm  142:1 -4  555 

best  construction  of  the  last  clause  is  that  given  in  the  English  Bible  and 
retained  above,  with  the  single  change  of  withal  to  the  synonymous  but  less 
ambiguous  expression,  at  the  same  time.  The  transpositions  of  this  clause 
are  unusual,  even  in  Hebrew — at  the  same  time  1  until  (or  while)  I  pass, 
i.  e.  pass  by  uninjured  or  escape. 

Psalm  142 

1.  Maschil.  By  David,  when  he  was  in  the  cave.  A  prayer.  It  is 
called  a  maschil  or  didactic  psalm,  because  it  might  otherwise  have  seemed 
to  contain  matter  wholly  personal  to  David.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxii.  1. 
When  he  was,  Hterally  in  his  being,  which  does  not  refer  exclusively  to  time, 
but  suggests  the  occasion  or  exciting  cause.  The  reference  may  be  either 
to  the  cave  of  Adullam  (1  Sam.  xxii.  1),  or  to  that  of  Engedi  (1  Sam. 
xxiv.  3),  or  to  that  period  and  mode  of  life  in  general,  when  David  was 
obliged  to  seek  refuge  in  caves,  and  which,  he  might  expect  to  see  repro- 
duced, under  other  forms,  in  the  experience  of  his  successors,  for  whose 
guidance  and  encouragement  this  psalm  was  written.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
Ivii.  1.  It  is  called  a,  prayer,  because  the  complaint  or  description  of  the 
danger,  ver.  2—5  (1-4),  is  merely  introductory  to  the  petition  for  deliver- 
ance, ver.  6-8  (5-7).     See  above,  on  Ps.  xvii.  1,  Ixxxvi.  1,  xc.  1,  cii.  1. 

2(1).  (  With)  my  voice  to  Jehovah  I  cry  ;  [tvith)  my  voice  to  Jehovah  1 
make  supplication.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  iii.  5  (4) ;  with  the 
second,  Ps.  xxx.  9  (8).  There  are  also  coincidences  of  expression  with  Ps. 
xxii.  6  (5).  Ixxvii.  2  (1),  cxl.  7  (6).  cxli.  1.  With  my  voice,  i.  e.  audibly, 
aloud,  as  opposed  to  a  mere  mental  prayer.  The  word  translated  supplica- 
tion means,  according  to  its  etymology,  a  prayer  for  grace  or  mercy. 

3  (2).  I  pour  out  before  htm  my  care;  my  trouble  before  him  I  tell.  With 
the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xlii.  5  (4),  Ixii.  9  (8),  1  Sam.  i.  15,  Lam. 
ii.  19.  The  word  translated  care  means  properly  reflection,  meditation, 
musing,  especially  such  as  is  anxious  and  sad.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixiv.  2  (1). 

4  (3).  Because  my  spirit  is  overwhelmed  within  me — and  thou  hnowest  my 
path — in  the  way  that  I  go,  they  have  hid  a  snare  for  me.  The  literal  trans- 
lation of  the  first  words  is,  in  my  spirit's  being  overwiiebned,  which  may 
indicate  either  the  time  or  the  cause  of  his  distress.  See  above,  on  ver.  1. 
Some  adopt  this  construction  :  when  my  spirit  is  overwhelined  (then)  thou 
knowest  my  path.  Others  suppose  two  reasons  to  be  given  for  his  calling 
upon  God,  his  distress  and  his  trust  in  the  divine  omniscience.  Because 
my  spirit  is  overwhelmed,  and  (because)  thou  knowest  my  path.  But  as 
the  form  of  the  two  phrases  is  entirely  different  in  Hebrew,  the  simplest 
and  safest  construction  is  to  treat  the  second  clause  as  parenthetical. 
Within  me,  literally  upon  me;  see  above,  on  Ps.  xlii.  5-7  (4-6).  In  the 
way  that  I  go,  i.  e.  along  my  path.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cxl.  5  (4).  The 
words  may  mean,  however,  as  in  Ps.  cxliii.  8,  in  the  uoy  that  I  should  go, 
i.  e.  in  the  path  of  duty.  Without  my  fault  they  hid  a  snare  for  me.  With 
the  first  clause  of  this  verse  compare  Ps.  xlii.  5  (4),  Ixi.  3  (2),  Ixxvii.  4  (3), 
and  with  the  last,  Ps.  cxl.  6  (5),  cxU.  9,  cxHii.  8. 

5  (4).  Look  to  the  right  and  see — and  there  is  no  one  knowing  me — refuge 
has  failed  me — there  is  no  one  caring  for  my  soul.  The  first  two  verbs  must 
be  translated  as  imperatives,  as  in  the  margin  of  the  EngUsh  Bible.  The 
right  hand  is  mentioned  as  the  post  of  a  protector.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
cix.  6,  ex.  5,  cxxi.  5.     The  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  clause  is 


556  Psalm  143:1 

foreign  from  our  idiom,  which  would  seem  to  require  that  or  for.  We  might 
however  say,  look  to  the  right  and  see,  and  (you  will  find  that)  there  is  not 
one,  &c.  Knowing,  recognising,  willing  to  acknowledge,  much  less  to  de- 
fend. There  is  none  to  me,  i.  e.  I  have  none.  Far  from  having  a  protector  at 
my  right  hand,  I  have  not  even  one  who  will  acknowledge  that  he  knows  me. 
Caring,  Uterally  seeking,  asking,  or  inquiring  after  it,  in  order  to  assist  or  save 
it.  Nearly  the  same  form  of  speech  is  used  to  express  the  very  opposite 
idea,  that  of  seeking  one's  soul  to  destroy  it.     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  4. 

6  (5).  I  have  cried  unto  thee,  Jehovah.  I  have  said,  Thou  {art)  my  re- 
fuge, my  portion  in  the  land  of  life.  I  have  cried  and  still  cry ;  I  have  said 
and  still  say.  With  this  last  expression  compare  Ps.  xxxi.  15  (14),  xU.  5 
(4).  Thou  \art)  my  refuge,  as  in  Ps.  Ixii.  8  (7),  Ixxi.  7.  My  portion,  as  in 
Ps.  xvi.  5,  Ixxiii.  26,  cxix.  57.  Land  of  life  (or  of  the  living),  as  in  Ps. 
xxvii.  13,  lii.  7  (5). 

7  (6).  Hearken  to  my  cry,  for  I  am  reduced  greatly ;  free  me  from  my 
persecutors,  for  they  are  mightier  than  1.  All  these  are  favourite  Davidic 
phrases.  Hearken  to  my  cry,  as  in  Ps.  xvii.  1,  Ixi.  2  (1).  /  am  reduced 
(or  weakened)  greatly,  as  in  Ps.  Ixxix.  8  (7),  cxvi.  6.  Compare  Judges 
vi.  6.  Free  me  from  my  persecutors,  as  in  Ps.  vii.  2  (1).  They  are  mightier 
than  I,  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  18  (17). 

8.  Bring  out  from  prison  my  soul,  to  thank  thy  name.  Me  shall  the 
righteous  surround  when  thou  shalt  bestow  on  me  (favour).  With  the  first 
clause  compare  Ps.  xxv.  17,  cvii.  10,  cxliii.  11.  Some  suppose  an  allusion 
to  Joseph's  imprisonment  and  liberation.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cv.  17-20. 
To  thank  (or  praise)  thy  name,  although  an  exact  translation,  is  restricted 
by  the  English  idiom  to  the  person  mentioned  just  before,  and  can  only 
mean  in  accordance  with  our  usage,  that  I  may  thank  thy  name  ;  whereas 
the  Hebrew  infinitive  knows  no  such  limitation,  and  in  this  case  simply 
means,  that  some  one  (without  defining  who)  may  praise  thy  name ;  or, 
exchanging  the  active  for  the  passive  form,  that  thy  name  may  be  praised  ; 
or,  retaining  the  indefiniteness  of  the  original  expression,  for  the  praising  of 
thy  name.  The  agents  here  intended  are  probably  the  righteous,  who  are 
mentioned  in  the  next  clause.  The  verb  surround,  which  has  a  hostile  sense 
in  Ps.  xxii.  13,  Hab.  i.  4,  here  means  to  gather  roimd  one  with  a  friendly 
curiosity  and  eagerness,  which  some  suppose  to  be  suggested  by  the  con- 
struction with  the  preposition  (2),  which  cannot  be  expressed  in  English. 
This  sympathy  of  the  righteous  in  his  joys  and  sorrows  is  a  favourite  idea 
with  David.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxv.  27,  xl.  17  (16).  For  the  meaning 
and  construction  of  the  last  verb  see  above,  on  Ps.  xiii.  6,  ciii.  10,  cxvi.  7. 


Psalm  143 

This  psalm  may  be  divided  into  two  equal  parts,  separated  by  the  Selah 
in  ver.  6.  The  first  contains  a  complaint,  ver.  1-6 ;  the  second  a  prayer  for 
mercy,  ver.  7-12.  It  resembles  the  preceding  psalm,  not  only  in  this  relation 
of  its  parts,  but  in  its  whole  tone  and  diction,  its  Davidic  phraseology  com- 
bined with  an  originality  never  exhibited  by  the  mere  imitator  or  compiler. 

1.  A  Psalm.  By  David.  Jehovah,  hear  my  prayer,  give  ear  unto  my 
cries  for  mercy;  in  thy  faithfulness  answer  me  {and)  in  thy  righteousness. 
The  combination  of  faithfulness  and  righteousness  is  like  that  in  Ps. 
xxxvi.  6,  7  (5,  6).  They  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  distinct  grounds  of 
argument,  but  rather  as  modified  statements  of  the  same.     The  faithfulness 


Psalm  143:2 -10  557 

of  God  has  direct  reference  to  his  promise  or  covenant  engagements ;  his 
righteousness  has  reference  to  the  claims  of  his  own  people,  but  claims 
which  owe  their  existence  to  those  same  covenant  engagements. 

2.  And  enter  not  into  judgment  with  thy  servant,  for  just  before  thee  is  no  one 
living.  To  enter  into  judgment  is  a  forensic  phrase  meaning  to  go  to  law, 
to  prosecute,  to  sue.  See  Job  ix.  32,  xxii.  4.  The  verb  in  the  last  clause 
is  not  a  passive  meaning  to  be  justified,  but  a  neuter  meaning  to  be  just  or 
innocent,  to  be  in  the  right  or  on  the  right  side  of  the  controverted  question. 
The  acknowledgment  in  this  verse  has  caused  the  psalm  to  be  reckoned 
among  the  penitential  psalms.  The  verse  is  often  imitated  or  referred  to 
elsewhere.     See  Job  ix.  2,  xiv.  3,  xv.  14,  Rom.  iii.  20,  &c. 

3.  For  the  enemy  persecutes  my  soul,  crushes  to  the  earth  my  life,  makes  me 
dwell  in  dark  places  like  the  dead  of  old.  This  verse  assigns  a  reason  for  the 
preceding  prayers,  a  connection  indicated  by  the /or.  He  prays  that  God 
will  deal  with  him  in  mercy,  not  injustice,  by  abandoning  him  to  the  fate  here 
described.  Compare  Ps.  vii.  6  (5),  but  especially  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  4-7  (3-6). 
See  also  Lam.  iii.  6.    The  last  words  some  understand  to  mean  for  ever  dead. 

4.  And  overwhelmed  within  me  is  my  spirit;  in  the  midst  of  me  desolated 
is  my  heart.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  cxhi.  4  (3);  with  the 
the  second  Ps.  xl.  16  (15). 

5.  I  remember  the  days  of  old;  I  meditate  of  all  thy  doings,  of  the  work  of 
thy  hands  I  muse.  He  recalls  and  ponders  them  not  as  a  source  of  comfort, 
as  in  Ps.  xliv.  2-4  {1-3),  but  of  sorrow,  from  their  painful  contrast  with 
his  actual  condition.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxii.  4-6  (3-5),  Ixxvii.  6  (5),  and 
with  the  last  clause  compare  Ps.  xcii.  5. 

6.  I  spread  my  hands  unto  thee;  my  soul  is  like  a  weary  land  to  thee,  i.  e. 
thirsts  or  longs  for  thee,  as  a  dry  or  thirsty  land  for  rain.  See  above,  on 
Ps.  Ixiii.  2  (1).  A  weary  land  is  an  unusual  expression,  and  one  of  the 
pecuUar  features  of  this  psalm.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xUv.  21 
(20).  The  close  of  the  complaint  or  lamentation,  and  the  strength  of  the 
feeling  with  which  it  is  uttered,  are  both  indicated  by  the  Selah. 

7.  Hasten,  answer  me,  Jehovah — my  spirit  fails — hide  not  thy  face  from 
me — or  I  shall  be  confounded  with  (those)  going  down  (to)  the  pit.  The 
meaning  of  the  first  clause  is,  hasten  to  grant  my  petition.  Fails,  is  spent 
or  exhausted.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxviii.  1,  xxxix.  11  (10),  Ixix.  18  (17), 
cii.  3  (2).  That  he  is  in  extremity,  is  urged  as  a  reason  why  God  cannot 
fail  to  hear  and  answer  him.  This  verse  begins  the  main  prayer  of  the 
psahn,  that  in  ver.  1,  2,  being  merely  introductory  to  the  complaint  in  ver. 
3-6,  which  is  itself  introductory  to  the  prayer  that  follows. 

8.  Let  me  hear  in  the  morning  thy  mercy ;  let  me  know  the  way  that  1 
must  go,  for  unto  thee  I  raise  my  soul.  All  these  are  famiUar  thoughts  and 
terms  to  the  readers  of  the  psalms  of  David,  and  may  be  severally  found  in 
Ps.  XXV.  1-4,  H.  10  (8),  hx.  17  (16).  The  way  that  I  must  go,  not  merely 
to  be  righi,  but  to  be  safe  and  happy  ;  the  way  of  safety  as  well  as  that  of 
duty.     See  above,  on  Ps.  cxlii.  7  (6). 

9.  Free  me  from  my  enemies,  Jehovah,  with  thee  I  hide  myself.  With  the 
first  clause  compare  Ps.  hx.  12  (11),  cxlii.  7  ;  with  the  second,  Ps.  xxvii.  5, 
xxxi.  21  (20).  The  form  of  expression  here,  however,  is  peculiar  and  ori- 
ginal. The  literal  meaning  is,  to  thee  I  cover,  i.  e.  cover  myself,  the  reflex- 
ive use  of  the  Hebrew  verb  being  clear  from  Gen.  xxxviii.  14,  Deut. 
xxii.  12,  Jonah  iii.  6.  The  force  of  the  pregnant  construction  is  well, 
though  freely,  given  in  the  English  version,  I  jiee  unto  thee  to  hide  me. 

10.  Teach  me  to  do  thy  will,  for  thou  {art)  my  God.     Thy  spirit  (is) 


558  Psalm  144:1,2 

good  ;  let  it  guide  me  in  level  ground.  This  is  a  prayer  for  external  safety, 
and  at  the  same  time  for  that  spiritual  guidance  without  which  it  is  un- 
attainable. Compare  Ps.  v.  9  (8),  xxvi.  12,  xxvii.  11,  xl.  9  (8),  cxxxix.  10, 
24.  Some  make  but  two  clauses,  and  instead  of  the  short  proposition  in 
the  middle,  read,  let  thy  good  spirit  guide  me,  &c ,  or  let  thy  spirit,  (which 
is)  good,  guide  me,  dc.  Level  ground,  literally  earth  (or  land)  of  evenness 
(or  straightness).     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvi.  12. 

11.  For  thy  name's  sake,  Jehovah,  thou  wilt  quicken  me  ;  in  thy  righteous- 
ness thou  wilt  bring  out  of  distress  my  soul.  Here  again  we  have  an  accu- 
mulation of  Davidic  ideas  and  expressions.  For  thy  name's  sake,  as  in  Ps. 
xxiii.  3,  XXV.  12,  xxxi.  4,  cix.  21.  TJtou  wilt  quicken  me,  as  in  Ps. 
exxxviii.  7.  In  thy  righteousness,  as  in  Ps.  xxxi.  2.  Bring  my  soul  out  of 
trouble,  as  in  Ps.  xxv.  15,  xxxiv.  18  (17),  cxlii.  8  (7). 

12.  And  in  thy  mercy  thou  wilt  destroy  my  enemies  and  cause  to  perish 
all  that  vex  my  soul  ;  for  I  (am)  thy  servant.  With  the  first  clause  compare 
Ps.  xxxi.  17  (16),  xviii.  41  (40).  Some  find  here  an  allusion  to  the  pro- 
mise in  Deut.  vii.  24.  Vexers,  adversaries,  persecutors  of  my  soul.  Thy 
servant,  not  merely  a  believer,  but  a  chosen  instrument ;  not  merely  one  of 
thy  people,  but  their  chief  and  representative,  and  as  such  entitled  to 
deliverance  both  for  their  sake  and  m^^  own.  In  these  two  verses,  the  form 
of  direct  petition  is  insensibly  exchanged  for  that  of  confident  anticipation. 

Psalm  144 

This  is  a  kind  of  supplement  or  counterpart  to  Ps.  xviii.,  in  which  the 
view  there  taken  of  David's  personal  experience  is  apphed  to  the  anticipated 
case  of  his  successors.  The  design  thus  assumed  accounts  for  the  position 
of  the  psalm  in  the  collection.  That  its  being  placed  precisely  here  is  not 
fortuitous,  may  be  inferred  from  its  furnishing  a  kind  of  link  between  the 
urgent  entreaties  of  the  preceding  psalms  and  the  triumphant  praise  of 
those  which  follow.  The  Davidic  origin  of  this  psalm  is  as  marked  as  that 
of  any  in  the  psalter.  The  accumulation  of  Davidic  phrases  is  confined  to 
the  first  part,  while  the  last  is  independent  and  original,  a  fact  entirely  in- 
consistent with  the  supposition  of  a  later  compilation.  The  Psalmist 
thanks  God  for  his  protection  of  himself  and  of  mankind  in  general,  ver. 
1—4,  prays  for  deliverance  from  present  dangers,  ver.  5-8,  expresses  his 
confident  anticipation  of  a  favourable  answer,  ver.  9,  10,  renews  his  prayer, 
not  only  for  himself  but  for  the  chosen  people,  ver.  11-14,  and  felicitates 
them  that  they  are  such,  ver.  15. 

1.  Jiy  David.  Blessed  be  Jehovah,  my  Bock,  the  (one)  training  my  hands 
for  fight,  my  fingers  for  war.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  35,  47  (34,  46), 
where  most  of  these  expressions  have  already  been  explained.  Fight  and 
war  are  both  verbs  and  nouns  in  English,  but  the  Hebrew  words  are  nouns 
with  the  article  prefixed.  David  here  begins  by  referring  all  the  successes 
of  himself  and  his  successors  to  Jehovah. 

2.  My  mercy  and  my  fortress,  my  high  place,  and  a  deliverer  for  me,  my 
shield  and  (he)  in  whom  I  trust,  the  {one)  subduing  my  people.  No  less 
than  five  of  these  descriptive  epithets  are  taken  from  a  single  verse  of  Ps. 
xviii.,  viz.  ver.  3  (2).  PecuHar  to  the  place  before  us  is  my  mercy,  i.  e.  my 
God  of  mercy.  See  above,  on  Ps.  lix.  18  (17).  The  benefit  of  these  rela- 
tions to  Jehovah  David  claims  not  merely  for  himself  but  for  his  royal  race, 
which  was  closed  and  yet  perpetuated  in  the  Messiah,     ffe  in  whom  I  trust, 


Psalm  144:3 -10  559 

literally  and  in  him  I  ti-usL  My  people,  in  its  widest  sense,  including 
Israel  and  the  Gentiles  who  were  to  be  added  to  the  kingdom  of  David 
under  the  reign  of  the  Messiah.  Compare  Ps.  xviii.  44,  48  (43,  47)  with 
the  parallel  passages  in  2  Samuel. 

3.  Jehovah,  what  (is)  man,  that  thou  shouldst  know  him,  the  son  of  man, 
that  thou  shouldst  think  of  him  ?  The  greatness  of  God's  goodness  is 
enhanced  by  a  view  of  man's  insignificance  and  unworthiness.  The  ori- 
ginal construction  seems  to  be,  what  is  man  ?  (nothing),  and  (yet)  thou 
knouest  him,  &c.  To  know  is  here  to  recognise  as  being  in  existence,  to 
take  notice  of.  The  first  man  is  the  generic  term,  the  second  one  denoting 
weakness.     See  above,  on  Ps.  viii.  5  (4),  and  compare  2  Sam.  vii.  18. 

4.  Man  to  vanity  is  like;  his  days  (are)  as  a  passing  shadow.  He  cannot 
therefore  be  a  worthy  object,  in  himself,  of  the  divine  regard  and  favour. 
With  the  fii-st  clause  compare  Ps.  xxxix..  6,  7  (5,  6),  Ixii.  10  (9) ;  with  the 
second,  Ps.  cii.  12  (11),  ciii.  15. 

5.  Jehovah,  hoio  thy  heavens  and  come  down  ;  touch  the  mountains  and  let 
them  smoke.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xviii.  10  (9).  What  God 
is  there  described  as  doing,  he  is  here  besought  to  do  again.  With  the 
last  clause  compare  Ps.  civ.  32.  Mountains,  in  all  such  connections,  would 
necessarily  suggest  the  idea  of  states  and  kingdoms.  See  above,  on  Ps. 
xlvi.  3,  4  (2,  3). 

6.  Liyhten  lightning  and  scatter  them  ;  send  out  thy  arrows  and  confound 
them.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew  is  a  verb  occurring  nowhere  else,  and  com- 
posed of  the  same  radicals  with  the  common  word  for  lightning  which  im- 
mediately follows.  For  the  meaning  of  the  other  terms,  see  above,  on  Ps. 
xviii.  15  (14),  and  compare  the  parallel  passage,  2  Sam.  xxii.  15  (14),  with 
which  the  writer  of  the  psalm  before  us  was  certainly  acquainted,  as  appears 
from  his  occasional  use  of  its  peculiar  readings. 

7.  Send  thy  hands  from  on  high  ;  rid  me  and  free  me  from  (the)  many 
waters,  from  the  hand  of  aliens.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps. 
xviii.  17  (16).  For  hand  we  have  here  the  plural  hands,  and  for  the  two 
verbs  there  used  two  substantially  equivalent,  the  first  of  which  has  the 
sense  here  given  to  it  only  in  this  place  and  the  cognate  languages,,  and  is 
therefore  well  represented  by  the  less  usual  English  word  rid.  With  the 
last  clause,  compare  Ps.  xviii.  45,  46  (44,  45),  where  the  phrase  sons  of 
strangeness  (or  of  foreign  parts)  has  been  explained  akeady. 

8.  Whose  mouth  speaks  fraud,  and  their  right  hand  (is)  a  right  hand  of 
falsehood.     The  word  translated /ra«cZ  is  properly  a  negative  meaning  vanity 

or  emptiness,  but  applied  to  the  want  of  moral  goodness  and  especially  of 
truth.  See  above  on  Ps.  xxiv.  4.  The  right  hand  is  mentioned  in  allusion 
either  to  the  practice  of  swearing  with  uplifted  hand  (Ps.  cvi.  26),  or  to  that 
of  striking  hands  in  bargains  (2  Kings  x.  15).  There  seems  to  be  reference, 
in  this  verse,  to  the  feigned  obedience  of  the  enemy,  Ps.  xviii.  45  (44). 

9.  0  God,  a  new  song  I  xcill  sing  to  thee ;  with  a  lyre  of  ten  (strings)  I 
will  play  (or  make  music)  to  thee.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiii.  2,  3,  where  David 
exhorts  others  to  do  what  he  here  resolves  and  vows  to  do  himself.  The 
new  song  still  implies  a  new  occasion  for  it,  so  that  he  here  begins  to 
anticipate  the  answer  to  his  foregoing  prayers. 

10.  The  (one)  giving  salvation  to  kings ;  the  (one)  ridding  David  his  ser- 
rant  from  an  evil  sword.  This  mode  of  connecting  sentences,  by  a  participle 
at^reeing  with  a  noun  in  the  foregoing  context,  is  a  characteristic  feature  of 
Ps.  xviii.  See  p.  82.  The  kings  particularly  meant  are  the  theocratical 
Bovcreigns,  the  royal  family  of  David.     Ridding,  the  participle  of  the  verb 


560  Psalm  144:11  -  14 

so  rendered  in  ver.  7.  David  {as)  his  servant,  because  he  is  his  servant,  in 
the  sense  repeatedly  explained  already.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cxliii.  2,  12. 
David  speaks  of  himself  by  name,  not  only  here  but  in  Ps.  xviii.  51  (50), 
Ixi.  7  (6),  Ixiii.  12  (11),  2  Sam.  vii.  26.  An  evil  sword,  not  only  dangerous 
but  wicked.     Compare  Ps.  xxii.  21  (20). 

11.  Bid  me  and  free  me  from  the  hand  of  aliens,  whose  mouth  speaks  fraud 
and  whose  right  hand  (is)  a  right  hand  of  falsehood.  In  resuming  the 
language  of  direct  petition,  the  terms  of  ver.  7,  8,  are  studiously  repeated, 
as  if  to  shew  that  this  prayer  is  parallel  to  that,  and  not  an  addition  to  it. 

12.  jSo  that  our  sons  (may  be)  as  plants  grown  large  in  their  youth,  our 
daughters  as  corner-stones  heum  (for)  the  building  of  the  temple.  The  re- 
miniscences or  imitations  of  Ps.  xviii.  suddenly  cease  here,  and  are  followed 
by  a  series  of  original,  peculiar,  and  for  the  most  part  no  doubt  antique  ex- 
pressions. On  the  supposition  that  the  title  is  correct  in  making  David  the 
author,  this  is  natural  enough.  On  any  other  supposition  it  is  unaccount- 
able, unless  by  the  gi'atuitous  assumption,  that  this  is  a  fragment  of  an 
older  composition,  a  mode  of  reasoning  by  which  any  thing  may  be  either 
proved  or  disproved.  The  first  word  in  Hebrew  is  the  relative  pronoun, 
and  the  literal  meaning  of  the  clause  is,  (by)  which  (or  in  consequence  of 
which)  our  sons,  &c.  The  Ivhich  refers  to  the  deliverance  prayed  for  in  the 
preceding  verse.  Grown  large,  literally  magnified  or  made  great.  The 
common  version  (grown  up  in  their  youth)  has  a  paradoxical  appearance, 
arising  from  the  ambiguity  of  our  phrase  grown  up,  which  is  applied  (like 
the  Greek  ^X/x/a)  both  to  age  and  stature.  The  word  translated  corner- 
stones has  the  same  sense  in  Zech.  ix.  15.  The  comer-stones  are  mentioned 
as  those  which  were  hewn  and  polished  with  peculiar  care.  Likeness  or 
model  would  agree  better  with  the  usage  of  the  Hebrew  word  (JT'JU^),  but 

its  primary  sense,  as  a  derivative  of  the  verb  (7^23,)  to  build,  is  here  still 

T  T 

more  appropriate.  Most  interpreters  give  the  last  word  the  vague  sense 
of  a  palace,  considered  as  a  splendid  building.  There  is  something,  how- 
ever, far  more  striking  in  the  translation  temple,  found  in  the  Prayer-Book 
and  the  ancient  versions.  The  omission  of  the  article  is  a  poetic  licence  of 
perpetual  occurrence.  The  temple  was  the  great  architectural  model  and 
standard  of  comparison,  and  particularly  remarkable  for  the  great  size  and 
skilful  elaboration  of  its  foundation-stones,  some  of  which,  there  is  reason  to 
believe,  have  remained  undisturbed  since  the  time  of  Solomon.  See  Kobin- 
son's  Palestine,  vol.  i,  pp.  422-426. 

13.  Our  garners  full,  affording  from  kind  to  kind  ;  our  flocks  bearing 
thousands,  multiplied  by  myriads^  in  our  streets.  From  kind  to  kind  seems 
to  denote  not  only  variety  but  regular  succession,  as  expressed  in  Hengsten- 
berg's  version,  one  kind  after  another.  Compare  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  8  (7).  The 
participles  in  the  next  clause  are  highly  idiomatic  and  scarcely  reproducible 
in  any  other  language,  A  somewhat  similar  example  occurs  above,  Ps. 
Ixix.  32  (31).  But  there  both  forms  are  active,  whereas  here  we  have  one 
active  and  one  passive  participle,  formed  directly  from  the  Hebrew  words 
denoting  a  thousand  and  a  myriad,  the  last  of  which  is  a  derivative  of  the 
verb  to  increase  or  multiply,  and  would  therefore  necessarily  suggest  that  idea. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  iii.  7  (6),  Ixviii.  18  (17).  Streets,  though  not  incorrect, 
is  an  inadequate  translation  of  the  Hebrew  word  (ni^iin),  which  means 
external  spaces,  streets  as  opposed  to  the  inside  of  houses,  fields  or  country 
as  opposed  to  a  whole  town.     Here  it  includes  not  only  roads  but  fields. 

14.  Our  oxen  loaded — no  damage  and  no  loss — and  no  complaint  in  our 


Psalm  145:1 -3  561 

streets.  The  first  particular  implies  abundance.  For  the  use  of  oxen  as 
beasts  of  burden,  see  1  Chron.  xii.  40.  Damage  and  loss,  literally  breach 
and  going  forth.  Complaint,  literally  cry,  but  especially  for  loss  of  the 
finits  of  the  earth.  See  Isa.  xxiv.  11.  Some  give  the  sentence  an  entirely 
different  meaning,  by  supposing  the  word  translated  oxen  to  mean  princes, 
as  it  does  in  Zech.  ix.  7,  xii.  5,  6,  and  giving  the  participle  joined  with  it 
the  Chaldee  sense  of  raised  erect  or  upright.  Going  out  then  means  going 
out  to  war,  as  in  Amos  v.  3,  breach  the  incursion  of  an  enemy,  and  cry  a 
war-cry.     But  the  first  Hebrew  word  in  question  (C)!^7NJ)  is  applied  only  to 

the  chiefs  of  Edom  (Gen.  xxxvi.  15),  except  in  the  latest  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  such  as  Zechariah  ;  and  we  naturally  look  for  oxen  after  sheep, 
as  in  Ps.  viii.  8  (7). 

15.  Happy  the  people  {with)  whom  {it  is)  thus  !  Happy  the  people  whose 
God  {is)  Jehovah !  The  clauses  are  not  antithetical,  but  equivalent.  The 
people  means  the  {chosen)  people,  Israel,  with  whom,  in  prosperous  times,  it 
was  thus,  and  was  thus  for  the  very  reason  that  Jehovah  was  their  God. 

Psalm  145 

This  has  been  happily  characterised  as  the  "  new  song"  promised  in 
Ps.  cxliv.  9.  In  other  words,  it  is  the  song  of  praise,  corresponding  to 
the  didactic,  penitential,  and  supplicatory  psalms  of  this  series.  In  form 
it  is  an  alphabetical  psalm,  and  hke  others  of  that  class  (see  p.  113), 
admits  of  no  analysis,  being  made  up  of  variations  on  a  single  theme,  the 
righteousness  and  goodness  of  the  Lord  to  men  in  general,  to  his  own 
people  in  particular,  and  more  especially  to  those  who  sufl'er.  The  letter 
nun  is  wanting,  being  omitted,  as  some  suppose,  for  the  sake  of  having 
three  equal  stanzas,  each  containing  seven  verses.  The  Septuagmt  sup- 
plies the  omission,  in  a  very  inartificial  manner,  by  anticipating  ver.  17 
before  ver.  15,  with  a  simple  change  of  W^/iieows  (p^l^)  to  faithful  (TpJ^3.'» 
as  in  Ps.  cxi.  7. 

1.  Praise.  By  David.  I  will  exalt  thee,  my  God,  the  King,  and  will 
bless  thy  name  to  eternity  and  perpetuity.  This  is  the  only  case  in  which 
the  word  Praise  stands  alone  as  the  designation  or  description  of  a  psalm. 
It  evidently  bears  an  antithetical  relation  to  the  title  Prayer  in  Ps.  cxlii.  1, 
the  rather  as  the  Hebrew  words  {Tib^D  and  rhnPi)  are  still  more  alike 
than  their  English  equivalents  differing  only  in  a  single  letter.  I  will  exalt 
thee,  as  in  Ps.  xxx.  2  (1),  where  the  reason  is  expressed  that  is  here  im- 
plied, to  wit,  that  God  had  exalted  him.  The  king,  the  only  true  king,  the 
king  of  kings,  by  whom  they  are  put  up  and  down,  protected  and  punished. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  cxhv.  10,  and  compare  Ps.  v.  3  (2),  xx.  10  (9),  xxiv.  8,  10, 
xxix.  10,  xciii.  1,  xcv.  3,  xcvi.  10,  xcix.  1.  The  regal  honours  paid  to  him- 
self by  others  David  here  transfers  as  due  to  God  alone.  Bless  thy  name, 
i.  e.  reverently  praise  it.  See  above,  on  Ps.  v.  12  (11),  xxxiv.  2  (1),  ciii.  1. 
For  ever  and  ever,  in  reference  not  merely  to  himself  but  to  his  royal  race, 
which  is  to  live  for  ever.     See  above,  on  Ps.  cxxxviii.  8. 

2.  Every  day  will  I  hless  thee,  and  praise  thy  name  to  eternity  and  per- 
petuity. Compare  Ps.  Ixviii.  20  (19),  Ixix.  31  (30),  xcii.  2,  3.  Every  day 
denotes  constancy  and  regularity. 

3.  Great  {is)  Jehovah,  and  to  he  praised  exceedingly,  and  to  his  greatness 
there  ts  no  search,  i.  e.  it  is  unsearchable.     The  first  clause  is  quoted  in 


562  Psalm  145:4  -  12 

Ps.  xlviii.  2  (1).  Greatly  to  he  praised,  as  in  Ps.  xviii.  4  (8),  xcvi.  4, 
cxiii.  3.  His  greatness,  as  displayed  in  act,  his  great  performance  or  per- 
formances. See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxi,  21.  With  the  last  words  of  the  verse 
compare  Ps.  xl.  6  (5). 

4.  Generation  to  generation  lauds  thy  deeds,  and  thy  mighty  doings  they 
declare.  With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xix.  3  (2).  The  verbs  are  of 
the  future  form,  lauds  and  will  laud,  declare  and  will  declare.  The  first 
verb  is  the  one  used  in  Ps.  Ixiii.  4  (3),  cxvii.  1.  Mighty  doings,  literally 
mights  or  powers,  but  always  used,  like  greatness,  in  an  active  not  an 
abstract  sense.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xx.  7  (6),  cvi.  2.  They  declare  may 
agree  with  men  indefinitely,  or  with  the  double  generation  in  the  first 
clause,  which,  however,  is  there  construed  with  a  verb  in  the  singular. 

5.  ipj)  the  beauty  of  the  honour  of  thy  majesty,  and  the  words  of  thy 
u'onders,  I  uill  muse  (or  meditate).  The  accumulation  of  synonymous  ex- 
pression in  the  first  clause  has  been  falsely  represented  as  a  proof  of  later 
date  and  a  corupted  taste,  whereas  it  only  proves  intensity  of  admiration. 
For  examples  of  the  same  thing  in  undisputed  psalms  of  David,  see  above, 
Ps.  xviii.  3  (2),  Ixii.  8  (7).  Beauty  and  majesty,  as  in  Ps.  xlv.  4  (3). 
Honour  or  ghry,  as  in  Ps.  xix.  1.  Words  of  thy  wonders  are  the  wonders 
or  wondrous  deeds  themselves,  considered  as  subjects  of  discourse  or 
celebration.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixv.  4  (3),  cv.  27.  I  will  micse,  as  in  Ps. 
Ixxvii.  13  (12),  cxix.  15,  23,  27,  48,  78,  148. 

6.  And  the  force  of  thy  dread  {deeds)  they  utter — and  {as  to)  thy  greatness, 
I  will  recount  it.  Dread,  literally  feared,  and  then  to  he  feared,  as  praised 
means  to  be  praised  in  ver.  3  above.  Utter,  literally  say  precisely  as  in  Ps. 
xl.  11  (10).  Greatness,  or  according  to  the  reading  in  the  text  of  the  Hebrew 
Bible,  greatnesses,  i.e.  great  deeds,  as  mights  means  mighty  deeds  in  A'er.  5. 

7.  The  memory  of  thy  great  goodnes  they  pour  forth,  and  (of)  thy  right- 
eousness they  sing  (or  shout).  Memory,  as  in  Ps.  vi.  6  (5).  Great  goodness 
is  the  order  of  the  words  not  only  in  English  but  in  Hebrew,  where  it  is 
unusual.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxix.  51  (50).  Pour  forth,  as  in  Ps.  xix. 
3  (2),  Ixxviii.  2.  Compare  Ps.  lix.  8  (7).  Thy  righteousness,  as  in  Ps. 
xxxi.  2  (1),  li.  16  (14),  cxliii.  1.  Sing  or  sho^d  for  joy.  The  construction 
is  like  that  in  Ps.  li.  16  (14),  lix.  17  (16). 

8.  Gracious  and  compassionate  (is)  Jehovah,  slow  to  anger  and  great  (in) 
mercy.  Compare  Ps.  Ixxxvi.  15  (14),  ciii.  8,  cxi.  4.  Instead  of  the  usual 
expression  (y^)  much  or  abundant,  we  have  here  great,  in  allusion  to  its 

previous  use  in  ver,  3,  6. 

9.  Good  [is)  Jehovah  to  all,  and  his  compassions  (are)  over  all  his  worlcs. 
All,  literally  the  all,  the  whole  universe.  See  above,  on  Ps.  cxix.  91. 
Over  or  upo7i,  the  first  suggesting  the  idea  of  a  covering,  the  second  that  of  a 
descent  from  above.  His  workt,  the  things  which  he  has  made,  his  creatures. 
Sie  above,  on  Ps.  ciii.  22.  I  he  argument  implied  is,  how  much  more  to 
his  own  people,  the  creatures  of  his  grace.     See  above,  on  Ps.  cxxxviii.  8. 

10.  All  thy  creatures,  0  Jehovah,  praise  (or  thank)  thee,  and  thy  saints 
bless  thee.  The  future  forms,  as  usual,  denote  that  it  is  so  and  will  be  so. 
The  superfluous  H  in  the  last  word  is  an  orthographical  peculiarity  like 
that  in  Ps.  cxxxix.  3,  cxl.  8,  cxli.  8.  As  saiyits  (or  gracious  ones)  are  more 
than  creatures,  so  to  bless  is  more  than  to  praise.     See  above,  on  ver,  1. 

11.  The  glory  of  thy  reign  they  utter,  and  thy  might  they  speak.  Com- 
pare Ps.  ciii.  19.  Thy  reign  or  kingdom,  which  is  universal.  The  whole 
phrase  may  mean  thy  royal  dignity  or  honour. 

12.  To  make  known  to  the  sons  of  man  his  mighty  deeds,  and  the  glory  of 


Psalm  145:13  -  21  563 

the  majesty  of  his  reign  (or  kingdom).  Some  give  the  infinitive  the  force  of  a 
gemnd,  hy  making  known ;  but  the  true  sense  seems  to  be,  so  as  to  (or  so 
that  they)  make  known.     See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  18. 

13.  Thy  reign  is  a  reign  of  all  eternities,  and  thy  dominion  in  generation 
and  generation.  These  words  are  also  found  in  Dan.  iii.  33,  iv.  31.  The 
meaning  of  the  last  clause  is,  thy  dominion  still  exists  and  shall  exist  in 
every  successive  generation. 

14.  An  upholder  [is)  Jehovah  for  all  the  falling,  a  lifter  vp  for  all  the 
bowed  down.  The  first  word  in  each  clause  is  properly  a  participle,  here 
used  as  a  noun,  and  therefore  followed  by  the  preposition  to  or  for.  Translated 
in  either  way,  the  words  necessarily  suggest  the  idea  of  habitual  action. 
With  the  first  clause  compare  Ps.  xxxvii.  17,  24,  liv.  6  (4),  cxix.  116. 

15.  The  eyes  of  all  unto  thee  (look  and)  ivait,  and  thou  givest  them  their 
food  in  its  season.  The  verb  in  the  first  clause  means  to  wait,  expect,  or 
hope,  but  is  here  construed  with  the  preposition  to  or  towards,  which  imphes 
the  act  of  turning  or  looking  to  the  object  confided  in.  Givest,  literally 
giving,  i.  e.  (art  habitually)  giving.  See  above,  on  Ps.  civ.  27,  where  these 
words  are  quoted. 

16.  Opening  thy  hand  and  satisfying  to  every  living  (thing  its)  desire,  or 
the  desire  of  every  living  thing.  Another  construction,  preferred  by  some 
interpreters,  is,  satisfying  (giving  satisfaction)  to  every  living  thing  (in  its) 
desire,  viz.  that  which  it  desires.  See  the  imitation  of  this  verse  in  Ps. 
civ.  28,  and  compare  Ps.  ciii.  5,  Acts  xiv.  17.  The  words  satisjy  and  will 
(or  desire)  are  combined,  as  here,  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  23. 

17.  Eighteous  (is)  Jehovah  in  all  his  icaijs  and  merciful  in  all  his  works. 
Justice  and  mercy  are  not  mentioned  here  as  opposites,  but  rather  as 
equivalents,  the  goodness  of  God  being  really  included  in  the  rectitude  so 
fi-equently  ascribed  to  him. 

18.  Near  {is)  Jehovah  to  all  calling  upon  him,  to  all  calling  upon  him 
in  truth,  i.  e.  sincerely,  with  importunate  desire  and  strong  confidence. 
With  this  verse  compare  Ps.  xxxiv.  7,  19. 

19.  The  will  of  his  fearers  he  wvl  do,  and  their  cry  he  will  hear,  and  will 
save  them.  He  will  do  what  they  desire,  or  gi-ant  their  prayer,  especially 
their  prayer  for  help  in  time  of  danger  and  distress,  as  intimated  in  the  last 
clause.     Compare  Ps.  xxxiv.  10,  16  (9,  15),  xxxvii.  40. 

20.  Jehovah  keeps  all  that  love  him,  and  all  the  wicked  will  he  destroy. 
The  fearers  of  ver.  19  and  the  lovers  of  this  verse  are  identical,  which  shews 
that  godly  fear  and  love  are  not  incompatible.  Keeps,  literally  keeping,  as 
in  ver.  15,  from  all  danger  and  distress,  preserving. 

21.  The  praise  of  Jehovah  shall  my  mouth  speak,  and  all  flesh  shall  hless 
liis  holy  name  for  ever,  or  retaining  the  idiomatic  form  of  the  original,  all 
flesh  shall  bless  the  name  of  his  holiness  (or  his  name  of  holiness)  to  eternity 
and  perpetuity.  The  use  of  the  word  praise  connects  this  verse  with  the 
title  or  inscription  in  ver.  1,  which  is  thereby  justified  or  proved  to  be  cor- 
rect.    All  flesh,  as  in  Ps.  Ixv.  3  (2).'     His  holy  name,  as  in  Ps.  xxxiii.  21. 

Psalm  146 

This  psalm  may  be  divided  into  two  equal  parts,  the  first  of  which  de- 
scribes the  happiness  of  those  who  trust  in  God  and  not  in  man,  ver.  1-5, 
while  the  second  gives  the  reason,  drawn  from  the  divine  perfections, 
ver.  6  10.     The  psalm  is  distinguished  from  the  Davidic  series  which  pre- 


564  Psalm  146:1  -  8 

cedes  it  (cxxxviii.-cxlv.)  by  its  whole  internal  character.  At  the  same  time 
its  coincidences  of  expression  with  the  one  immediately  before  it  shew  that 
it  was  meant  to  be  used  in  connection  with  it,  and  may  therefore  be  re- 
garded as  the  closing  psalm  of  the  whole  series  beginning  with  Ps.  cxxxv., 
and  belonging  to  the  time  of  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  to  which  the  psalm 
before  us  is  expressly  referred  in  the  Septuagint  Version. 

1.  Hallehijah !  Praise,  0  my  soul,  Jehovah !  See  above,  Ps. 
ciii.  1,  22,  civ.  1,  35.  The  Hallelujah  never  appears  in  any  psalm  which 
bears  the  name  of  David,  and  is,  indeed,  as  characteristic  of  the  later  psalms 
as  the  Selah  is  of  the  more  ancient. 

2.  I  will  praise  Jehovah  while  I  live  ;  I  will  make  music  to  my  God 
while  I  still  (exist).  For  the  literal  meaning  of  these  words,  see  above,  on 
Ps.  civ.  33,  from  which  they  are  borrowed,  with  the  unimportant  change  of 
sing  to  praise. 

3.  Trust  ye  not  in  princes,  in  the  son  of  man,  to  whom  there  is  no  salva- 
tion, who  cannot  save  either  himself  or  others,  but  is  wholly  dependent  upon 
God.  Compare  Ps.  xl.  5  (4),  Ixxv.  7,  8  (6,  7),  cviii.  13,  cxvi.  11, 
cxliv.  10.  This  may  be  regarded  as  an  exhortation  to  men  in  general  from 
Israel,  an  exhortation  founded  on  his  own  experience. 

4.  Forth  goes  his  spirit,  he  returns  to  his  earth  ;  in  that  very  day  his 
thoughts  perish.  For  the  meaning  of  the  first  clause,  see  above,  on  Ps. 
civ.  29.  The  primary  idea  of  hreath  and  the  secondary  one  of  spirit  run 
into  each  other  in  the  usage  of  the  Hebrew  word  (rPIl),  so  that  either  may 

be  expressed  in  the  translation,  without  entirely  excluding  the  other,  ffis 
thoughts,  his  vain  notions  or  ambitious  schemes. 

5.  Happy  he  whose  help  is  the  God  of  Jacob,  (and)  his  reliance  on  Jehovah 
his  God.  Whose  help,  literally  in  whose  help,  i.  e.  engaged,  employed  in  it, 
or  more  probably  among  whose  helpers.  Compare  Ps.  xlv.  10  (9),  hv.  6  (4), 
xcix.  6,  cxviii.  7.     The  divine  name  (7N)  here  used  suggests  the  idea  of 

almighty  power,  as  opposed  to  that  of  human  weakness.  Reliance,  liter- 
ally expectation,  hope ;  but  the  first  idea  is  necessarily  suggested  by  the 
preposition  on. 

6.  Who  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that  {is)  in  them — the 
{one)  keeping  truth  for  ever.  Two  reasons  are  here  given  for  thus  relying 
upon  God  ;  his  almighty  power,  as  exercised  and  proved  in  the  creation  of 
the  world,  and  his  unchangeable  fidelity.  See  above,  Ps.  xxv.  5.  Who 
made,  literally  making,  with  the  usual  reference  to  God's  creative  power  as 
still  exerted  in  the  sustentation  of  the  universe.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixv. 
7  (6),  cxxi.  2,  cxliv.  2, 

7.  Doing  justice  to  the  oppressed — giving  bread  to  the  hungry — Jehovah, 
freeing  (or  the  liberator  of)  the  bound.     He  is  not  only  able  but  accustomed 

to  relieve  those  in  distress,  of  whom  several  distinct  classes  are  here  speci- 
fied as  samples.  Compare  Ps.  xxxvii.  19,  Ixviii.  6,  7  (5,  6),  cvii.  5,  9,  10, 
cxlv.  14.  Hunger  and  captivity  are  both  familiar  figures  for  spiritual  evils, 
as  well  as  literal  designations  of  external  ones,  both  which  may  here  be 
considered  as  included. 

8.  Jehovah  opens  {the  eyes  of)  the  blind  ;  Jehovah  raises  up  the  bowed 
dotrn  ;  Jehovah  loves  the  righteous.  The  ellipsis  in  the  first  clause  is  not 
so  harsh  in  Hebrew  as  in  English,  because  the  verb  (nj^S)  is  almost  con- 
fined, in  usage,  to  the  eyes,  and  would  at  once  suggest  them  to  a  Hebrew 
reader.  All  the  verbs  are  of  the  participial  form,  opening,  raising,  loving, 
i.  e.  continually  doing  so.     The  first  clause  is  applicable  both  to  bodily  and 


Psalm  147:1 -4  565 

mental  blindness.     Compare  Deut.  xxviii.  29,  Isa.   lix.  10,  Job.  xii.  25. 
The  second  clause  is  borrowed  from  Ps.  cxlv.  14. 

9.  Jehovah  preserves  strangers  ;  orphan  and  widow  he  relieves  ;  and  the 
way  of  wicked  men  makes  crooked.  The  stranger,  the  orphan,  and  the 
widow  are  constantly  presented  in  the  Law  as  objects  of  compassion  and 
beneficence.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixviii.  6,  7  (5,  6).  Believes,  restores, 
raises  up  from  their  low  condition.  As  a  straight  path  is  an  emblem  of 
prosperity,  to  render  one's  path  crooked  is  to  involve  him  in  calamity. 
The  same  verb  is  applied,  in  a  moral  sense,  to  the  perverse  conduct  of  the 
wicked,  Ps.  cxix.  78. 

10.  Jehovah  (reigns  and)  shall  reign  to  eternity  ;  thy  God,  O  Zion,  to 
generation  and  generation.  Hallelujah  (praise  ye  Jab) !  The  psalm  closes 
with  a  grand  sentence  from  the  song  of  Moses,  Exod.  xv.  18,  to  which  a 
parallel  clause  is  added,  and  a  concluding  Hallelujah,  winding  up  the  whole 
series  of  psalms,  supposed  to  have  been  sung  at  the  completion  of  the 
second  temple. 

Psalm  147 

A  SONG  of  praise  to  Jehovah  on  account  of  his  goodness  to  his  creatures 
generally,  and  to  his  church  or  chosen  people  in  particular.  Both  these 
themes  run  through  the  psalm  ;  but  one  is  predominant  in  the  first  part, 
ver.  1-11 ;  the  other  in  the  second,  ver.  12-20.  The  four  remaining 
psalms  (cxlvii.-cl.),  connected  together,  and  distinguished  from  what  goes 
before,  by  the  Hallelujah  with  which  they  all  begin  and  end  ;  by  their 
joyous  tone,  unmixed  with  lamentation  or  complaint ;  Ijy  their  frequent 
allusions  to  some  great  deliverance  recently  experienced  ;  and  by  the  pecu- 
liar way  in  which  they  bring  together  the  exhibitions  of  God's  glory  in  the 
works  of  nature  and  in  his  dealings  with  the  church  ;  have  not  improbably 
been  represented  as  a  series,  intended  to  commemorate  the  completion  of 
the  walls  of  Jerusalem  by  Nehemiah,  an  event  described  in  the  history 
itself,  as  putting  an  end  to  the  reproach  of  Israel,  and  restoring  the  Holy 
City  to  its  proper  rank.  See  Neh.  i.  3,  ii.  5,  17,  vi.  6,  7,  15,  16,  vii.  4, 
ix.  6,  13,  14,  X.  29,  xii.  27,  35,  41,  48. 

1.  Hallelujah  (praise  ye  Jah), /or  it  is  good  to  celebrate  our  God,  for  it 
is  sweet  (and)  praise  becoming.  This  is  made  up  of  the  beginnings  of  three 
other  psalms.  See  above,  Ps.  xcii.  2  (1),  cxxxv.  3,  xxxiii.  1.  Celebrate, 
make  music  to,  with  voice  and  instrument.  See  above,  onPs.  vii.  18  (17). 
Instead  of  it  is  sweet  some  read  he  is  lovely,  i.  e.  a  worthy  object  of  supreme 
afi'ection,  as  in  Ps.  cxxxv.  3.  But  even  there  the  construction  is  a  doubtful 
one,  and  here  the  first  proposed  above  is  recommended  by  the  fact  that 
the  epithets  before  and  after  relate  not  to  God  himself  but  to  his  praise. 

2.  Building  Jerusalem  (is)  Jehovah  ;  the  outcasts  of  Israel  he  gathers. 
The  rebuilding  of  the  walls  in  the  days  of  Nehemiah,  may  be  said  to  have 
completed  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  in  Isa.  xi.  12,  Ivi.  8.  Compare  Ps. 
cvii.  8. 

8.  Hie  {one)  healing  the  broken-hearted  and  binding  up  their  wounds. 
This  was  true  as  a  general  description,  and  specially  exemplified  in  the 
deliverance  which  Israel  had  experienced.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiv.  19  (18), 
ciii.  8,  and  compare  Isa.  Ixi.  1. 

4.  Telling  the  number  of  the  stars — to  all  of  them  names  he  calls.  The 
God  who  thus  provides  for  Israel  is  the  God  of  nature  no  less  than  of  grace. 
Telling,  counting,  reckoning,  estimating.     Not  determining  beforehand,  but 


566  Psalm  147:5  - 16 

simply  doing  what  man  cannot.  See  Gen.  xv.  5,  and  compare  Gen.  xiii.  16, 
Num.  xxiii.  10,  Isa.  Ixv.  12.  He  not  only  counts  but  names  them,  calling 
them  all  by  name.  The  verse  is  borrowed  from  Isa.  xl.  26,  where,  as  here, 
God's  knowledge  and  control  of  nature  is  presented  as  a  source  of  consola- 
tion to  his  people. 

5.  Great  is  our  Lord  and  of  much  power  ;  to  his  understanding  there  is 
no  number,  i.  e.  it  is  incalculable  and  immense.  Compare  Isa.  xl.  26,  28. 
Of  much  'power,  or  abundant  in  strength. 

6.  Raising  up  the  humble  (is)  Jehovah,  casting  down  the  wicked  to  the  very 
earth.   See  above,  Ps.  cxlvi.  8,  9.    To  the  very  earth,  literally  even  to  the  earth. 

7.  Respond  to  Jehovah  with  thanksgiving  ;  make  music  to  our  God  with  a 
harp.  The  first  verb  has  its  proper  sense  of  answering  or  responding,  as 
in  Ps.  cxix.  172.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  it  ever  has  that  of  simply 
singing.     Respond,  i.  e.  to  his  manifold  favours. 

8.  The  (one)  covering  the  heavens  with  clouds — the  (one)  providing  for 
the  earth  rain — the  (one)  causing  the  mountains  to  put  forth  grass.  The 
grass  as  produced  by  means  of  the  rain,  and  the  rain  by  means  of  the  clouds. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  civ.  13. 

9.  Giving  to  the  cattle  its  food — to  the  young  ravens  which  cry.  The  first 
noun  may  also  be  translated  beast,  but  still  with  reference  to  domestic  ani- 
mals, with  which  is  contrasted  in  the  other  clause  the  raven,  as  a  wild 
bird,  unconnected  with  mankind,  and  as  some  suppose  with  allusion  to  its 
harsh  and  piercing  cry.  See  above,  on  Ps.  civ.  21,  cxlv.  15,  and  compare 
Job  xxxviii.  41.      Young  ravens,  literally  sons  of  the  raven. 

10.  Hot  in  the  strength  of  a  horse  does  hi  delight  ;  not  with  the  legs  of  a 
man  is  he  pleased.  The  best  explanation  of  the  singular  expressions  in  the 
last  clause  is,  that  the  whole  verse  was  intended  to  describe  horse  and  foot, 
or  cavalry  and  infantry,  as  forming  the  militar}'  strength  of  armies.  It  is 
not  to  those  who  trust  in  these  that  God  is  disposed  to  extend  favour,  nor 
do  these  advantages  at  all  attract  him. 

11.  Pleased  (is)  Jehovah  with  those  fearing  him,  with  those  hoping  for 
his  mercy.  This  implies  the  want  of  secular  advantages,  or  at  least  an 
absence  of  reliance  on  them,  and  a  sense  of  dependence  upon  God  alone. 

12.  Laud,  0  Jerusalem,  Jehovah  !  Praise  thy  God,  0  Zion  !  Here 
begins  the  second  division  of  the  psalm,  in  which  the  goodness  of  God  to 
his  people  is  the  theme,  and  the  people  itself  the  object  of  address. 

13.  For  he  hath  strengthened  the  bars  of  thy  gates  ;  he  hath  blessed  thy 
sons  in  the  midst  of  thee.  Although  the  first  clause  admits  of  a  general 
figurative  application,  it  seems  to  contain  an  evident  allusion  to  the  histo- 
rical occasion  of  the  psalm,  or  at  least  to  favour  the  opinion,  that  it  was 
designed  to  celebrate  the  renewed  fortifications  of  the  Holy  City. 

14.  [R  is)  he  that  makes  thy  border  peace,  (and  with)  the  fat  of  wheat 
he  satisfies  t/tee.  He  that  makes,  literally  the  {one)  placing.  Border  is 
put  for  all  that  it  contains  or  bounds,  thy  territory  or  domain.  To  make 
it  peace  is  to  make  it  peaceful  or  to  give  it  peace.  See  Isa.  Uv.  12.  With 
the  last  clause  compare  Ps.  Ixxxi.  17,  Deut.  xxxii.  14. 

15.  He  that  seyideth  his  commandment  (upon)  earth  very  swiftly  runs  his 
word.  The  construction  is  like  that  in  the  preceding  verse.  He  that 
sendeth,  the  (one)  sending.  Commandment,  literally  saying,  what  he  says. 
Very  swiftly,  literally  even  to  swiftness.  The  authoritative  word  of  God  is 
here  personified  as  his  messenger  or  agent,  whose  swift  running  signifies  the 
prompt  execution  of  the  divine  will. 

16.  He  that  gives  snow  like  wool,  hoar-frost  like  ashes  sprinkles.     As 


Psalm  148:1  -  3  567 

easily  as  a  man  scatters  wool  or  ashes,  does  God  cover  the  earth  with  snow 
or  frost.  The  selection  of  phenomena  peculiar  to  winter  may  have  reference 
to  the  season  when  the  psalm  was  written  or  originally  sung.  At  the 
same  time  they  were  probably  designed  to  serve  as  emblems  of  the  long 
distress,  to  which  the  Restoration  put  an  end,  as  spring  does  to  winter.  The 
comparisons  in  this  verse  are  less  striking  to  us  than  to  the  people  of  countries 
where  snow  and  frost  are  less  familiar. 

17.  He  that  sendeth  his  ice  like  crumbs.  Before  his  cold  who  can  stand  ? 
The  second  noun  means  scraps  or  morsels,  but  in  usage  is  specially  applied 
to  food.  See  Gen.  xviii.  5,  Judges  xix.  5.  This  seems  to  be  descriptive  of 
hail,  which  God  sends  upon  the  earth  as  easily  and  freely  as  man  scatters 
crumbs  or  throws  away  the  refuse  of  his  food.  The  allusion  to  the  feeding 
of  domesticated  animals,  which  some  assume,  is  needless,  though  admissible. 

18.  He  sends  his  word  and  melts  them — he  makes  his  wind  blow — iraters 
flow.  Sends  his  word,  utters  his  command.  The  plural  pronoun  (them) 
refers  to  snow,  frost  and  ice,  in  ver.  16,  17.  The  winds  meant  are  the 
warm  winds  of  the  spring,  attended  by  a  general  thaw. 

19.  Declaring  his  word  to  Jacob,  his  statutes  and  his  judgments  to  Israel. 
The  God  of  Nature  is  the  God  of  Revelation.  He  who  thus  controls  the 
elements  and  seasons  is  the  God  of  Israel,  and  will  work  spiritual  changes 
corresponding  to  these  natural  phenomena,  for  the  benefit  of  the  people 
whom  he  has  entrusted  with  the  revelation  of  his  will. 

20.  He  has  not  done  so  to  every  nation — and  (as  for)  judgments,  they  know 
nothing  of  them.  This  revelation  to  Israel  is  peculiar  and  exclusive.  Every 
nation,  and  by  implication,  any  one.  This  is,  indeed,  the  only  form  in 
which  that  idea  could  be  expressed  in  Hebrew.  The  last  clause  declares 
the  other  nations  ignorant  not  only  of  his  laws  or  judgments,  but  of  any  that 
deserve  the  name. 

Psalm  148 

The  universe,  in  all  its  parts,  is  summoned  to  praise  God  as  its  maker, 
and  as  infinitely  worthy  of  its  adoration.  The  invitation  is  addressed,  in 
the  first  instance,  to  heaven  and  its  inhabitants,  exhorting  them  to  praise 
God  as  their  maker  and  preserver,  ver.  1-6.  It  is  then  addressed  to  the 
earth  and  its  inhabitants,  exhorting  them  to  praise  him  for  his  infinite  per- 
fection, as  displayed  in  his  works,  but  especially  in  his  deahags  with  his 
chosen  people,  ver.  7-14.  Even  the  most  sceptical  critics  are  constrained 
to  acknowledge  that  this  psalm  and  the  two  which  follow  are  admirably 
suited  to  their  purpose. 

1.  Hallelujah  I  Praise  ye  Jehovah  from  the  heavens!  Praise  him  in 
the  heights  !  This  verse  designates  the  place,  or  part  of  the  creation,  from 
which  the  praise  is  to  proceed.  Heights,  or  high-places,  is  a  simple  equiva- 
lent to  heavens,  the  plural  form  of  which  it  takes  by  assimilation.  Compare 
the  singular  in  Ps.  xviii.  17  (16).  The  preposition /row  denotes  the  direc- 
tion of  the  sound,  the  preposition  in  the  place  where  it  is  uttered. 

2.  Praise  ye  him,  all  his  angels !  Praise  ye  him,  all  his  hosts  !  As 
this  last  expression  is  applied  both  to  the  angels  and  the  heavenly  bodies, 
it  here  atfords  a  natural  transition  from  the  one  to  the  other.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xxiv.  10,  xxix.  1,  ciii.  21. 

8.  Praise  ye  him,  sun  and  moon  !  Praise  him,  all  ye  stars  of  light  !  This 
is  a  specification  of  the  general  term,  his  hosts,  in  ver.  2.  Stars  of  light  is  a 
beautiful  poetical  expression  for  bright  or  shining  stars. 


568  Psalm  148:4  -  10 

4.  Praise  hiyn,  ye  heavens  of  heavens,  and  ye  waters  which  are  above  the 
heavens !  The  object  of  address  in  the  first  clause  is  the  highest  heaven,  the 
heaven  of  that  which  is  heaven  to  us.  See  above,  on  Ps.  kviii.  34  (33),  and 
compare  Deut.  x.  14, 1  Kings  viii.  27,  2  Cor.  xii.  2.  The  waters  meant  are  the 
watery  clouds  above  the  lower  heavens,  as  in  Gen.  i.  7.  See  above,  on  Ps.  civ.  3. 

6.  het  them  praise  the  name  of  Jehovah,  for  he  commanded  and  they  were 
created.  The  direct  invitation  to  the  heavens  is  followed  by  a  statement  of 
the  reason  why  they  should  comply  with  it,  expressed  in  the  third  person,  as 
if  addressed  to  others.  The  pronoun  he  is  emphatic.  (It  was)  he  (that)  com- 
manded (and  no  other).     See  above,  on  Ps.  xxxiii.  9,  and  compare  Gen.  i.  3. 

6.  And  made  them  stand  to  perpetuity  and  eternity ;  a  limit  he  gave 
[them)  and  they  cannot  pass  (it).  The  immutability  ascribed  to  the  frame 
of  nature,  Ps.  Ixxii.  6,  Ixxxix,  3,  37  (2,  36),  is  not  absolute  but  relative  to  the 
will  of  the  Creator.  All  that  is  required  by  the  context  in  such  cases  is,  that 
they  cannot  change  in  opposition  to  his  will  or  independently  of  it.  See 
Ps.  cii.  27.  The  first  word  in  the  second  clause  is  here  used  in  its  primary 
sense  of  a  definite  boundary  or  limit,  from  which  may  be  readily  deduced 
the  usual  one  of  statute  or  permanent  enactment.  See  above,  on  Ps.  ii.  7. 
As  the  last  verb  is  in  the  singular  number,  the  most  obvious  construction 
is  the  one  given  in  the  English  Bible,  a  decree  which  shall  not  pass.  Com- 
pare Matt.  v.  18.  But  the  highest  authorities  appear  to  be  agreed  that 
the  analogy  of  Job  xiv.  5,  Ps.  civ.  9,  Jer.  v.  22,  requires  the  verb  to  be 
taken  in  the  sense  of  transcending  or  transgressing,  and  construed  with  the 
aggregate  of  the  heavenly  bodies. 

7.  Praise  Jehovah  from  the  earth,  ye  dragons  and  all  depths.  Here 
begins  the  second  part,  in  which  the  address  is  to  the  earth  and  its  inhabi- 
tants. From  the  earth  is  in  .antithesis  to  from  the  heavens  in  ver.  1.  Earth 
here  includes  land  and  water ;  hence  the  last  clause  makes  exclusive  mention 
of  the  latter,  as  the  word  translated  dragons  is  applied  to  huge  aquatic 
animals  (Ps.  Ixxiv.  13),  and  the  one  translated  depths  to  large  bodies  of 
water  (Ps.  xxxiii.  7).  As  the  first,  however,  sometimes  means  serpents 
(Ps.  xci.  13),  it  may  here  be  the  connecting  link  between  land  and  water. 

8.  Fire  and  hail,  snow  and  vapour,  stormy  wind  doing  his  word.  The 
address  here  passes  to  the  inanimate  and  unconscious  agencies  of  nature. 
Fire  and  hail,  as  in  Ps.  cv.  32.  The  fire  meant  is  commonly  supposed  to 
be  lightning ;  but  according  to  Hengstenberg  the  word  is  to  be  taken  in  its 
ordinary  sense,  and  is  separated  from  its  natural  attendant  smoke  (for  such 
is  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word  elsewhere,  e.  g.  Ps.  cxix.  83)  only  for 
the  purpose  of  contrasting  hot  and  cold,  white  and  black,  which  seems  a 
little  fanciful  and  far-fetched.  The  storm-wind  (or  stormy  toind)  is  men- 
tioned as  a  natural  agent  the  least  likely  to  be  under  control,  and  it  is  ex- 
pressly described  as  doing  God's  word,  i.  e.  executing  his  command.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  ciii.  20,  civ.  4. 

9.  The  mountains  and  all  hills,  fruit-trees  and  all  cedars,  "^oi  fruitful 
trees,  as  distinguished  from  barren  trees,  but  fruit-trees  (literally  tree  of 
fruit),  as  distinguished  from  forest- trees,  here  represented  by  the  cedar, 
which  is  usually  spoken  of  in  Scripture  as  the  noblest  species,  and  therefore 
called  the  cedar  of  God,  Ps.  Ixxx.  11  (10). 

10.  The  wild  [beast)  and  all  cattlle,  creeping  thing  and  flying  fowl.  The 
contrast  in  the  first  clause  is  analogous  to  that  between  fruit-trees  and 
cedars  in  ver.  9.  The  Hebrew  word  (K^tSl)  translated  creeping  thing  has 
no  exact  equivalent  in  English.     It  seems  strictly  to  denote  animal  or  vital 


Psalm  148:11  -  14  569 

motion,  or  as  a  concrete  term  whatever  so  moves,  and  is  even  applied  to 
aquatic  animals,  Ps.  civ.  25.  But  when  used  distinctively,  it  denotes  the 
smaller  classes  of  terrestrial  animals,  including  insects,  reptiles,  and  the 
smallest  quadrupeds.  It  is  here  added  simply  to  complete  the  expression 
of  the  general  idea,  all  animals  whatever.  Flying  fowl,  literally  bird  of  wing. 
The  first  of  the  Hebrew  words  is  specially  applied  to  the  smaller  birds,  and 
sometimes  specifically  to  the  sparrow.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xi.  1,  Ixxxiv.  4 
(3),  civ.  17,  cxxiv.  7.  This  and  the  preceding  item  in  the  catalogue,  sug- 
gesting the  idea  of  the  smallest  animals,  may  possibly  have  been  used  to 
denote  the  universality  of  the  call  here  made  upon  all  creatures,  from  the 
greatest  to  the  smallest,  to  praise  God  their  maker. 

11.  Kings  of  the  earth  and  all  nations,  chiefs  and  all  judges  of  the  earth. 
He  here  passes  from  the  lower  animals  to  man.  Kings  and  the  nations 
whom  they  represent.  Princes  is  not  an  exact  translation  of  the  Hebrew 
(D^ltt^),  which   is  especially,   though  not  exclusively,  applied  to  military 

leaders  of  various  rank,  and  may  therefore  be  represented  by  the  EngUsh 
chiefs  or  chieftains. 

12.  Young  men  and  also  maidens,  old  men  with  children.  The  obvious 
meaning  of  this  verse  is,  all  men,  without  distinction  of  sex  or  age.  There 
is  no  need,  therefore,  of  refining  on  the  several  particulars,  or  undertaking 
to  explain  why  old  men  and  young  men  are  both  mentioned,  since  neither 
of  them  could  have  been  omitted  without  failing  to  accomphsh  the  design 
of  the  enumeration.  For  the  etymology  and  primary  meaning  of  the  first 
word  in  Hebrew  see  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxviii.  63,  where  it  stands  in  precisely 
the  same  combination.  The  two  nouns  in  the  last  clause  may  be  considered 
as  of  common  gender. 

13.  Let  (all  these)  praise  the  name  of  Jehovah,  for  exalted  is  his  name  alone, 
his  glory  is  above  earth  and  heaven.  The  mention  of  earth  and  heaven 
shews  that  the  fixst  verb  relates  not  merely  to  that  which  immediately  pre- 
cedes, but  to  the  whole  enumeration  of  God's  creatures  with  which  the 
psalm  is  occupied.  See  above,  on  Ps.  civ.  27.  Exalted  is  his  name,  as  in 
Isa.  xii.  4.  His  glory  or  majesty,  a  Hebrew  word  especially  apphed  to 
royal  dignity.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxi.  6  (5),  xlv.  4  (3),  xcvi.  6,  civ.  1, 
cxi.  3.  Above  earth  and  heaven,  i.  e.  superior  to  their  mere  material  splen- 
dour, or  on  earth  and  heaven,  i.  e.  placed  upon  them  as  a  crown.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  viii.  2  (1),  Ivii.  6  (5). 

14.  And  he  has  raised  up  a  horn  for  his  people — praise  for  all  his  saints 
— for  the  children  of  Israel — a  people  near  to  him.  Hallelujah!  While 
all  the  creatures  before  mentioned  have  abundant  cause  to  praise  God  for 
his  infinite  perfection  and  his  goodness  to  themselves,  a  pecuHar  obligation 
is  incumbent  on  his  people  :  first,  for  his  distinguishing  favour  through  all 
periods  of  their  history ;  and  then,  for  a  special  mercy  recently  experienced, 
namely,  the  restoration  from  captivity,  now  completed  by  the  renewal  of 
the  temple  and  the  reconstruction  of  the  city  walls.  This  restoration  is 
described,  by  a  favourite  Davidic  figure,  as  exalting  or  lifting  up  the  horn 
of  Israel.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxv.  6,  7  (5,  6),  xcii.  11  (10).  The  previ- 
ous condition  of  the  chosen  people  might  be  well  represented  by  the  oppo- 
site figure  used  in  Job  xvi.  15.  liaised  a  horn  for  his  people  seems  to  be 
only  another  way  of  saying  raised  the  horn  of  his  people.  The  first  form  of 
expression  may  have  been  here  used  for  the  purpose  of  assimilating  this 
clause  to  the  next,  where  praise  is  still  dependent  on  the  verb  at  the  begin- 
ning, and  to  raise  up  praise  for  his  people  is  to  give  them  fresh  occasion  of 
still  higher  praise  than  they  had  ever  yet  been  called  to  utter.     The  ancient 


570  Psalm  149:1  -  6 

church  is  here  described  in  a  fourfold  manner :  first,  simply  as  his  people  ; 
then,  as  his  saints  or  gracious  ones,  the  objects  of  his  mercy  and  the  subjects 
of  his  grace ;  then,  by  their  national  title,  as  the  sons  (or  descendants)  of  Israel; 
and  lastly,  as  the  people  near  him,  i.  e.  nearer  to  him  than  all  others,  sus- 
taining a  more  intimate  relation  to  him.  The  same  expression  which  is 
elsewhere  applied  to  the  priests  (Lev.  x.  3,  Ezek.  xlii.  13)  is  here  applied 
to  Israel  as  "  a  kingdom  of  priests  and  a  holy  nation"  (Exod.  xix.  6). 

Psalm  149 

This  may  be  regarded  as  the  special  song  of  praise  required  of  Israel  at 
the  close  of  the  preceding  psalm :  first,  on  account  of  mercies  already 
experienced  by  the  chosen  people,  ver.  1-5  ;  and  then,  in  the  hope  of  future 
triumphs  over  all  heathen  and  hostile  powers,  ver.  6-9.  Nothing  could 
well  be  more  appropriate  to  the  state  of  things  under  Nehemiah,  when  the 
city  and  nation  had  again  been  put  into  a  posture  of  defence  and  resistance. 

1.  Hallelujah  !  Sing  unto  Jehovah  a  new  song,  his  praise  in  the  congre- 
gation of  saints.  Compare  Ps.  xl.  4  (3),  xcvi.  1,  cxi.  1,  cxlviii.  14,  to 
which  last  there  is  an  obvious  allusion,  connecting  the  two  psalms  in  the 
closest  manner. 

2.  Let  Israel  rejoice  in  his  Maker  !  Let  the  sons  of  Zion  triumph  in  their 
King  !  Not  merely  the  creator  of  individuals,  but  of  the  church  and  nation 
as  such,  and  that  not  only  at  first,  but  by  a  kind  of  new  creation,  in  the 
restoration  of  the  people  from  captivity.  They  are  summoned  to  rejoice  in 
him,  not  only  as  their  founder  and  restorer,  but  their  sovereign.  See  above, 
on  Ps.  xcv.  6,  c.  3,  cxlv.  1,  and  compare  Isa.  xUii.  1,  xliv.  2,  xlv.  13. 

3.  Let  them  praise  his  name  in  the  dance  ;  with  timlrel  and  harp  let 
them  play  (or  make  music)  to  him.  The  usual  modes  of  expressing  joy  are 
here  combined.     As  to  the  dance,  see  above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  12  (11). 

4.  For  Jehovah  is  pleased  with  his  people ;  he  beautifies  the  humble  with 
salvation.  The  first  clause  suggests  the  idea  of  a  previous  alienation,  and 
of  his  having  been  appeased  or  reconciled.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixxxv.  2  (1). 
The  verb  is  one  applied  in  the  Law  to  God's  acceptance  of  the  sacrifices, 
and  might  therefore  awaken  here  associations  with  atonement  and  forgive- 
ness. See  above,  on  Ps.  xix.  15  (14),  li.  22  (20).  The  verb  occurs  in 
its  general  sense  of  being  pleased  or  satisfied,  Ps.  cxivii.  10,  11.  With  the 
last  clause  compare  Isa.  Ixi.  3. 

5.  Let  the  saints  exult  in  glory  ;  let  them  sing  {for  joy)  upon  their  beds. 
The  word  translated  saints  is  the  same  that  occurs  in  Ps.  cxlviii.  14,  and  is 
there  explained.  In  glory  (or  honour),  i.  e.  the  glorious  or  honourable 
state  into  which  Jehovah  has  now  brought  them.  The  glory  is  not  that 
which  belongs  to  God,  Ps.  xxix,  9,  xcvi.  7,  but  that  which  he  bestows,  Ps. 
Ixxxiv.  12  (11),  Ixxxv.  10  (9),  The  very  phrase,  in  honour,  occurs  above, 
Ps.  cxii.  9.  Sing  or  shout,  as  audible  expressions  of  strong  feeling,  and 
especially  of  joy.  On  their  beds,  where  they  have  been  accustomed  to 
lament  their  previous  degradation,  or' what  Nehemiah  calls  their  "  affliction 
and  reproach."     See  Neh.  i.  3,  iii.  36  (iv.  4). 

6.  Praises  of  God  in  their  throat,  and  a  two-edged  sword  in  their  hand. 
A  striking  coincidence  has  been  observed  between  this  verse  and  Neh. 
iv.  11,  12  (17,  18).  As  then  they  worked  with  one  hand  and  brandished 
the  sword  with  the  other,  so  now  they  might  be  said  at  the  same  time  to 
praise  God  and  defy  their  enemies.    This  singular  mixture  of  devotional  and 


Psalm  150:1,2  571 

martial  spirit  is  characteristic  of  the  psalm,  and  furnishes  a  valuable  index 
to  the  date  of  composition.  The  conclusion  thus  reached  is  corroborated 
by  the  account  of  the  miUtary  and  religious  pomp,  with  which  the  walls 
were  dedicated,  as  described  by  Nehemiah  (xii.  31-47). 

7.  To  execute  vengeance  among  the  nations,  punishments  among  the  peoples. 
Not  their  own  vengeance,  but  that  of  God,  to  whom  alone  it  appertains. 
See  above,  on  Ps.  xviii.  48  (47),  xciv.  1,  and  compare  Deut.  xxxii.  35, 
Kom.  xii.  19,  Heb.  x.  30.  This  is  really  nothing  more  than  a  prediction, 
that  God  would  use  his  people  as  his  instruments  in  punishing  the  nations 
by  whom  they  had  themselves  been  persecuted  and  oppressed.  This  was 
partially  fulfilled  in  the  successes  of  the  Maccabees,  but  under  a  new  and 
unexpected  form,  in  the  spiritual  triumphs  of  the  true  rehgion,  and  its 
actual  or  prospective  subjugation  of  the  world. 

8.  To  bind  their  kings  uith  chains,  their  nobles  with  fetters  of  iron.  The 
word  translated  nobles  is  properly  a  participle,  meaning  honoured  {ones). 
The  verse  simply  cames  out  the  idea  of  the  one  before  it,  that  of  the  subjuga- 
tion of  the  gentiles  by  the  true  religion.  The  objection  to  this,  as  a  spiri- 
tuaUsing  explanation  of  the  text,  springs  from  a  narrow  and  erroneous  view 
of  the  very  end  for  which  Israel  existed  as  a  nation.  Those  promises  to 
Israel,  which  are  not  still  available  for  us,  were  but  of  temporary  local  value. 

9.  To  execute  among  them  the  judgment  ivritten.  An  honour  is  that  for 
all  his  saints.  This  last  phrase  occurs  also  at  the  close  of  the  preceding 
psalm  (cxlviii.  14).  As  written  may  mean  written  in  the  book  of  God's 
decrees,  there  is  no  need  of  supposing  a  reference  to  any  part  of  Scripture. 
If  there  be  such  reference,  however,  it  is  no  doubt  to  the  threatening  in 
Deut.  xxxii.  41-43.  To  act  as  God's  instruments  in  this  great  judicial 
process,  so  far  from  being  a  disgrace  or  hardship,  is  an  honour  reserved  for 
all  the  objects  of  his  mercy  and  subjects  of  his  grace-  The  psalm  ends  as 
it  began,  with  Hallelujah  ! 

Psalm  150 

This  is  the  closing  Hallelujah  or  Doxology,  which  marks  the  conclusion 
of  the  last  series  or  cycle  (Ps.  cxlvii.-cl,),  of  the  Fifth  Book  (Ps.  cvii.-cl.), 
and  of  the  whole  Psalter.  In  form  and  structure  it  is  perfectly  simple, 
merely  reciting,  in  an  animated  manner,  the  place  (ver.  1),  the  theme  (ver.  2), 
the  mode  (ver.  3-5),  and  the  extent  (ver.  6)  of  the  praise  due  to  Jehovah. 

1.  Hallelujah  1  Praise  God  in  his  sanctuary  I  Praise  him  in  the  fir- 
mament of  his  power  I  The  essential  meaning  of  the  verse  is,  praise  him 
both  in  earth  and  heaven.  The  particulars  detailed  in  Ps.  cxlviii.  are  here 
condensed  into  a  pregnant  summary.  The  sanctuary  is  the  earthly  one, 
and  as  such  stands  opposed  to  the  firmament  or  heaven,  called  the  firma- 
ment of  his  potver,  as  being  one  of  the  most  glorious  proofs  and  products  of 
its  exercise,  and  still  the  scene  of  its  most  striking  exhibitions.  The  phrase 
is  to  be  understood  as  comprehending  the  hosts  of  heaven,  both  inanimate 
and  hving,  both  material  and  spiritual.  The  paralleHsm  is  rendered  still 
more  perfect  by  the  correspondence  between  power  in  the  last  clause  and 
(7h})  the  di^one  name  in  the  first. 

2.  Praise  him  for  his  mighty  acts  !  Praise  him  according  to  his  pleni- 
tude of  greatness  !  His  mighty  acts,  literally  his  mights  or  powers.  See 
above,  on  Ps.  cxlv.  4.  For,  literally  in  them,  i.  e.  praise  him  as  exhibited 
and  viewed  in  these.     The  corresponding  particle  means  like,  in  accordance 


572  Psalm  150:3  -  6 

with,  in  proportion  to,  in  a  manner  worthy  of  his  greatness.  The  last 
phrase  in  Hebrew  is  peculiarly  expressive,  consisting  of  the  two  strongest 
terms  denoting  magnitude,  the  abstract  forms  of  much  and  great,  which 
might  be  rendered,  if  our  usage  suffered  it,  muchness  of  greatness. 

3.  Praise  him  with  blast  of  trumpet  !  Praise  him  with  harp  and  lyre  ! 
Here  begins  an  enumeration  of  the  instruments  employed  in  public  worship, 
and  therefore  necessarily  associated  with  the  idea  of  divine  praise.  The 
trumpet  was  used  to  assemble  the  people,  and  would  therefore  excite  many 
of  the  same  associations  with  our  church-bells.  The  other  instruments 
were  used  as  actual  accompaniments  of  the  psalms  performed  in  public 
worship. 

4.  Praise  him  with  timbrel  and  dance  !  Praise  him  with  strings  and 
pipe  !  The  three  great  classes  of  instruments  are  here  distinctly  mentioned, 
namely,  wind,  stringed,  and  pulsatile.  The  last,  represented  by  the  drum 
or  timbrel,  still  called  by  a  kindred  name  in  Arabic,  is  here  accompanied  by 
its  inseparable  adjunct  dancing,  which  might  seem  misplaced  in  a  list  of 
instruments,  and  those  employed  in  sacred  music,  but  for  the  peculiar 
usages  and  notions  of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  with  respect  to  this  external 
sign  of  joy.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxx.  12  (11),  cxlix.  3.  The  common  ver- 
sion of  the  last  word  (organ)  is  derived  through  the  Vulgate  from  the  Sep- 
tuagint,  where  it  denotes  a  system  or  combination  of  pipes.  The  Hebrew 
word,  according  to  the  Jewish  tradition,  means  a  simple  pipe,  and  is  so 
rendered  in  the  Prayer  Book  version.  It  here  represents  the  whole  class  of 
wind-instruments.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixviii.  26  (25),  and  compare  2  Sam. 
vi.  5. 

5.  Praise  him  with  cymbals  of  loud  sound  !  Praise  him  with  cymbals  of 
joyful  noise !  The  dominant  idea,  that  of  audibly  expressed  joy,  is  sus- 
tained to  the  last,  where  the  cymbals  are  mentioned  in  both  clauses,  as  an 
instrument  peculiarly  appropriated  to  occasions  of  unusual  rejoicing.  See 
2  Sam.  \d.  5,  Ezra  iii.  10,  Neh,  xii,  27.  The  effect  is  still  further  height- 
ened by  the  qualifying  epithets,  the  first  of  which  strictly  denotes  hearing 
or  the  thing  heard,  i.  e.  sound,  and  here  by  implication,  loud  sound.  To 
this  idea  the  parallel  term  adds  that  of  joyful  sound,  to  which  it  is  con- 
stantly applied  in  usage.  See  above,  on  Ps.  xxvii.  6,  Ixxxix.  16  (15),  and 
compare  Num.  xxiii.  21.  The  distinction,  here  assumed  by  some  inter- 
preters, between  cymbals  of  a  larger  and  a  smaller  size,  is  wholly  unneces- 
sary. 

6.  Let  all  breath  praise  Jah  !  Hallelujah  !  The  very  ambiguity  of  aU 
breath  gives  extraordinary  richness  of  meaning  to  thia  closing  sentence. 
From  ■^he  simple  idea  of  wind  instruments,  mentioned  in  the  context,  it 
leads  us,  by  a  beautiful  transition,  to  that  of  vocal,  articulate,  intelligent 
praise,  uttered  by  the  breath  of  living  men,  as  distinguished  from  mere 
Ifeless  instruments.  See  above,  on  Ps.  Ixviii.  26  (25).  Then  lastly,  by  a 
natural  association,  we  ascend  to  the  idea  expressed  in  the  common  version, 
everything  that  hath  breath,  not  merely  all  that  Uves,  but  all  that  has  a  voice 
to  praise  God.  There  is  nothing  in  the  Psalter  more  majestic  or  more 
beautiful  than  this  brief  but  most  significant  finale,  in  which  solemnity  of 
tone  predominates,  without,  however,  in  the  least  disturbing  the  exhilaration 
which  the  close  of  the  Psalter  seems  intended  to  produce,  as  if  in  emblema- 
tical allusion  to  the  triumph  which  awaits  the  church  and  all  its  memljers, 
when  through  much  tribulation  they  shall  enter  into  rest. 


Classic  Commentaries 
for  Bible  Study 


STUDIES  IN  LEVITICUS  Samuel  H.  Kellogg 

(Foreword  by  Cyril  J.  Barber.)  Kellogg  staunchly  defends  Mosaic 
authorship  and  ably  treats  Jewish  ceremonial  law  in  all  its  practical 
aspects.  A  classic  study  of  the  "law  of  the  priests,"  the  typology  of 
the  tabernacle,  and  the  laws  governing  the  daily  lives  of  God's  people. 
0-8254-3041-0  574  pp.  paperback 

0-8254-3043-7  574  pp.  deluxe  hardcover 

COMMENTARY  ON  THE  PSALMS         J.  J.  Stewart  Perowne 

(Two  volumes  in  one;  Foreword  by  Walter  C.  Kaiser,  Jr.)  A 
classic  exegetical  work  which  highlights  the  sheer  beauty  and  grace 
of  language  in  the  book  of  Psalms.  Perowne  provides  a  complete 
background  for  every  Psalm  along  with  detailed  exegesis  and  com- 
mentary. Includes  notes  on  the  Hebrew  text,  the  ancient  versions, 
and  other  English  translations.  The  best  of  evangelical  scholarship  is 
combined  with  profound  spiritual  perception  to  offer  Bible  students 
a  trustworthy  storehouse  of  insights  into  the  Psalter. 
0-8254-3485-8  1 144  pp.  paperback 

0-8254-3486-6  1 144  pp.  deluxe  hardcover 

COMMENTARY  ON  EZEKIEL  Patrick  Fairbairn 

(Foreword  by  Peter  M.  Masters.)  One  of  the  most  valuable  works 
on  this  important  Old  Testament  book.  Fairbairn  discusses  the  person, 
position,  and  circumstances  of  Ezekiel  as  well  as  looking  at  some  of 
the  more  distinctive  features  of  his  prophetic  character.  This  verse- 
by-verse  commentary  is  a  welcome  addition  to  Old  Testament  studies. 
0-8254-2627-8  512  pp.  paperback 

0-8254-2630-8  512  pp.  deluxe  hardcover 

COMMENTARY  ON  ZECHARIAH: 

HIS  VISIONS  AND  PROPHECIES  David  Baron 

(Foreword  by  Walter  C.  Kaiser,  Jr.)  W.  H.  Griffith  Thomas  called 
this  *'. . .  the  best  available  book  on  Zechariah."  A  thorough  exposition 
of  this  prophetic  book. 

0-8254-2277-9  566  pp.  paperback 

0-8254-2216-7  566  pp.  deluxe  hardcover 


COMMENTARY  ON  MATTHEW  John  A.  Broadus 

One  of  the  finest  volumes  ever  produced  on  the  Gospel  of  Matthew. 
John  A.  Broadus,  perhaps  one  of  America's  greatest  bibUcal  scholars, 
offers  a  balanced  commentary  which  contains  a  straightforward 
exegesis  of  the  text.  In  addition,  a  gold  mine  of  practical  insights 
will  provide  the  reader  with  a  deeper  understanding  and  application 
of  this  "gospel  of  the  King!" 

0-8254-2283-3  610  pp.  paperback 

0-8254-2284-1  610  pp.  deluxe  hardcover 

COMMENTARY  ON  ROMANS  Robert  Haldane 

(Foreword  by  D.  Martyn  Lloyd-Jones.)  One  of  the  most 
authoritative  expositions  ever  to  appear  on  this  Epistle.  It  offers 
exhaustive  exegesis  on  every  sentence  in  Romans,  emphasizing 
scholarship,  theological  reflection,  and  spiritual  insight.  Special 
attention  is  given  to  the  glorious  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith. 
Clearly  refutes  critical  attacks  on  the  words  and  doctrines 
communicated  by  Paul. 

0-8254-2865-3  754  pp.  paperback 

0-8254-2862-9  754  pp.  deluxe  hardcover 

THE  EPISTLE  OF  JAMES  Joseph  B.  Mayor 

A  monumental  work  on  this  often  neglected  portion  of  the  New 
Testament  which  provides  detailed  analysis  on  such  important  aspects 
of  the  epistle  as:  authorship,  evidence  for  authenticity,  its  relationship 
to  the  other  New  Testament  books  and  earlier  first  century  writings, 
its  date,  and  its  grammar  and  style.  Mayor  offers  a  detailed  word-by- 
word commentary  on  James.  This  work  offers  an  in-depth 
understanding  of  the  epistle's  background,  message,  and  practical 
insights  for  application. 

0-8254-3255-3  624  pp.  paperback 

0-8254-3256-1  624  pp.  deluxe  hardcover 

COMMENTARY  ON  JUDE  Thomas  Manton 

(Foreword  by  Peter  M.  Masters.)  An  exhaustive,  classic  exposition. 
Manton 's  organization  is  excellent  and  his  practical  observations  are 
valuable.  "Manton 's  work  is  most  commendable."  -  Spurgeon 
0-8254-3239-1  384  pp.  paperback 

0-8254-3240-5  384  pp.  deluxe  hardcover 

Available  at  Christian  bookstores,  or 

KREGELWolik 

p.  O.  Box  2607,  Grand  Rapids,  Ml  49501 


